Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing continues to go through major industry changes in search engine optimization, Internet marketing software, pay-per-click advertising... just about everything related to online marketing.

With all this growth and all these changes, it's more important than ever to stay on top of the latest industry developments. 

If you rely on search engines to drive traffic to your site -- and especially if you're using search engine optimization strategies such as link popularity -- then you're web site traffic is very sensitive to any changes the search engines make to page ranking. 

Search engines use a variety of programs called filters and algorithms to rank web pages in its search results. They are constantly changing and updating the programs to ensure that listings are relevant and  actually related to the keywords people are searching for.

Search engines are required to make these changes regularly, otherwise search engine spammers would manipulate search engines into making unrelated sites appear in the top listings. (Imagine searching for "affordable gift ideas" and finding that all the top listings link to gambling and adult web sites!) 

A lot of online business owners who have been using ethical, commonly accepted techniques to improve their search engine rankings are finding that their search engine listings drop out of sight.

If your site listing has dropped, you're probably scrambling to figure out how you can fix the problem -- after all, a lower listing practically guarantees that you're losing money!

So what should you do?

1. Make sure your site offers relevant, high-quality content. Remember, the goal in making search engine changes is to ensure that top positions go to sites offering valuable resources and information. Search engines use sophisticated software to measure the "relevance" of your site's content to keywords that people search for -- so adding well-written content to your web site is still an effective way to improve your ranking.
   
   
2. Be careful not to "over-optimize" your site. In the early days of search engine marketing, people discovered a number of "loopholes" -- tricks that sent sites to the top of the search engines even if they had little or nothing to do with the keywords being searched for. These tricks include:
   
   • Hidden links and text (i.e., white keywords on a white background)
   • "Mirror" sites (copies of a site that are optimized for a single search engine)
   • "Link farms" (multiple web sites whose sole purpose is to link to each other)
   • "Doorway" pages (pages designed primarily for search engines, not for users)

   Search engines can now detect these and many other tricks, and it penalizes sites that use them by dropping their ranking dramatically. If you've hired someone to optimize your ranking, make sure they're not using any of these outdated methods -- or they may actually be damaging your chances of getting a top ranking!

   If you're using extensive affiliate links to create "link popularity" for your site, you should be aware that indiscriminate use of affiliate links can hurt your ranking, so be careful to link to sites with content that is related to yours.

3. Consider using paid listings to keep traffic coming to your site.  If you're still smarting after losing your coveted position in search engine results pages, the last thing you probably want to do is pay them for advertising! Still, as a short-term way of recouping your losses until you're able to get your ranking back up, you just might want to look into paid advertising.
   
   If you do, be sure to do your research and calculate how much you can spend while still making a profit. Pay-per-clicks can be an effective way to get traffic coming to your site in just a few hours, but be careful: A hastily implemented pay-per-click campaign can quickly get expensive!
   
   
4. Explore other search options. While it's true that most searchers go to Google first, you can drive fresh traffic to your site by working on improving your search results in some of the other engines. 
   
5. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Search engine optimization is just one of many ways to drive traffic to your web site. If your business relies too heavily on search engine optimization, you're putting yourself at the mercy of the search engine algorithms -- which are constantly changing!
   
   The best way to ensure that your site gets a steady stream of traffic is to combine a variety of traffic-generating techniques. Consider adding some of the following strategies to your plan (or if you're already using them, try thinking of ways to make them even more effective!):
   
   • Opt-in e-mail marketing
   • Pay-per-click advertising
   • Affiliate programs
   • Link exchanges

A lot of people are struggling to predict the next big trends in online advertising. And it's no easy feat! Technology is changing, sometimes so quickly that we can barely keep up... and even though it's easy to track specific results such as click-throughs for a single ad, there are so many variables to consider that it can be difficult to tell if an online ad campaign is even making a profit!

In the offline world, trends may come and go, but the formats stay pretty much the same: print, radio, and TV. But on the Internet, new technology and software seem to spawn new ad formats all the time. And although this rapid-fire development cycle can be rewarding for those in the know, it has fallen into a predictable pattern. A catchy new format comes out that gets dynamite results... within a few years, everyone is using it... and the ads that were so eye-catching stop getting noticed.

For example, in the early days of the Internet, people were excited about banner ads, which got high enough click-through rates to make them useful for just about anyone. You'll need a very good banner ad just to break even with the cost of running it, let alone make a profit. Think about it: People are so used to seeing banners across the top of a web page that most of the time, they hardly even notice them!

One thing is true about online advertising: you can't escape marketing technique lifecycles. The only decision you can make is whether you're going to follow the pack or stay ahead of it.

If you're using email marketing to promote your business on the Internet, you know that email is one of the most affordable, effective ways to convert interested prospects into customers, and to develop valuable relationships with your existing customer base. But the e-mail marketing environment is changing -- and if you're not already following a few basic rules, your e-mail promotions could actually wind up costing you money... or worse.

As you know, spam (i.e., unsolicited commercial e-mail) has long been one of the biggest problems facing legitimate e-marketers.  The CAN-SPAM Act (which stands for "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing") came into effect on January 1, 2004. It replaces a patchwork of more than 30 different state laws, and will make it easier for officials and companies to go after senders of illegal spam.

Take a look at the following list of deceptive email marketing practices. Depending on where you live, they may have been outlawed or just viewed as unethical in the past... but now under CAN-SPAM, they're all officially illegal:

• Falsifying headers (the part of an email message that specifies where it came from)
• Using deceptive subject lines to trick people into opening messages
• "Hijacking" other peoples' e-mail accounts or computers to send spam
• Creating email or IP addresses specifically to send spam
• Sending unsolicited email with sexual content
• Sending email to people who have requested to be removed from your list
• Neglecting to include a physical mailing address in commercial email messages

Serious offenders can now be fined up to $2 million or sent to jail for up to five years!

So if you're currently using email promotions to market your legitimate business, should you be worried? No. The legislation was created primarily to help prosecutors go after the worst offenders -- spammers who hijack bandwidth and use deceptive methods to send millions of offensive, unsolicited e-mails.

It's more important than ever that you make sure you're sending responsible, legal email promotions -- not spam! The best thing to do is to stay informed and design thoughtful, targeted email marketing campaigns. If you follow these five guidelines, you'll be on track to creating promotions that won't get you accused of sending spam:

1. Send email to people who have consented to receive it from you.
2. If you must buy or rent lists, be VERY careful about who you buy them from -- and about how you contact the people on those lists.
3. Use a subject line that accurately reflects the content of your e-mail.
4. Include a real return email address and a working "unsubscribe" link in every mailing you send.
5. If you're sending "commercial" email (i.e., promotions), include your company's physical mailing address in the body of the email.

Make it your mission to stay educated about e-mail marketing and spam laws. Laws and definitions are changing, so it's up to you to stay on top of new developments and ensure that your email promotions are responsible, legal... and ultimately, profitable!

Every year brings exciting developments as well as new pitfalls for businesses that don't keep up with changing markets, technology, and laws.

So watch your position in the search engines, make sure you're using the most effective new marketing tools, and PLEASE... if you're using e-mail to market your business, make sure you're sending legal, responsible promotions.

Keep a finger on the changing pulse of the Internet, and you should be on track to make this year the best year yet for your business!