Online Marketing
There are two types of marketing approaches for search engine listings. The first is; ORGANIC; search
engine results are natural or ‘free’ listings. The second is PAID; search engine results have are paid
advertisements AKA ‘sponsored links’.
Search engines will rank the most relevant at the top of the page. This is determined by the
searchers query. Depending on the search engine, the relevancy of the search is calculated in
different ways. On Google, both organic and paid results will appear for the same query, however
the results are separate from each other. This means that the ranking of an organic search result will
not interfere with the ranking of an ad. The advertiser can perform well and have a strong online
presence, even if their site doesn’t rank top in the organic search results.
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) = Creating new websites or altering existing in order for them to
rank highly in a search engine’s organic listings when users search on terms that are related to the
site’s content.
Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) = the process of marketing and promoting a site through paid listings
on a search engine.
Using keywords associated with your website improves the ranking results of your website a great
deal. It is vital to generate engaging content and appropriate keywords in order to achieve the best
results possible for your site.
The majority of search engines work by using a pay-per-click (PPC) service, meaning that your only
charged when a user clicks on your ad and not for an ad impression (the amount of times in which
your ad appears on the page).
It is becoming increasingly popular to advertise websites rather than opting for the organic search.
There are several benefits of the PPC service; advertising allows you to become more proactive
about when and where a listing for your site to appear. Targeting and engaging with an audience
becomes a great deal easier, you can specify the user’s location, demographic, language. You can
also determine how to reach your audience through the device they use i.e computer or mobile
phone.
One of the most attractive aspects of online marketing is that it can be tailored to fit any budget.
There are a number of formats you can use to target different users such as text ads, graphical
images, audio streams or interactive and video ads. Also, if you find that the ad is not as influential
as you first hoped and believe that a different approach is needed, the formatting of your ad can
easily be changed.
Direct response vs. Branding
Direct response
Direct response determines what action you want your audience to take after they have clicked
through to your website, it could be; making a purchase, sign up to a newsletter or request a quote.
The action of your desired user is called a conversation.
By setting up a cost per acquisition (CPA), the impact of your ad can be measured. This is a great
way of monitoring the performance of your ad and ensuring that your CPA targets are met.
If your advertising goal is to promote your brand then your main purpose for advertising online is to
raise awareness of your brand and engage with potential audiences. This is achieved by being ahead
of as many competitors as possible within your target audience.
Examples of how online marketing can help you:
- If you are an online retailer without a shop of location. Driving traffic to your website through displaying ads with keywords that will target your audience.
- If you own a small business that cannot afford traditional marketing materials/ methods: Narrowly target your ads to target niche audiences and closely control your costs and track your return on investment (ROI).
- If you own a large company but want to build on your brand awareness. Place images on sites you think your audiences will spend most of their time.
How can Google Ad Words benefit you and your company?
It is argued that the most beneficial aspect of Google ad words is how thoroughly measureable
it is. This makes it easier to understand what works and what doesn’t; every user’s click is linked
to a particular ad, keyword and search query. You can track each aspect and make improvements
and adjustments whenever you feel is necessary. This will enable you to engage more with your
audience and improve your return on investment.
Ad words will also be beneficial to you in terms of targeting audiences more directly. The ads will
target a user according to their query; the result being only highly relevant ads will be advertised to
the user. They are more likely to click on an ad if it is advertising what the user is searching for.
Want help with your SEO? Find out more by calling us on 020 3131 2230