An Introduction to Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing (SEM) is the art of combining search engine optimization (SEO), or on site changes, with organic and paid link building techniques to increase a web sites profile and improve its standing in search engines. Any company, from an international conglomerate to a small chain to a single designer with a home office, needs the help of SEM in the highly competitive online world. But what are the pieces of a successful search engine marketing campaign?
The first step in search engine marketing is to optimize the web page itself to make it as attractive as possible to search engines. The page content, the titles, and even the web sites structure should be streamlined and reworked to target the most advantageous keywords and to improve the site navigation.
When the SEO is complete, SEM specialists turn their attention to building new links to the site. Free and organic links are best, but shooting up the ranks in search engines and fine tuning link targeting usually requires paid links as well. Paid links can include advertising bought on web sites and in advertising networks, as well as new methods such as paid blog posts. It is important to get expert help in building links because too many links from "bad neighborhoods" (sites considered spam by search engines) can lower a sites standing, and bad neighborhoods are not always obvious to newcomers to SEO. Also, people who are new to SEM often find methods like astroturfing appealing. In astroturfing, a company employee posts comments about the company in niche blogs, pretending to be an ordinary consumer who is impressed with the company. Although astroturfing looks like an excellent tool on the surface, blog readers recognize it as spam. The fallout from an astroturf campaign can do heavy damage to a companys online reputation. The field of SEM is dotted with many more bad ideas that look like good ideas, so before putting any new idea into use, a web master would do well to call in an expert.
Another important element in any link building plan is paid inclusion. While many search engines and directories are free, quite a few either require a fee to include a site or give higher rankings to sites that pay. Since the difference between sites that get visitors and sites whose links are rarely clicked can be measured in a very few ranking points, many companies find it worthwhile to edge their web sites up the listings by paying for a better ranking.
Search engine marketing requires a delicate balance of free and paid link building, paid search engine and directory inclusion, and search engine optimization. When all the parts of an SEM strategy word together, they can shoot a web page to the top of the search engine results. The important part is to get the right balance, linked to the right sites, with the right experts managing.

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