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Techniques to Drive More Traffic to Your Web Site

Marketing on the Internet is constantly evolving but there is one fact that hasn't changed in the past several years -- it's still critically important to enable your web site to be found by prospective customers using search engines. Today, there are two main approaches to being found in search engines:

Traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - With traditional SEO, changes are made to your site's content to increase the chances that it ranks higher in the search engines' (unpaid) search results. An important step in SEO is to determine which search terms (i.e., words and phrases your prospective customers might type into a search engine) are most appropriate to target. SEO can be compared to public relations on the web. The placement you receive is highly credible since it's an unpaid, editorial sort of endorsement of your site. But results are not guaranteed.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising - With PPC advertising, you literally pay for performance, with "performance" being defined as a click-through to your site. Your site listing doesn't appear in the search engines' editorial results; instead, it appears at the top, bottom or side of the page under a heading that says something like "Sponsored Sites." You bid for your ranking, and when someone clicks on your listing, you pay the bid amount. A PPC campaign should include bidding on at least the two biggest players in the search engine business, Overture and Google. These two search engines have partnerships with all the other major search engines.

Yahoo just recently expanded a program that lets advertisers pay to ensure that their sites are included in its search results. Yahoo has indicated it will not have distinguishing marks on its individual search results that would allow users to differentiate between paid and unpaid results. Google, on the other hand, does not allow advertisers to be included in its traditional search results. However, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, Google does allow advertisers to pay for promotions that appear alongside search results, but these are clearly labeled as “sponsored links.”

In addition, a recent survey conducted by The Kelsey Group and BizRate.com shows significant usage of search engines by online buyers for finding local business information. The survey reveals that local commercial searches represent 25.1% of all searches being performed by online buyers, more than double the amount previously estimated by analysts.

In the end, search engine marketing, like most things, is more complex than meets the eye. But it offers many benefits, not the least of which is that it tends to be one of the lowest-cost and highest-impact marketing tools available. In these days of increased importance placed on marketing ROI, that's a welcome thing.

Monthly Statistic Reports And Analysis

Remember to analyze your web statistic reports on a regular basis to improve the performance of your web site. As a client of WebsiteDesigner.Com, these statistic reports are available to you via the WebsiteDesigner.Com Client Center.

If you have any questions regarding SEO and how it can benefit your business on the Internet -- give us a call (401-454-1487).

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