If you've been trying to sell products or services online, you've probably heard a lot about Search Engine Marketing...
The most common question I get is whether or not SEM is really worth the effort.
I'm an optimizer, so obviously, my opinion is going to be somewhat biased - but I have to say that - yes - definitely it's worth putting the time into.
So why am I so strongly in favor of search engine marketing you ask?
The single most important reason to pursue an effective search engine marketing campaign is that it's the lowest cost, long-term strategy available to the online marketer.
There are many other ways to market your products and services...ads in ezines, banner ads, Pay Per Click ( PPC ) - just to name a few. The problem with all of these methods is that if you stop paying - your traffic stops too.
Or you could rely on email marketing to a list...
A couple of serious drawbacks with that. First you have to have a list of names that have given you permission to email them. How do you get those names in the first place? The most common method is to offer something of value on your site in exchange for the prospects name and email address.
So now, you still need to get the prospect to your site in order for them to become a subscriber to your list.
Yes, you can buy the names - but that could get costly and your response rates will almost always be incredibly low.
And these days - with the new CanSpam Law in effect - you need some way to ensure those people really wanted to be on the list you purchased. Sadly many lists are compiled without the prospects knowledge - meaning that you'll get a high percentage of flames or nasty replies to your marketing message.
So what makes Search Engine Marketing so much more effective?
The difference - in a nutshell - your prospects find you - with all other methods of advertising - you have to find them.
The prospects who find my site via the search engines are pre-qualified - they are definitely interested in my market niche because they had to type in related keywords in order to get to my site in the first place.
Which makes more sense to you? I know which one I prefer - in my view Search Engine Marketing wins hands down - every time!
So now that you understand why you should seriously consider search engine marketing - go here to get an overview of Search Engine Positioning - What's It All About?
http://www.seoplus.com/search-engine-marketing.html
