Fact: Just having a website isnt going to bring you business and customers!
Question: How do I bring business to my website?
Answer: Visitors...or in internet speak.....you need traffic!
Question: How do I get traffic?
Answer: Digital marketing......or in internet speak....Search Engine Marketing.
styleexpo
has expanded its offering of services to now include Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
Fact: With online advertising you are in total control of the costs.
Please read below to get an overview of how SEM can drive your business and download the
PDF of our services and prices.
Search Engine Marketing
SEM is about using search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo to attract visitors to your website. There are two ways to do this:
- Search engine optimisation (SEO). This is about getting your website to show up on the left-hand side of the search results page without paying for it. Often this is referred to as organic or natural listings. Clicks to these links are free but SEO requires patience and a long-term approach. Having a blog is an example of a way to improve your SEO.
- Paid search (PPC). This is the fastest way to get traffic to your website. Businesses place ads that are then matched to search queries in the various search engines. These sponsored links tend to be found on the right side of the page but most often at the very top of the page. You pay every time somebody clicks on your link which takes the visitor through to your website. The important part is that you determine how much you are prepared to pay per click and per day. Because everyone is willing to pay a different price to be clicked on, it is an auction process that determines the ad position on the page, with the top ad typically paying the most per click. PPC is essentially about making your product, services or brand highly visible on search engines by buying ads linked to search queries.
Search engine marketing is hugely important for all businesses, even if you are not selling online.
You absolutely must have a strategy for search.
Forrester Research, probably the most respected think-tank for the online/digital space, released in early March its US Online Retail Forecast 2009-2014, here are some of the main findings and predictions:
- By 2014 the US online retail will grow at a 10% compound annual growth rate, to reach nearly $249 billion in sales, from $155 billion in 2009;
- Online shopping will account for 8% of total retail sales by 2014;
- Online retail sales went up 11% in 2009, compared to 2.5% for all retail sales;
- 154 million people in the US bought something online in 2009, which is 67% of the online population;
- By 2014, 53% of total retail sales will be influenced by ecommerce, as consumers increasingly use the web to research before making a purchase.
Which is better? Paid or Organic search?
Both have their own strengths and weaknesses, but they are better when used together as part of the same marketing strategy.
Paid search is straightforward buying of advertising. It is easy to implement and it can be hugely targeted. Like reading a book, the eye automatically focuses on the left-hand side of the page. Therefore, the ads that sit at the top on the left are the most valuable and generate high response rates.
Organic search is essentially free but it takes longer. Our experience suggests a 6 months minimum commitment is required to achieve results. And the effort must be maintained even after you reach first page ranking, otherwise someone working harder will push you back down the results.
How does paid search work?
- It is buying text adverts on platforms such as Google and Yahoo! by bidding on search queries (aka Keywords). How much you are willing to pay for a specific search term has a huge impact on how far up you are on the listings.
- The most common method you can pay for your ad is Pay-Per-Click (PPC). This means you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. No click, no fee. Moreover, you set the amount you want to pay for each click and each day, therefore you have control of the advertising budget.
- Paid search is a very quick way to get to the top of a search engines results and can be implemented in a just a few hours.
How does organic search optimization work?
- It involves optimizing your websites content and HTML to both increase it relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines.
- It may target different kinds of search, including image search (ex: Flickr), local search (ex: Google Places), video search (YouTube), content search (ex: Scribd).
- Success in SEO requires outstanding content that will entertain, inform and be shared (ex: Corporate Blog).
- See our PDF for various applications to drive practical SEO.
Why should I bother with paid search?
Return on Investment for SEM
Investment in SEM can offer businesses a range of advantages ranging from highly tangible revenue increases to softer benefits such as improved brand perceptions. Here at Styleexpo, we believe an effective Search Engine Marketing campaign can help you achieve the following:
Ecommerce websites
- Increase targeted and relevant traffic.
- Lower cost per conversion/sales.
- Increase incoming links.
- Improve and leverage existing web design and content.
- Raise visibility through search engine visibility and online PR.
- Make landing page more effective.
- Enhance offline copywriting by learning which ads are converting online.
Non-ecommerce websites
- Increase targeted and relevant traffic.
- Generate new leads and sales (of products, services and/or content).
- Generate leads to be closed via another channel or by a distributor.
- Lower cost per lead, and ultimately sales.
- Increase incoming links.
- Improve and leverage existing web design and content.
- Raise visibility through search engine visibility and online PR.
- Make landing page more effective.
- Enhance offline copywriting by learning which ads are converting online.
Download the
PDF for a list of our services and prices.
