Search Engine Marketing 101: Paid Search (Part 3 of 3)

December 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This is the third post in a three-part series, Search Engine Marketing 101. If you haven’t already, read Part 1, Fundamentals of Search Engine Marketing and Part 2, Search Engine Optimization.

Introduction to Paid Search

SEM 101: Paid SearchPay-per-click (PPC) advertising is often more flexible and straightforward than SEO. In PPC advertising, you are bidding for the ability to run ads for certain keywords. Search engines identify keywords from users search queries and other data and display ads with the highest combination of bids and quality scores (a 1-10 scoring of competitiveness). Impressions are tracked, but only clicks are paid for. (There is a great infographic here that goes into much more detail)

Paid search gives you much greater control over the content displayed on the SERP and may be used to supplement exposure for keywords which are low-ranking in organic results – due to competitiveness or priority. PPC programs allow you to choose which keywords to bid on, craft your own ads, and choose which page searchers will be shown after clicking on an ad. As with SEO, PPC can become very complex at a professional level, but these fundamental best practices will help build a strong foundation:

  • Learn the difference between broad, phrase, and exact match types for keywords. Google has a great explanation here.
  • Use a keyword tool to build a keyword list and group similar keywords. Google’s keyword tool
  • Use keywords in ad copy
  • Make a compelling calls-to-action in your ads
  • Review costs, quality score, and click-through rates regularly and make adjustments

Take your ads to the next level and try

  • Dynamic keyword insertion
  • Ad extensions
  • Remarketing campaigns

You can Do It!

Search engine marketing is an incredibly effective tool to have in your online marketing arsenal. With a basic understanding of what the moving parts are and how they work together, you are well on your way to success in search engine marketing.

Still need help getting started? Check out Luminate Marketing’s online and search engine marketing services.

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Search Engine Marketing 101: Search Engine Optimization (Part 2 of 3)

October 27, 2011 By 1 Comment

This is the second post in a three-part series Search Engine Marketing 101. If you haven’t already, read Part 1, Fundamentals of Search Engine Marketing. Stay tuned for upcoming posts on Paid Search. (Subscribe to the RSS Feed)

Search Engine Optimization

SEO 101SEO is often seen as the black magic of online marketing; instead of toad’s wart and ox tail, marketers use keywords and inbound links to somehow move pages around in Google’s SERP (save the toad’s wart and ox tail for calculating social media ROI :) ). However, as complicated as it may be at the expert level, the fundamental goal of SEO is to give search engines clear, consistent, and trustworthy signals on what your website or webpage is all about.

Within the vast array of ranking factors (there are hundreds), there are several that are quite effective and very much accessible to the every-day online marketer.

  • URLs – Use real words in URLs. Avoid URLs like www.mysite.com/?postid=123
  • Title Tags – Use clear, concise titles for pages on your website with targeted keywords incorporated into them.
  • Use targeted keywords throughout the copy as well as in
    • H1 headers
    • Images’ “alt” text
  • Build Inbound Links – Inbound links to a website or webpage indicate to search engines that other people think it’s important/relevant too.

    Reminder:     Before you do anything that feels like a shortcut, ask yourself it is primarily providing relevant, valuable content to searchers (hint: paid link services rarely do).

You can Do It!

Search engine marketing is an incredibly effective tool to have in your online marketing arsenal. With a basic understanding of what the moving parts are and how they work together, you are well on your way to success in search engine marketing.

Want more? Download our SEO Best Practices & Getting Starteg Guide

Still need help getting started? Check out Luminate Marketing’s online and search engine marketing services.

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Search Engine Marketing 101: Fundamentals of Search Engine Marketing (Part 1 of 3)

October 13, 2011 By 2 Comments

Gears - Fundamentals of Search MarketingThis is the first in a three-part series Search Engine Marketing 101. Stay tuned for upcoming posts on Search Engine Optimization and Paid Search. (Subscribe to the RSS Feed)

Search engine marketing (SEM) can be a daunting and confusing world. Much like the workings of an old watch, the variety of moving parts and complexity of their relationships can leave newcomers overwhelmed. To make matters worse, search engines reveal only certain aspects of their proprietary ranking and bidding algorithms, limiting many aspects of SEM to theories or educated guesses, about which there is often much debate.

But don’t despair! Remember that old watch? It’s really just a set of gears and levers. It takes training and practice to build a watch like an expert, but once you understand the fundamentals, it’s easy to get started.

So take a deep breath let’s look at some fundamentals of search engine marketing that will start you in the right direction.

Who’s Who, What’s What

Straightforward definitions of common terms

Search Query – Text the searcher enters into a search box

SERP – Search Engine Results Page; the page displayed by search engines with results for the search query

Organic Results – Listings on the SERP, which are a result of non-paid data collected by the search engine (both on a site and across the web)

SEO – Search Engine Optimization; the practice of tailoring a website’s content and data to gain higher positioning on the SERP.

Paid Search – Listings on the SERP whose placement has been purchased. Often designated by different background color and/or “Ads” or “Sponsored Results.”

PPC – Pay Per Click; the most common form of paid search results. Advertisers only pay for an ad when it’s clicked on.

Keyword – A term or phrase targeted by SEO practices or paid search bids

If it’s Too Good to be True

When starting with SEM, it’s tempting to find the quickest and easiest way to better rankings or click rates. But don’t forget that the primary goal of every search engine is to provide searchers with the most relevant results possible (after all, better results mean more searches, which means you and I will pay more to be in their results). So before you do anything that feels like a shortcut in SEM, ask yourself it is primarily providing relevant, valuable content to searchers. If not, you may succeed temporarily but be warned, search engines have become very good at identifying these shortcuts and penalizing offending sites.

You can Do It!

Search engine marketing is an incredibly effective tool to have in your online marketing arsenal. With a basic understanding of what the moving parts are and how they work together, you are well on your way to success in search engine marketing.

Still need help getting started? Check out Luminate Marketing’s online and search engine marketing services.

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