Search Engine Visibility: SEO Plus SEM = Page 1 on Google

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the action of optimizing a web site. To optimize means to make the best it can be. Over 80% of all web traffic is coming via search engines so it is imperative to optimize your site for search engine visibility.



Optimization of a web site is the process of maximizing the number of qualified visitors arriving at your website. As the bulk of users arrive at a site, through a search engine, the optimization is firstly done to increase the site rankings.

Ideally, optimization will get your site to the top 3 positions on page one of the popular search engines (Google, Yahoo and MSN), which is where the bulk of commercial business is garnered. In fact, 80% of all business on the Internet goes to the first three listings on the first page of a search result.



Research shows that searchers (your future customers) regard good placement in the natural search engine visibility results, as opposed to sponsored links (pay-per-click), as an indicator of a company that is tops in their field.



SEO is a three-step process:



1. Keyword research and Internet marketing strategy development, taking into account the offline campaign actions.



2. Upgrade of the site based on the keyword research. This would include rewriting pages, adding new pages and keyword coding. Your site has to appeal to the search engine before anyone can find it. The design, content and programming of your site all influence search engine visibility.



3. Ongoing monthly optimization. Nothing stays the same--especially the Internet.



SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is the campaign to market your company through your web site. Doing effective SEM will greatly enhance search engine visibility and complement SEO. 88% of economically active Americans go online everyday. A recent study showed that 85% of users research products and services on the Internet before they purchase. A well-written and well-designed web site is the foundation of your Internet marketing strategy. No matter how great your product is, if the public can't find you, the sales are lost in the second it takes to click the mouse. On the flip side, an effective web site is the key to quality leads and volume sales.



The tools of Search Engine Marketing can include some or all of these SEM tools:



* Online press releases. Regularly send out optimized press releases on the Net about your company and products. Optimized press releases are an effective Search Engine Marketing tool and get the reporters interested in you. 99% of reporters start their research for a story on the Internet. You can reach your target audience directly through the news sites, like Yahoo News (the biggest audience in the world on the Net) Google News, MSN News and Topix.net.



* Optimized press releases also attract visitors and as a bonus increase the number of links back to your website, which will raise your ranking in the search engines. These optimized press releases can also be put onto your own website to increase the optimized content you have on the site, which in turn will also raise your search engine visibility.



* Online newsletters are an expensive but effective search engine marketing tool. Use a special promotion to get visitors to the site to sign up for the free newsletter. Keep them coming back by creating an interesting newsletter so you can become a source of useful and valid info on your industry or subject. Add the newsletters to your website to increase content.



* Start a blog to raise search engine visibility and create page one search results. Blog readers are computer literate, Internet-savvy early adopters. Blogs get more attention from the search engine and create natural search engine visibility for your company and your products--if done correctly. A blog allows you to:



* Create a 'cloud' of content (an ever increasing amount of text and search engine visibility) about your subject on the Internet. Search engines love text sites!



* Really get into communication with your audiences and targeted publics.



* Attract and service the journalists who cover your industry.



* Syndicate your content via RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds so that you get exposure in other places on the Web. Online syndication has many advantages: It vastly improves your site's visibility; makes your content available in a more convenient manner; feeds your content directly to interested parties; broadens your reach on the Internet and best of all, costs almost nothing to implement. This also increases the number of links to your website. Syndication is a process of providing your content to others, doing updates of information and generally spreading your content from one place to another. Syndication online allows you to share your content with your visitors and other websites.



We implemented SEO and SEM for our firm, which resulted in greatly improved search engine visibility; we even got multiple page one listings on two of our keywords and a booming business. SEO + SEM really does equal page one results!

Sally Falkow is President of Expansion Plus, Inc., and author of Website Marketing Strategy Ebook. She is an authority on Internet Marketing and search engine optimization strategies. For more information, visit http://www.expansionplus.com.

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