Computers have become an integral part of our life. Any information you may want to know is just a click away. Most people begin their search on web sites called Search Engines that are really nothing more than an Indexing and Cataloging service of the web sites on the Internet. More than 7.3 million pages of information are being added daily to the web. If you’re doing any kind of Internet based (or even brick-and-mortar) type business, you absolutely must be able to be found in Search Engines.

What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

It is basically the art of influencing online traffic to visit your web site and ultimately to achieve higher sales. This is done in two ways:

1. Deep Indexing of Site This means getting the maximum possible number of pages of your site included in the search engine database. A well-designed SEO strategy involves writing and incorporating high quality keyword rich articles to keep the interest of your targeted audience. Defining and incorporating a simple directory structure in the websites ensures that directories and file names hit your top keywords.
2. Better Ranking of the Site. This is art of crafting the Site/page for maximum user queries by getting better rankings (top of the page listings) in the Search Engines.

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SEM is basically accomplished in one of two ways.

1. First, you make the necessary changes to your web site to optimize it for the search engines. What you want to accomplish is to have the contents of your pages to incorporate specific keywords and keyword phrases, highlighting the titles of your pages, placing important keywords in hyperlinks, and good descriptions in both your anchor text and actual text of your page.You also need to get your site interlinked with the best of other online sources – these are called backlinks. This process can be slow in seeing results, sometimes up to 6-8 months before you produce viable results. But, the process is critical to your long term success of your website.
2. Next, is the paid way of promoting a site with “pay per click.” When done properly, this can be a very effective and fast way to get traffic to your website. Basically, you bids on your search phrases and when some one clicks on those phrases, the bid amount is deducted from your account.

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When to Start Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine ranking is not a one-time event, it requires a constant investment of your time and energy. You need to start your SEM strategy at the very beginning of the web design process itself. The website has to be built with patience and attention, and constant updating of knowledge is required to keep up with fast changing technology. Each search engine has their own formula for determination of site ranking, so watch for the industry trends and website statistics and make changes accordingly to stay on top.

Today no business can progress without a web presence. A well thought out search engine optimization strategy provides customized and well-targeted web site pages. How well you complete this will greatly influence your higher site ranking, getting you maximum SEM traffic, and ultimately more revenue.

Your ultimate goal should be to achieve a top 10 ranking for your chosen and targeted key phrases in premier search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing.