Website Marketing

These two services are performed in the final stage of a website production and are extremely important in the overall success of a website.  Having a beautiful, functional website is a great first step, but if no one sees it then often your goals will not be met.  SEO and SEM are both methods of reaching a particular audience, they just have very different methodologies for getting to that point.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of content creation, on-site optimization, media networking, and linking with one eventual goal — rank your website in the top results for its most popular keywords.

Pros

• Online traffic and rankings remain in place long after service is stopped.
• Opportunity to rank highly for extremely valuable keywords.
• Do not pay for individual clicks or site views.
• Credibility and strong online brand.
• Best ROI over long term periods (most cases).

Cons

• Long term dedication needed to be successful.
• Results are often not seen for extended periods. It could take 4 months to reach page 1 ranking, which then might take visitors from 100/month to 10,000/month overnight.
• Time period contract needed to ensure work can be performed steadily over time to reach a specific result.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is the creation of text or visual advertisements that can be displayed on the most popular search engines (Google) or through networked websites.  For many clients, this is a preferred marketing method as you can set your own budget, and measure results (ROI) easily and clearly.

Pros

• Easily set budget limits, can range anywhere from $50/month all the way to $50,000/month.  It is your choice.
• Only pay for advertisements that are clicked.
• Reach a targeted audience quickly, no lag time.
• Start or stop service as needed.
• Less expensive in the short-run for immediate results.

Cons

• Less credibility than SEO generated (organic) search engine results.
• When service is stopped, traffic and conversions stop.
• No real long term benefit.
• Worse ROI over long term periods (most cases).