There was a time before the advent of the Internet when “location, location, location” was every retailer’s mantra for sales, meaning put your store in the right place to increase customer traffic and sales. The same holds true today, but in a very different form.
The era of Search Engine Marketing (SEM), the Vocal Minds Era
This is the era of Search Engine Marketing (SEM), the art of marketing on the web. And location still matters, but it is about your advertisement’s location on a search engine results page, not where your business is physically located. A good ad location means your ads will be seen by more people, with more chances for click-throughs. Click-throughs bring potential customers to your company’s website which, in turn, leads to more sales. Search result pages typically are displayed in three parts:
Pay Per Click (PPC) – are the sponsored links that appear above or to the right of the Local Business Listings and the Organic (or Natural). These are actual ads placed by advertisers that are willing to pay “X” amount “Per Click” to be listed in this area.
Local Business Listings (Profiles) – the area just below the top few PPC listings. This area is usually highlighted by a map of the local area of interest – noting local businesses relevant to the search. These listing are comprised of profile pages set up by local businesses and local business information the Search Engines were able to find on the web.
Organic (or Natural) Search Listings – the area below the Local Business Listings, defined as “Search Results.” These are links to Websites that the Search Engine found “Most Relevant” to the users search; based on the Search Engine’s proprietary algorithm.
With nearly 14 billion online searches every month it is vital to take advantage of the opportunity to deliver your company’s message to a user; at the moment when they are searching for a product or service that you offer. If you do not understand how to successfully apply Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategies to rank well in the three areas of a search result, then your customers will go to your competitors instead.
Contact Vocal Minds today to see how your company can benefit from VM’s Search Engine Marketing (SEM) services.