Internet Marketing and Advertising

1997 – 1999 were the early years of search engine era. Internet Marketing and more specifically search engine marketing mainly consisted of submitting your sites to the search engines. These “voices from the past” are still heard today when this or that Search Engine Optimization company and / or automatic submitting software will claim to do search engine promotion for you by submitting your site to hundreds and thousands engines and directories. The search engines’ indexing programs, called “robots” or “spiders”, looked through all of the HTML code of a page and used some page ranking algorithms that they kept in secret.

Those days were spammers’ Heaven: it was rather easy to get your site ranked high. You could just use your keywords lots of times on the page, in the META tags, HTML comments etc. and hide it from the human visitors by making the text tiny or completely invisible with the help of HTML tricks. The search engines didn’t have any sophisticated technique to recognize this kind of spam, and such sites usually got high rankings very easily. Today, you still can find some samples of this primitive optimization (however you will have to give it a hard try, because nowadays most of such Web projects have been banned by the search engines for excessive keyword usage).

The only exception was Yahoo which has always been indexed by humans who could in most cases identify and ban spamming pages.
Gradually, search engines started recognizing spam and applying corresponding penalties to Web pages using spam methods. However, search engine optimizers were always one step behind the search engines in finding new ways of cheating the indexing algorithms. Hence each search engine is committed to delivering only relevant results to its visitors, the engines needed to take control away from the spammers and auto-submitters. Many began to try different ways of indexing.

The Rise of Google

If someone is asked today about the first search engine to remember, the answer will be Google in 100% cases. Google has started its way to be the King of search engines in 2000 and in 2002 its right for this title has been firmly established, with around 70% of searches done on the Internet. While other search engines were focusing on transforming to universal portals, Google kept a simple and – which has become its distinctive feature – fast interface that solely targeted delivering relevant search results.

Google also developed advanced features such as indexing and searching PDF (portable document format) and SWF (shockwave flash) files. Additionally, Google’s sophisticated techniques to use the “off-the-page” factors made it extremely spam-resistant. Google’s dominance has become steady in 2000 with Yahoo having switched from Inktomi to Google as secondary search result provider. Now, Yahoo uses the combination of Overture’s and own search software and index repository, thus being fully independent on Google, however, without any slightest impact on the dominance of the latter.

Global Consolidation

By 2001, the results of all major engines were produced from a number of mixed / hybrid sources. Yahoo search results combined Yahoo-directory listings, Overture (PPC) results, and Google results. MSN provided results from Overture (PPC), LookSmart , and Inktomi.

The years 2002 and 2003 brought major reshuffles among search engines: in this period, Google purchased Blogger.com, Yahoo bought Inktomi, and AltaVista and AllTheWeb became a part of Overture. Also, there were many shifts caused by emerging search engine partnerships. Further in this course we will give you a complete and actual chart of relationships between the contemporary search engines.

Search Engine Marketing Today

If you thought nowadays search engine marketing can still be done by acquiring (and using) an auto-submission software, drop this idea since now on. Search engine marketing requires an integrated approach to improving site content, quality and popularity. For a Web site to reach its top potential, it must incorporate target audience analysis, competitive analysis, cost per click optimization, and – last but not least – copywriting and copyediting. And, because things keep changing, search engine marketers need to devote a good deal of time staying on top of the SEO industry and its trends.

Today very few (and mostly inexperienced) optimizers / marketers would use spam methods to achieve high ranking. In many cases, spamming and the so-called “black-hat” SEO is recognized by automatic spiders, for these become more and more intelligent. Even though we describe major spamming methods in the end of this course, we do it only in the sake of your awareness. We do NOT recommend using them, as there’s no guarantee at all they can help, whereas it’s very possible that your Web visibility can be seriously damaged as a result.

The Future of Search Engine Marketing

Search engines have already developed into sophisticated systems, and no doubt they will continue to enhance their technical aspect, with improved capabilities to index pages that are located deeply within the site (many links away from the initial page). Also, their abilities to handle dynamically generated pages (e.g. shopping carts) can be expected to grow. Among other perspective trends are advanced non-HTML content indexing (such as PDF and graphics), improved ability to rapidly integrate new content such as news using XML feeds or other technology, organization of search results into logical categories (sometimes referred to as clustering), and other advanced features. For insights into the future of search, you could visit Google Labs ( http://labs.google.com). This is the beta area where Google showcases some of its upcoming technologies.

However, the traditional “highest-bidder” approach makes SEM feel more and more like traditional print advertising. The Integrated Approach to SEM anticipates that in future, best marketing efforts will aim to leverage the three components: paid advertising and analytics, all-sided site and content optimization and qualitative off-the-page factors enhancement. That is why we prefer to call the functions provided by Web CEO “Search Engine Marketing” rather than “Search Engine Optimization”. When all is said and done, it is the traffic you get and the way this traffic converts that matters – not even your site rank on a search engine. You can rank worse than your competitor, yet the percentage of your visitors that turn into buyers will be so high that you actually outperform your competitor several times.

About the Author

Carmen is the VP Client Relations of Ms. SEO Inc., a Calgary based Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing Company. Ms. Seo Inc. works with their sister company Ms. Hype Inc., a Calgary Website Design Company, and their parent company Cre8 Hype Solutions Inc., a Calgary based Internet Marketing Company, to offer their clients a powerful online presence.

Tags: Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, search engine optimization company

Where are your ads being displayed?

The Untold Secret Of Pay Per Click Advertising:

An often misunderstood reality of Pay-Per-Click advertising is that many times you can’t determine where you ad will be displayed once you sign-up with one of the PPC Search Engines. In the incestuous world of online advertising, companies are often simultaneously competitors and partners. This is never more true than in the case of Search Engine Advertising.

Even The Big Guys Do It:

If the Pay-Per-Click program you’re using is from one of the major brands that has it’s own consumer search destination site (Google, Yahoo, Lycos etc,) it’s a little easier to tell where your ads will show up. However, even if you’re working with the major players, your ads won’t be limited to the Search Engine you signed up with. For example, Google has agreements with Lycos, Ask Jeeves, AOL, and other lesser known brands, to display ads from the Google AdWords program. Yahoo has relationships with MSN, and CNN.Com to display ads from its Overture Pay Per Click Program. Lycos owns HotBot.Com and has partnered with affiliates outside its network to increase the distribution of ads from the Lycos AdBuyer Pay Per Click program.

Distribution Strategies Of Smaller Search Engines:

Once you go beyond the major Pay Per Click Advertising programs it becomes increasingly difficult to know where your ads will appear. Most of the second tier Search Engines rely exclusively on networks of unknown sites for their distribution. FindWhat.Com, Kanoodle, Enhance and Search 123 don’t operate sites that consumers use to search the web. Because of this they have developed relationships with thousands of smaller sites to display ads from customers who sign up for their Pay Per Click programs.

Affiliate Traffic Isn’t Necessarily Bad:

Just because a Pay Per Click Advertising program doesn’t have its own search site to drive traffic doesn’t necessarily mean that the traffic is of lesser quality. Like everything else when it comes to a successful PPC Advertising campaign, the key is to track and analyze results on a daily basis. Set-up independent tracking URL’s for each PPC Search Engine you are working with, or use a third party tracking tool like Atlas One Point to track how many clicks you’re getting from each Search Engine, and how much of the traffic is converting into sales.

Can You Cherry Pick Affiliates?

As a rule, most Search Engines won’t divulge the list of affiliates they are working with to display your ads. Even if you are able to determine which affiliate sites are converting better for you than others, the Search Engines generally won’t allow you to cherry pick which affiliates will display your ad. However, some Pay Per Click Search Engines like Google allow you to opt out of their affiliate network.

Conclusion:

Driving traffic by displaying ads across a network of affiliate sites is a fact of life for Pay Per Click Search Engines. It’s not necessarily bad, but it is something you need to be aware of as you analyze which PPC Search Engines to use, and which ones perform. By displaying your ad on affiliate sites your marketing message is put in front of more people who are looking for the products you sell. The downside is once you move beyond the big brands and venture into the vast mysterious world of affiliate networks, there is a chance the quality of your traffic will decline. As long as you monitor your traffic sources for volume, and conversions, and adjust your campaigns accordingly you should be able to benefit from the increased distribution affiliates provide, while maintaining the profitability metrics for your Pay Per Click Advertising campaign.

Stan Hauser is a leading authority on Pay Per Click Advertising strategies, and the creator of http://www.pay-per-click-advertising-guide.com

Tags: Internet Marketing, online advertising, pay per click advertising, ppc advertising, search engines

There are eight elements that are required to get listed and ranked by major Search Engines and Directories, like Google, MSN, AOL, Yahoo, Excite, Looksmart, Lycos, Netscape, All-The-Web, Ask Jeeves and many others.

Those elements are: Statistics, Content, Meta Tags, Submission, Reporting, Links, Tweaking and Patience.

Getting listed and ranked by major search engines does not happen by sheer luck. It takes some organic (on-going) effort. Web site owners who wish their sites to show up, when people are searching the engines uisng keyrwords/phrases, need to pay close attention to, and address the following major elements.

Statistics – The first step is to monitor your web site and see how much traffic you are currently getting and from what sources. How much traffic comes from Search Engines and which ones produce the most traffic is critical information. You can automate this process using tools such as Web Trends. Analyzing the traffic report can also tell you a lot about its. For example, if you find out that most people are “entering” to your home page and “exiting” from home page, that tells you that visitors do not find your site serious, or attractive, and you need to improve the look&feel of the site, or improve its usability.

Content – Your web pages should be content rich. This means that your pages must be well written and based on the keywords and phrases that best describe your company’s products or services. As an example, if you make “copper jacketed clamps” and “heavy duty vises”, you need to write a web page specifically for those phrases and other keywords/phrases related to your business.

Meta Tags – Meta tags are the HTML codes that go at the beginning of your web page that list your title, description, keywords/phrases, and other important elements. Not all Search Engines use Meta tag information. However, the ones that do will rank your web site high, if you use the proper tags.

Submission – Submission is the manual process that requires submitting your URLs to the Search Engines in which you want to be listed (indexed) in. After you submit, some Search Engines can take weeks or months before your web pages are indexed. You will want to submit every month or so until you see that your web pages are being listed. When you do get listed, your listing might start out low, but with on-going tweaking, your pages should rise up higher in the rankings.

Reporting – Keep a monthly record of your ranking for each keyword/phrase on all the Search Engines you submitted your site to. Using this report you will always know how well the pages are ranked. Over time, this report will help you determine if you need to make any further changes to your pages to improve their ranking.

Links – Creating links going from your site to other sites, links on your pages (linking pages within your site), and links from other Web sites that directly point back to your web pages are very important. The more specific (based on your keyword/phrase) these links are for a particular page, the higher ranking you will get on Search Engines like Google and others.

Tweaking – It might take a few months before your pages are indexed by the search engines. Once they are indexed, and positioned, it will be time to decide what changes are necessary in order to obtain an even higher ranking. Remember, it is an organic process. These changes might require modification to the page content, and tweaking the HTML code and Meta tags.

And finally, Patience – Getting your pages to rank high on the major Search Engines will take patience and persistence. The process of making your pages Search Engine friendly (optimized) is an organic process. Therefore, one has to stay with the process for as long as it takes. The results are well worth the effort.

Hadi Shavarini is the General Manager and co-founder of Blue Robin Inc.- Building eBusiness Infrastructures. Hadi has been involved with web development since mid ’90s. http://www.bluerobininc.com

Tags: Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, web site optimization