SEM/SEO/PPC

SEM, SEO and PPC support each other

These three acronyms, SEM, SEO and PPC can make all the difference to the staying power of your online business.  They stand for Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and are the true backbone of online business. These three little tools should be combined together if you’d like to raise your profits in the ever-growing, fast-paced Internet world. This article will explain what each of these components are and what they do.

SEM

The first of the SEM/SEO/PPC combination is SEM.  This is the one we all see in action, although not many of us recongize it consciously.  Search Engine Marketing has very little to do with search engines, and everything to do with marketing.  Those who perform SEM creating marketing campaigns just as they would for a physical store.

SEM professionals may recommend many areas, from pay-per-click ads to social media; optimization to advertisements; videos to white papers.  An SEM’s sole purpose is actually two parts: to get you noticed and to make your products enticing.  How they do that all depends upon that particular professional.

SEO

The second component of SEM/SEO/PPC is the Search Engine Optimization.  SEO is one of the top ways to get Google Ranking. Optmization is not about making the search engine see you as a site relevant to the search term, although many people see it as that.  Optmization is about making the engine see you as one of the top relevant sites.

Almost every SEO professional will include finding your niche and the keywords that fit that niche in any campaign.  The rest of an SEO campaign, again, depends upon the professional.

PPC

PPC rounds things off nicely.  Pay-Per-Clink links are clickable ads leading your chosen link.  Used correctly and well researched, PPC can and will send clicks to your website.  Those searching for goods, services or whatever else is covered by the ad will be led to that particular link (usually a landing page of some sort).

A strong PPC professional, knowledgable in writing short ads, finding strong keywords and good placement, can make a lot of difference in the quality of hits.  What keywords, ad placement and the length of text allowed for the ads all depends on how big your marketing budget is and what you want to achieve.

The Triad

SEM, SEO and PPC work together to make the perfect online marketing campaign.  The right professionals can create a knock-out marketing strategy; one planned to bring people to your website that are already interested in your product.  They’re not just “looking around”.

SEM is the beginning.  Marketing is all about strategy, of which SEO and PPC is just a part.  SEM says “This is what we have to do to interest people in your company and your product.”

SEO is a “targeted” marketing strategy, generally including everything from your website design (is it compliant? Did you use good practices?) to your content quality (is it well-written? Are keywords used? Is it relevant?).

PPC is a combination of ad placement/writing and SEO content in the form of landing pages.  A well-written, well-placed ad, combined with matching (and also well-written) landing page content, has almost doubled a site owner’s ROI in some cases.

Combined, SEM, SEO and PPC will definitely raise the amount of clicks to your website, your Google placement (ranking) and your website quality.  The rest is up to your product.

Tagged as: (SEM), marketing strategy, Online visibility, PPC, SEO