Develop Your Search Engine Marketing Strategy

Many B2B companies are just getting started with search engine marketing.  If you're one of them, you'll want to know the difference between two basic types of programs:  "paid" & "organic" search.

Organic search:  When your prospects enter a keyword or phrase into Google or other search engine, the organic results are displayed in the main body of the page.  When those prospects are searching for solutions you can provide, you want to be there so they'll visit your site, contact you & buy.  

"Search engine optimization" techniques help you improve your ranking for important search terms and phrases (“keywords”).  SEO takes time to implement and pay off, but it can return a handsome ROI.  Techniques include:

• Structuring your site so it gets indexed by the search engines.
• On Page SEO - optimizing pages for specific keywords for better search rankings and maximum click through.
• Building authority links - building links to your website from important websites on the Internet.
• Anchor text links -acquiring links from other websites that contain the keyword text of your target search phrases
• Internal linking - creating anchor text links within your own site web pages that you want to rank in the search engines.

Paid or Sponsored Search: With paid search, you can buy listings in the “sponsored” area of a search engine.  There are a variety of paid search programs, but the most common is called pay-per-click (PPC).  Since business users dramatically prefer Google, the Google AdWords program is the best place for B2B advertisers to start.  And you can launch a campaign and start generating traffic a few hours later, making it a great option for new businesses and time-sensitive offers.

So how can search engine marketing help your business?  

Studies show that most businesspeople research their problems, potential purchases and vendors online and use a search engine in the process.  And the higher the price of the product/service, the earlier they search.  

You can use search marketing to find the interested prospects when they're raising their hands and saying "I'm interested."

Use it to:

• Generate new leads
• Sell products or services
• Generate awareness
• Divert traffic from your competitors

If you would like some additional help planning your search marketing initiatives, download our free guide: Develop Your Search Strategy.