Search engine marketing (SEM) remains one of the most important ways to generate traffic to your Web site, and this can be done using either search engine optimisation (SEO) or pay per click marketing (PPC). Although both can be huge marketing activities that require considerable planning, resources and budget, there are some basic SEM tips for SEO and PPC that anyone involved in digital marketing should know about.
Search Engine Optimisation
SEO is all about getting good visibility for your Web site in the natural results listings of search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. Unlike PPC, which always requires a budget, some elements of SEO can be done at little or no cost and can result in a longer lasting impact than paid advertising. But to make the most of SEO, there are activities that do need the budget and probably the resources of agencies and specialists as well.
Key phrase analysis is an important first step towards SEO as this will determine which words and phrases you need to use in your online content to ensure it is found in natural search results. The Google AdWords Keyword Tool is a great help with this as it will not only tell you how many people search for the words or phrases you're researching but also suggest alternatives as well. Try using these key phrases in Google to see which of your competitors appear.
The next SEO step is to match your online content with these key phrases, and it's important to only only use the most searched for terms but also others as well to capture as many visitors as possible. Picking the right key phrases is one of the ways your ranking in search engines is determined, and although these is no exact optimum number of times that these key phrases should appear on a single page, it is believed to be around 3-4%. This means that these words and phrases should appear no more than three or four times for every 100 words used, and this may require the creation of new pages to optimise them for specific key phrases. However, over-using keywords, what’s known as keyword stuffing, must also be avoided, as this can have a negative impact on page ranking.
Keywords should also be used where possible in page titles, headings, bold text within the body copy and as alternative text and captions for images. Some of these activities may require template changes, for example to ensure <H1>, <H2>, etc HTML tags are used for headings and subheadings.
Inbound and outbound links are also important for SEO as both can impact ranking in search engines, so a link-building strategy is important.
Inbound links are basically links from other sites that point to yours, and having good quality content that these sites will want to link to is a great way to achieve this. You can also achieve this by listing your site in directories, contacting other site owners who may be interested in swapping links and also syndicating content such as press releases which contain your URL. Having inbound links from a few relevant Web sites with good page rank is more important than links from many that don't.
By comparison, outbound links are links to other sites you include in your own content. This is believed by SEO experts to be important to ranking because you're adding additional value to visitors by giving them access to more information on the subject. Google will also rate your site more highly if it sees that a lot of users are engaged with it by clicking on the links.
Pay Per Click Marketing
PPC marketing involves paid advertising on search engines, and Google AdWords is one tool for achieving this. Although the tool itself is free to use, significant budget may be required as there is a cost involved every time a user clicks on one of your ads.
Like SEO, key phrase analysis is also the first step in PPC marketing, in this instance to determine which words and phrases to bid on. Failure to do this effectively can result in ads appearing to the wrong target audiences, and this may lead to budgets not being used effectively if these people click on the ads but don’t convert. High performing key phrases can cost many pounds per click, so attention should also be made to exploiting lower volume but lower cost words and phrases as these can be more numerous.
Setting realistic budgets is important at the start of PPC marketing as tools such as Google AdWords allow users to set limits on how much money should be bid on clicks from key phrases, and this in turn impacts their positioning. Daily limits can also be set. A key strategy that can be used is day parting and hourly parting, where ads are only displayed during the hours or days when there is the most potential clicks.
Equally important is ad creative, as this should capture attention, achieve interest, develop desire and achieve action (also known as AIDA). Keywords should be used in headlines and body copy, and the text should be specific and include a call to action.
Review and Web Site Optimisation
All SEO and PPC activities should have continuous review, which may involve further key phrase analysis and changing ad creatives. A key consideration as well is ensuring that the Web site is properly optimised for converting visitors into customers, or money could be wasted on generating a lot of traffic but few sales.
Jason Glover - Jason Glover has worked in the marketing teams of major companies for over twenty years, including over ten years in online marketing ...
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