Best SEM Ever

SEM, or Search Engine Marketing, is a process that involves setting up an advertising account with major search engines (namely Google, Yahoo and MSN), of whom will display your text or banner ads for keywords of your choosing.

How does it benefit me?
SEM allows you to achieve one not-so-simple goal, very quickly: get on the front page of Google for a keyword term! For instance, if you can't wait for your "used cars in NY" site to achieve a first page ranking for that term through organic (natural) means, SEM will get you there in minutes!

What's the catch?
As you may have imagined, SEM is not free: you pay a fee each time someone clicks your ad. As with any advertising method, it's hit-or-miss in terms of whether that visit will convert to a sale or a return visit. Therefore, your ads must be highly targeted while conforming to search engine protocols. To really stand out, your ads should be highly effective, fully optimized, and should let the visitor see exactly what they were expecting after clicking it.

Does SEM require professional experience?
No - anyone can simply pick up on a SEM campaign on their own. However, without superior knowledge of title, description and URL optimization, landing page optimization, keyword research and daily monitoring skills - your ads will cost you dearly, and your results will be mediocre, at best!

Search engine marketing involves a mix of marketing proficiency and a dash of creative writing, along with a strong foundation of SEO (search engine optimization). Let me explain:

• Marketing: Your site obviously has a theme, a company culture, or something that makes it shine above the rest (i.e., your competitors). This should be reflected in the ads you write. You are the best, you already know that... but how will you get others to believe it? Do you know your niche's audience, and what they're looking for? How about their purchasing behavior, what's the one of two most important purchasing factors they'd want, that you have? Without a background in marketing, this can be a struggle.


• Creative writing: If you can't write eloquently, with emotion, or at least with a little bit of "spice," your ad will be get lost in the pile. Studies show that the most successful ads either raise awareness of a problem on a consumer's mind, display something catchy and memorable, or entice a click in a way to a page that not deceptive, but "gives them what they want." Do you have the lowest price around? Why not display it right on your ad's headline? Knowing all of the little tips and tricks that have shown proven success is what separates the men from the boys!


• Search engine optimization: Without a solid understanding of SEO and keyword implementation within an SEM ad, your ad will remain to be set at its top price, regardless of how good your product is. You see, search engines reward ads if they're extremely relevant to the keywords they're advertising for. Otherwise, they pay more if the ad doesn't even mention the keyword or its synonyms. It goes far beyond that, though - so much, that an entire manual can be written on the subject. If you're not writing to appease both people and search engines, you'll be paying the price for it...literally!

Take a look at this little ad I put together for a short demonstration. It's cheesy - I know, but there's a purpose behind it:



This particular ad format is from Google AdWords. At the top of the ad, you can see the final result itself, with the editable ad fields below it. Did you notice the following things?

• The title is corny. Yes - it's true. However, you won't be forgetting it once you reach the bottom of this page. Think out of the box and create ads that catch the wandering human eye. You'll probably be competing with boring, cliche and generic ads. Who stands out? You got it.


• The ampersand is a great way to conserve characters, rather than typing out the word "and." There's a lot more to this, depending on each situation!


• Why is the display URL different from the destination URL? Well, the display URL can be whatever you want. It's a big part of the marketing & cost saving tactics when creating an ad. It doesn't have to point to a page of the same name - that's the magic of it! Knowing how to create an effective display URL is extremely important in gaining visitor interest in seeing your ad's destination (or landing) page.

There are many "tricks of the trade" in SEM. With my multi-year knowledge in maintaining highly successful SEM campaigns for small (10-50 employee) and large (1500+ employee) companies, you can be assured that I will use my full knowledge of the ins and outs of SEM for your benefit!

Ready to start your venture in the realm of online advertising? Hire me as your freelancer, and get a free evaluation of what will be involved in your individual campaign. I'll educate myself about your goals and aspirations, and will give you insight on what can be done to help you achieve success in SEM in the most effective (and COST effective) way possible!