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SEM: The Search Engine Difference

published by Dan in SEO with No comments

There’s no question about it search engine marketing is here to stay. But aside from search engines being the main traffic source of virtually every website in the internet what makes search engine marketing special? According to Kevin Lee’s article entitled Introduction to SEM, it is unique because:

• it is non-intrusive - While most forms of internet marketing are intrusive SEM is actually very non-intrusive since suggestions/solutions/answers are given exactly when the user is looking for it or needs it. According to Lee SEM can actually be called “just-in-time marketing”.
• it is targeted - Results shown are always very targeted since it is the users that choose the search terms/keywords. This is a huge advantage over other internet marketing methods that advertises to a broader set of audience.
• the traffic it brings is voluntary or audience-driven - Not only does it not interrupt users from whatever activity they are doing but each user that reaches your site actually clicked on the link to your site. What this means is that they chose it above the other results presented in the search engine results pages and that they chose to be on the site and view the contents. Their action is voluntary making them more open to whatever suggestions/information they find on the site.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Why SEO is Crucial to Online Marketing Campaigns

published by Dan in SEO with No comments

For the past two posts we have been discussing the difference between search engine optimisation (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM). We have also discussed whether your website needs SEO or SEM. Aside from this it was made clear that SEO is actually a part of the process of SEM. Today I will explain why SEM, hence SEO, is actually crucial for ALL online marketing campaigns.

There are many methods that can be used for online marketing. There’s email marketing, advertisements in classifieds, viral marketing through online social networks and forums, and of course search engine marketing. All of these are very useful and when used together and integrated properly make for the best online marketing campaign. However according to Hitwise, in terms of the number of actual traffic sent, search engines represent the most substantial number making up 57% of the total upstream traffic during the last Christmas season. Of course, this is pretty important to marketers since Christmas as we all know is shopping season. Furthermore, throughout the year at least 50% of traffic to websites come from search engines.

What this means is simply that no online marketer can afford to discount the traffic coming from search engines, making SEM, thus SEO, crucial in any online marketing campaign.

Popularity: 16% [?]