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Search Engine Marketing and Optimisation: Part 2 - Archive

Seasonal Search Shifts and SEO, By P.J. Fusco. Clickz, June 22, 2005. "Yesterday was the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, marking the beginning of summer. For search engine marketers, the summer solstice marks the time to change gears yet again in tandem with seasonal search shifts. While searches for polo shirts and iced teas rise, searches for parkas and hot chocolate fade. As students and teachers enjoy their summer breaks, search engine marketers ready back-to-school campaigns for next month, refreshing last year's keyword research and retooling for the latest search trends and buying patterns..."

The Secret Sauce In Web Site Marketing, by Scottie Claiborne. Web Pro News, 16 June 2004. "Web site marketing is about getting people to your site, then convincing them to take action: buy, join, subscribe, read more, etc. I'm going to give you the secret to unlocking the potential in your website. Right now. Absolutely for free. (Of course, if you WANT to send money, feel free to do so!..."

Secrets of a Powerful Marketing Campaign. Promotion Data, June 3, 2003. "If you have a website, chances are you have fallen victim to burst marketing (and thus wasted valuable money). The natural inclination for most website owners is to advertise only in the most recognized places, such as highly visible websites, recognized industry leaders, expensive pay per click search engines, or other expensive off-line venues. Spending a large amount of money in a very concentrated form, they hope to realize a return with the only a few untested advertisements. This is burst marketing, the practice of website owners to market their websites in short, expensive, and usually ineffective bursts..."

Self-Funding Search Engine Marketing, By Kevin Lee. clickz, November 14, 2003. "Self-funding marketing campaigns aren't a new concept. Yet they're particularly appropriate for paid search engine marketing (SEM). Campaigns are an investment. Marketers can set budgets and objectives to assure profit. Profitable campaigns are often self-funding. When a campaign segment's net profit exceeds campaign cost, that segment is self-funding..."

SEM and Branding Are Not Mutually Exclusive, by Pete Larmey. Search Engine Articles and Press Releases - September 13, 2004. "Mention the term "search engine marketing" (SEM) among those who engage in it and you’re likely to get the same three or four responses. It’s about being on page one of all the search engines. It’s about being #1 on Google. It’s about increasing brand recognition among prospects and customers..."

SEM and Online Publicity, By Shari Thurow Clickz, May 10, 2004. "Journalists, PR professionals, online publishers, freelance writers -- these groups hunger for publicity, both on- and offline. Journalists and freelance writers not only want their articles to be featured in newspapers and magazines, they also want their writing to be discovered through Google and Yahoo! searches. Online publishers want to increase their readership to sell more advertising space..."

SEM Budget Multipliers, Part 1, By Kevin Lee Clickz, September 10, 2004. "Most online media are purchased based on their ability to help the marketer reach concrete objectives. These objectives may include branding, but more often than not when it comes to search marketing, the campaign goal is some kind of conversion event or behavior. For these marketers, an important concept to bear in mind is the media multiplier. Media multipliers are factors that make a media budget deliver results as if it were larger. Certain efficiency factors multiply the effectiveness of a media budget. They deliver more impact and better results with the same budget..."

• SEM Budget Multipliers, Part 2, By Kevin Lee. Clickz, September 17, 2004. "Let's continue the discussion of media budget multipliers. A media budget multiplier is any strategy, tactic, or technology that results in an efficiency gain somewhere between the impression and the success metric (registration, order, sale, call, or page visit)..."

The SEM CEO's Predictions, Part 1, By Fredrick Marckini. Clickz, December 27, 2004. "Of all the topics I address in this column throughout the year, this is my favorite subject on which to write..."

• The SEM CEO's Predictions, Part 2, By Fredrick Marckini. Clickz, January 10, 2005. "What does 2005 hold for search?..."

The SEM Content Conundrum, By Kevin Lee. clickz, July 11, 2003. "The talk in the search engine marketing (SEM) sector these days is all about something other than search. It's about search-style ads that appear on content pages, a product that most players in the paid-placement space are now offering..."

SEM Growing More Complex, By Jim Hedger. Search Engine Guide, May 19, 2005. "Working out a marketing plan for new and evolving websites is a bit more complicated than it used to be. There are a few new things to be considered before embarking on a search marketing campaign than in previous years. Search marketing has become more important and is thus becoming more professional. With growing acceptance of online communication tools, and a number of alterations to the faces of search engines themselves, the marketing arena has been upgraded from a three-ring circus venue to a Super Bowl sized stadium..."

SEM is Iterative & Ongoing: 4 Key Reasons to Never Stop, by Sarah McCracken, Algorithmic Team Leader, iProspect Search Marketing Advisor, v.3, issue 6, October 2004. "All search marketers understand the importance of implementing search engine marketing (SEM) tactics to boost website visibility and traffic, but a surprising number fail to recognize the importance of continually monitoring these tactics and re-optimizing their sites..."

SEM Marketing Leverage, By Kevin Lee Clickz, September 3, 2004. "If you haven't already explained search engine marketing (SEM) to your CEO, CFO, president, or marketing VP, now's the time. Senior management will be pleased to learn about the revenue, profits, and return on investment (ROI) SEM provides. Explain to the top brass that unlike most other types of marketing, the concept of marketing leverage should be used to justify significant budget increases. Marketing leverage and business leverage are based on very similar concepts..."

SEM New Year's Resolutions, By Shari Thurow Clickz, January 3, 2005. "In the new year, I hope search engine marketers will turn over a new leaf. Below, my personal, and professional, New Year's resolutions for the search engine marketing (SEM) industry. Resolution 1: I will stop focusing on positioning as an SEO benchmark...."

SEM Power Politics: PACs, Nonprofits, and 527s, By Kevin Lee. Clickz, April 2, 2004. "At first glance, search engine marketing (SEM) opportunities in politics would be candidates buying ads on Google, Overture, MSN, and the others. True, SEM has tremendous potential for candidates. In addition to recent geotargeting advances, campaigns can launch quickly, messages can change frequently, and, most important, behavior can be targeted based on current audience concerns. The Web affords the opportunity to go beyond sound bites and educate voters..."

SEM - Research Measures Success, By Daria Goetsch - Search Engine Guide, February 2, 2004. "Search engine marketing success comes from good research. By applying research to understand your competition and target audience, your optimization efforts will succeed. Remember when homework from school often required some research on your part to complete? It is much the same scenario for search engine marketing: you need to apply yourself by researching in order to understand your competition and target audience. Your visitors need to relate to you and understand your message and what you want them to do..."

The SEM Shakeout: Are You Ready? By Kevin Lee clickz, November 7, 2003. "How important is it to you that search engine marketing (SEM) is essentially a zero-sum game? Chances are, it's critically important to your search campaign's long-term viability. An SEM shakeout has begun, due to the search zero-sum-game landscape. A zero-sum game is defined by a fixed amount of "winnable goods" or resources. What one player wins is therefore lost by all other players..."

SEM Wants to Embrace the CMO, By Fredrick Marckini. Clickz, September 20, 2004. "In 1996 and '97, search engine marketing (SEM) was called "search engine positioning" (SEP). Webmasters were in charge of it. When potential customers came calling to early search engine optimization (SEO)/SEP firms, the first contact was made by the Webmaster, sent on a mission by someone in IT when it was discovered the site couldn't be found in any search engine on any query..."

SEO and Paid Search Campaigns: Share the Data! By Fredrick Marckini. Clickz, July 26, 2004. "Data must flow between search advertising and natural search engine marketing (SEM) for maximum return on investment (ROI). Too often, it doesn't..."

SEM and Site Usability, By Shari Thurow. Clickz, February 14, 2005. " Usability and search friendliness go hand in hand. If products and services are easy to find, and the Web site easy to use (resulting in higher conversions), the site should easily maintain high-quality search engine traffic. Yet many search engine marketing (SEM) firms offering search-engine-friendly design don't have staff trained, certified, or experienced in Web site usability..."

Set a Search Marketing Budget, By Kevin Lee. Clickz, 9 May 2003. "Whether you're a brand, business-to-business (B2B), services, or even direct marketer, chances are search marketing budgets are a fact of life. Conforming search campaigns to fit a budget can be quite a challenge. Some direct marketers have the freedom to operate without budgets; as long as each marketing dollar returns the desired cost per action/order (CPA/CPO), the dollar is considered well invested. That translates to an unlimited budget, as long as the allowable cost is not exceeded..."

Slow and Steady SEM can Still Win the Race. By Jennifer Laycock. Search Engine Guide, June 24, 2005. "One of the most common reasons that I hear small business owners give about why they are not undertaking search engine marketing is that it's too much work and it costs too much money. While there's no arguing that both time and money are involved in proper search engine marketing, many companies overlook the fact that a little bit of time and a lot of perseverance can have just as much of an impact as a lot of work up front..."

Small Business Approach to Integrated Search Engine Marketing, By BJ Cook - Search Engine Guide, February 17, 2005. "Have website. Have marketing plan. Right? Not necessarily. A marketing plan can consist of goals for marketing personnel, new business developments or annual strategy planning. If your marketing "personnel" consists of you and you, then developing an integrated marketing plan may seem a bit out of reach. If you own the local pizza shop on South Street in Philadelphia, I bet you are wondering, "Why do I need a marketing plan and why does it need to be integrated?"..."

State of the Search Marketing Industry 2004, By Chris Sherman. Search Day, December 15, 2004. "Jupiter Research and SEMPO (the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) have released results of separate surveys providing one of the most detailed looks yet at current practices and advertiser spending in the search marketing industry..."

The Strategy of Search. Search Engine Position, July 20, 2004. "There's a reason not every chess piece moves the same way. Together, you can use the tactical advantages of a knight, a queen or a rook to execute your strategy. There are chess players that react to every move as it comes, playing the game at a purely tactical level. This is the way most of us start (and pretty much still the way I play). You don’t think ahead to what the next move could be. Strategy plays no part. Each turn, you look at the board and make what appears to be the best move..."

Successful Sponsored Search Engine Marketing Campaigns - Part 9 of  9. Enquiro, July 4, 2005. "Part 9 - Campaign Management - Monitoring Your SuccessIn Parts 1 – 8 of this series we took a systematic approach to building a successful Sponsored Search Engine Marketing Campaign. In this final article of the series we will review how to monitor and continually improve your campaign..."

Successful Sponsored Search Campaigns - Part 1 of 9. Enquiro Marketing Monitor, May 9, 2005. "PART 1 - Campaign Goal Building, Focus and Product Identification... Successful Sponsored Search / Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns don't just "happen". They take careful thought, time and planning to develop and implement. The temptation to jump into the campaign and side-step the planning is strong, but the penalty for giving in to this temptation is a less effective, more costly PPC campaign..."

• Successful Sponsored Search Campaigns - Part 2 of 9. Enquiro Marketing Monitor, May 16, 2005. "PART 2 - Target Audience - Identification and Understanding... In Part 2, we will identify and begin to understand who your target market is and what your target market wants from your products/services..."
• Successful Sponsored Search Engine Marketing Campaigns - Part 3 of 9. Enquiror Marketing Monitor, May 23, 2005. "PART 3 – Online Competition & Your Unique Selling Feature..."
• Successful Sponsored Search Engine Marketing Campaigns - Part 4 of 9. Enquiro Marketing Monitor, May 30, 2005. "PART 4 - Setting Campaign Goals & Success Metrics..."
• Successful Sponsored Search Engine Marketing Campaigns - Part 5 of 9. Enquiro, June 6, 2005. "PART 5 - ‘Best’ Keywords for Your Campaign..."
• Successful Sponsored Search Engine Marketing Campaigns - Part 6 of 9. Enquiro, June 13, 2005. "PART 6 - Campaign Strategy..."
• Successful Sponsored Search Engine Marketing Campaigns - Part 7 of  9. Enquiro, June 20, 2005. "PART 7 - Successful Landing Pages - This is Part 7 of a 9 part series dealing with the planning and steps required to build a successful Sponsored Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or Pay-per-Click (PPC) campaign. In Parts 1 through 6 we explored and identified..."
• Successful Sponsored Search Engine Marketing Campaigns - Part 8 of  9. Enquiro, June 27, 2005. "Part 8 – Successful Sponsored/PPC Ad Creation - This is Part 8 of a 9 part series dealing with the creation of a successful Sponsored Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or Pay-per-Click (PPC) campaign..."

Successful Website Marketing Needs More Than Great Search Listings, By Scottie Claiborne. Search Engine Guide, March 22, 2005. "Visit any webmaster forum, tutorial site, blog or seminar and you are likely to find dozens, if not hundreds of recommendations on how to optimize your site for search engines. Search traffic appears to be the Holy Grail, the answer to making an online business successful and the path to great riches. I'm here to tell you, it ain't always so..."

SWOT Team: Pondering Paid Search - From Clicks to Ka-Ching! by Yvonne Bailey and Hank Stroll. Marketing Profs, May 4, 2004. "Search engine marketing has helped to level the playing field for companies that lack the patience, expertise or dedicated team it requires to get their sites ranked high using “natural” search..."

Technology to Drive Changes in Search Engine Marketing, By: Jim Hedger. Internet Search Engine Database, September 8, 2004. "The coming years will be much more interesting as the business of search transits from its adolescence into adulthood. Search engine marketing has matured and is now viewed as an important component in mainstream marketing. The environment is going to change becoming more complex as new features and improved technologies create new opportunities for E-Tailers, marketers and designers. Practically all forms of communication will be digital in the coming years. As this trend continues, traditional mediums such as newsprint, paper phone directories, printed maps and commercial television will be transformed, likely absorbed by the growing digital world..."

10 tips for Search Marketing, by Frank Grasso. e-Channel online, 2004. "Search Marketing is an inbound and online form of direct marketing. The compelling advantage of Search Marketing is that customers are looking for your products, services or your company when they do a search..."

Three Search Engine Marketing Questions, By Jill Whalen. Internet Search Engine Database, 27 October 2003.

Tips to Avoid AdWords Hassles, By Tessa Wegert | clickz, July 10, 2003. "I've written about Google AdWords on several occasions, but my columns have generally been based on theory, examining the concept of the program and why it works for advertisers. After a recent experience launching and managing a particularly challenging campaign, however, I decided it was high time I offered up some solid advice and techniques for running AdWords campaigns without the hassle..."

'Tis the Season: Build a Search Engine Marketing Budget, By Fredrick Marckini. clickz, December 1, 2003. "Which comes first? The search engine marketing (SEM) budget or the SEM campaign?..."

Titles and Search Engine Marketing, By Shari Thurow. clickz, February 2, 2004. "When you hire a search engine marketing (SEM) firm, you'll hear the word "title" used frequently. Are search engine marketers referring to the HTML title tag or to a title and hyperlink in a search engine ad?..."

Use Search Engine Marketing Techniques to Drive More Traffic to Your Web Site, By Stacy Williams - Search Engine Guide, April 28, 2003. "Marketing on the Web evolves with lightning speed, but one fact hasn't changed in the past several years: It's still critically important to enable your Web site to be found by prospective customers using search engines..."

Want Branding With That? By Paul Bruemmer. Search Engine Guide, September 16, 2005. "Branding is a major goal for marketers around the world, and companies will allocate big bucks for brand awareness. It’s always been hard to measure branding -- until the Internet came along..."

Watching SEM Dials and Gauges, By Kevin Lee. clickz, December 19, 2003. "For true performance, racecar drivers, fighter pilots, sailors, and search engine marketing (SEM) managers must navigate by their instruments. Like flying or sailing decisions, SEM decisions are balanced with experience and intuition. Even with autopilot and GPS, a human element results in smoother, more efficient execution..."

What Search Engine Marketing Does Your Site Need? By Shari Thurow clickz, November 10, 2003. "One of the most widespread beliefs about search engine marketing (SEM) is search engine advertising equals search marketing. If your online marketing firm runs advertising campaigns on Overture, the firm must specialize in SEM, right?..."

When Client/SEM Communications Break Down, By Fredrick Marckini Clickz, October 18, 2004. " Would you issue a press release without conferring with your PR agency? Would you stop taking an important medication without first checking with your physician? Of course not. You engage professionals to guide you. You pay them for their counsel. Why, then, do some companies make changes to their Web sites without first consulting the search engine marketing (SEM) firms they hired? The answer has eluded me for nearly 10 years..."

When to Kill a Keyword Listing, By Kevin Lee. Clickz, June 4, 2004. "Your search engine marketing (SEM) budget is an investment. The money you spend with Google, Overture, FindWhat.com, Kanoodle, and the rest helps you grow your business, meet marketing goals, and deliver revenue and profits, at least if you invest your SEM budget wisely..."

The Who What and How of Search Marketing, by Frank Grasso. e-Channel online, June 2004. "Don’t optimise your site or pay for search engine traffic unless you can answer. 1 WHO is your website for? 2 WHAT do you want them to do? 3 HOW do search engines fit in?..."

Why Ad Agencies Fail at Search Marketing, By Shari Thurow. clickz, January 5, 2004. "Marketing blitzes are quite common in the ad industry. Produce a great TV spot, mention a Web address, and deliver a great user experience. What if your audience searches for your products on Google or Overture? Ensure your company appears in the top position. Make sure affiliate sites can appear in all top results for increased sales and branding..."

Why an SEM RFP Is a Mistake, Part 1, By Fredrick Marckini clickz, October 27, 2003. "Last week, I had the flu, but didn't have a doctor. So I drafted an RFP (Request For Proposal). I sent it to 10 local doctors and requested specifics: What types of shots do they typically give their patients? How do they conduct physicals? I asked how they would treat me if I were to develop something serious, cancer for example. I asked which pharmaceuticals they favored; did they prefer Pfizer or Merck drugs?..."

• Why an SEM RFP Is a Mistake, Part 2, By Fredrick Marckini clickz, November 3, 2003. "In part 1, we discussed how using a request for proposal (RFP) to shop search engine marketing (SEM) services is a mistake because it doesn't capture expertise or relationship. Nor do first-time buyers possess sufficient depth to formulate the specifications needed to select the right vendor. This week, we examine open communication and propose a request for information (RFI) as an alternative..."

Why Does Search Engine Marketing Look like a Penny-Farthing Bicycle? By Greg Jarboe. Internet Search Engine Database, January 11, 2005. "Why does search engine marketing industry resemble one of those old penny farthing bicycles, which had a large front wheel and small rear wheel?..."

Why Nonconverting Keywords Will Drive Search Ad Spend, By Fredrick Marckini. Clickz, August 23, 2004. "Apple's iPod wasn't the first MP3 player. It may not have even been the second one, for all I know. The first MP3 player was developed by Singapore-based Creative Technology Ltd., best known for the Sound Blaster card. In fact, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Creative Technology didn't merely have a lead in the MP3 marketplace, it had a commanding two-year head start on Apple's iPod..."

Why Search Engine Marketing Has A Passion for Web Site Usability, By Kim Krause - Search Engine Guide, February 15, 2005. "Watching a recent football game, I imagined two very different teams: one called “The Horders” and the other, “The Hunters”. In the game, it takes planning and skill to carry a football a few yards. There’s interference and distractions. Scantily clad dancing girls are screaming cheers nearby. How different, I wonder, is this from finding something in search engines? You have ads on the sidelines and pages to push through while trying to get to your goal. If you happen to find something that looks like what you want, you click on it and race down the field in a blaze of glory, until you realize you’re lost. Worse, you were just sacked by a web page piled high with gobs of stuff and tiny text soldiers are jumping on your head..."

Yahoo SM vs. Google AdWords, By Shawn Campbell. Search Engine Guide, June 7, 2005. "Yahoo has announced its new pay-per-click product: Yahoo Search Marketing (SM). This product was formerly known as Overture, but you may also recognize it as Goto.com, the name it went under prior to 2001. In our experience, advertising with Google AdWords has resulted in higher conversion rates than with Yahoo Search Marketing (SM). However, both programs have advantages and disadvantages. How does Yahoo SM compare with Google's AdWords? Let's start by looking at how they differ (all amounts are in USD)..."

Yes, Virginia, There Is SEM Brand Lift, Part 2, By Kevin Lee. Clickz, July 23, 2004. "Last week, I covered the Interactive Advertising Bureau's (IAB's) latest research on search engine marketing's (SEM's) effect on branding. It indicates pay-per-click (PPC) search listings can play an important role not only as a direct marketing vehicle but also as a branding medium..."

Last updated: 23 December 2005

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