Searching, searching, searching

SEO, PPC, SERPS -- what are these terms?  They sound like CEO, ABC and slurps.  The tech world is filled with acronyms and tech conversations can sound like a foreign language.  I was fortunate to recently attend a class on "Practical Search Marketing," sponsored by  SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional's Organization) and Bentley College Center for Marketing Technology.

Today, every business, no matter how small, needs a web presence.  Yet, this is not enough.  It's also vital that you can be found on the web.  This is the premise behind search engine marketing.  Wikipedia defines search engine marketing (SEM) as:

"a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs). According to SEMPO, SEM methods include: search engine optimization (or SEO), pay per click (PPC), and paid inclusion in a search index." 

Sounds like a mouthful, doesn't it?  It all comes down to using special techniques to be more easily found on the Internet.

The class was taught by two experts in the search engine marketing field, Andy Komack, President, and Derek Edmond, Search Marketing Manager, of KoMarketing Associates.  The Bentley College Center for Marketing Technology facility is a bright, spacious amphitheater, filled with the latest PC's.  We did several hands-on exercises during the day, which were particularly helpful. 

Class highlights were:

1. Good content drives successful search placement.
2. Your customer's prospective is the most important.  When developing keywords, use words that your customers might use to find your site, not just industry jargon.
3. Google, Yahoo and MSN Live Search represent over 80% of all online searches.  Focus your energy on getting high search rankings in these three.
4. Online search guidelines published by the top three search providers are great resources.  Reading these can save you a lot of time and aggravation later on.
5. Links can really make a difference in search placement.  Search engine algorithms are top-secret, but they do take into account the relevance of links to and from your site.   

All in all, it was a very useful and productive day.  I would highly recommend this class to anyone looking to improve their company's search rankings.  Practical Search Marketing will be offered again on March 28,2008 at Bentley College Center for Marketing Technology.

Nancy Loderick