10 Questions about SE Marketing 1

The term "SE" when used in reference to online marketing refers to "search engine(s)". Search Engine Marketing "SEM" most commonly performed by an "SEO" or as an abbreviated form for "Search Engine Optimizer" or "Search Engine Marketer" performs "Search Engine Optimization"; someone who specializes in the art of achieving high search engine rankings for related keyword relevant to the web site being marketed through the task of writing copy, HTML optimization/coding, and submission to the search engines. SEO's and SEM's can also perform tasks such as optimizing paid listings for maximum returns and managing PPC (Pay Per Click) search engine campaigns and developing link strategies to increase popularity and relevance scores - often referred to as Page Rank (PR) in Google.

These acronyms are what is more commonly used today, but I'm sure we will see more terms coming up as the market further fragments into specialized niches of online marketing methods.

02. How much traffic can search engines really drive to my web site?

This is a very tough question to provide a definitive answer for any site; the factors involved are extremely dynamic. This is because the answer lies in how commonly searched the keywords and phrases you are targeting as well as what engines you target and how high the rankings you actually achieve are.

In addition, your site must be extremely relevant to drive your website business. Sure "hotels" may be the most popular term searched this week (as an example), but if you run an online sex toy store not only will you be penalized by the search engines, you may receive 100,000 hits and generate 2 sales wasting bandwidth (money) and inviting bad repercussions for the long run. You will run the risk of being reported to the engine by an upset visitor and risk the possibility of getting booted or banned from the engine. Whereas by targeting the most relevant keyword related to the theme and products or services on your site, you can have the potential to achieve a very high conversion rate such as 5,000 sales per 100,000 hits.

It's important to note that simply targeting one keyword phrase will not bring a large amount of traffic. However, targeting an entire niche of keywords will bring a higher number of clicks but do not expect 5,000 clicks a day for a keyword term such as "fetish porn online" or "hardcore sex pics". Use tools such as WordTracker.com to help determine how often keyword phrases are searched and clicked or do a traffic estimate on keyword phrases through a PPC program like Google Adwords.

With other factors affecting your search engine ranking such as link popularity, design, layout, optimization and relevancy, you must reinforce the idea that if you run a retail or services based web site; it's not about quantity it's about quality.

Now if you run a traffic based web site whereas you generate income on an advertiser or sponsor basis, it IS about quantity. Still, to maintain high search engine rankings for the long term and for the long term success of your business (keeping advertiser and sponsor conversion rates high) relevancy is still key. The exception is that being a traffic portal or "vortal" you have the ability to reasonably target just about every keyword and phrase relevant to the content of your site and your advertisers programs/offerings. Therefore developing more and more SE friendly real estate around your web site is essential to achieving rankings for more and more keywords and phrases to drive your site more and more traffic over time.

03. What is CPM, CTR, and CPC?

CPM stands for "cost per thousand impressions" and is a common term used in the mainstream e-marketing arena, especially by online ad agencies and for buying traffic in high volume campaigns. The purpose of this term is to establish an industry standard for measuring the amount of traffic being sold, such as a meter refers to a standard measurement of length. The CPM of a website can vary greatly from 1$ to 20$. Often the amount is established based on the CTR - the Click Thru Ratio (Rate), or how many impressions (banner VIEWS or number of times your banner is served to a web browser) it takes for a user to click that banner and visit your site. CPC is an acronymn for "cost per click" and relates to "CPA" or "CPL" - cost per acquisition or lead. Some use CPC as a cost per customer which many view as confusing and incorrect. In internet marketing language here, CPC is cost per click.

For example, if you buy 1,000 impressions for 10$ and receive 100 clicks to your website from that campaign, your CPM = 10$ and your CTR = 100:10 or 10:1. This will establish a cost per visitor/click amount for you to consider when calculating your ROI (Return On Investment). In this example our Cost Per Click is one dollar per visitor. Your ROI will be established when calculating the sales generated by that campaign of 1000 impressions. Welcome to Internet Economics.

Here is a breakdown:

Budget spent: 10$
Impressions Purchased: 1000
CPM: $10
Cost per impression (CPI): $0.01
Clicks gained: 100
CTR: 10:1 (Every 10 times the banner was shown, it was clicked) or 0.10%
Cost per Click: $0.10
CPA: If this campaign generated 2 new customers, your cost per acquisition would be the amount of the campaign divided by the number of new customers. In this case it would be $5.00.
ROI: Your return on investment is the amount of total profit from the campaign. If the 2 new customers generated $50 in new business, your ROI is $40.

Google, Yahoo, Google, AOL, Google, MSN, Google. Haha, well once you do your research you will realize that it all comes back to Google these days. Google carries more market share than any other search engine network as of late 2005. Since getting indexed in Google is free this is the premier place to first focus your search engine marketing efforts. Yahoo now makes it possible to enter your URL in the default search results for free - foregoing the 300-600$ listing fee for the Yahoo Directory. Once you get indexed in Google (4-6 weeks depending on when you submit) your results will begin to appear in other engines in no time. Patience pays though; wait until Google re-indexes (wait about 5 days after the first of the month and search for you domain name) to see if you've been included before you resubmit.

MSN has a free submit form available as well as a paid inclusion program. Since MSN is gaining popularity as an alternative to AOL, being included here is essential. Lycos, Altavista, All the Web, and others have been absorbed by their larger counterparts and it is not possible to individually target smaller engines - targeting the whole is the best option.

05. How do I get a #1 ranking?

As the saying goes "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again"! Ultimately the key to good search engine ranking for most keywords and phrases is good, solid, clean HTML optimization and good content. Give the search engines what they want, but take your time to find that happy medium. Don't go overboard with keyword stuffing, hidden text, huge Meta tags, invisible links, and God knows what else. Keep your home page clean and provide indexable content and spiderable links that the search engine can eat up. And most importantly, read though the past Traffic Lounge lessons here on Cozy Academy for a recap of all the key factors of optimization for the best SE marketing tips around!

Top 10 Questions about SE Marketing continues in Lesson #20 here in the Traffic Lounge!