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Search Engine Marketing: A Perfect Blend Of Social Media, SEO and SEM PR
By Julie Ann Ross (c) 2009

Search engine marketing (SEM) has evolved to become the
most reliable strategy for reaching your target audience
and driving conversions on the internet. It compels your
market to visit your website; it boosts your company's
exposure within your space; it positions your product as
the solution to their problems. As a result, your sales
increase. Your revenue and profit swell. Your ROI rises.
And your business enjoys stronger branding and customer
loyalty in the process.

Many of your competitors are already using SEM in an
attempt to capture a larger portion of your market. There
has never been a better time to protect and expand your
territory. This article will explain why search engine
marketing should be a critical piece of your online
marketing strategy. You'll discover the value of hiring an
SEM expert versus forging a path on your own. We'll also
describe how SEM PR and SEM social media tactics converge
with SEO and PPC to produce a groundswell of momentum.

Why Search Engine Marketing Is Critical

Search engine marketing blends SEO, pay-per-click
advertising, and social media strategies to give your
company a higher level of visibility within the search
engines' listings. However, visibility without sales
defeats the purpose. And therein lies the true value of SEM.

Your online marketing efforts must generate conversions in
order to justify the investment. Conversions might include
a prospect buying your product, signing up for your
newsletter, or becoming your affiliate. It might include
subscribing to a continuity program that generates monthly
revenue. Search engine marketing not only allows your
company to approach your audience, but it engages the
conversation that is already occurring in their mind. It
compels action, which lifts your conversion rate.

Is Hiring A Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Expert Necessary?

Every tactic that is leveraged within a comprehensive
search engine marketing deployment can be learned. The
problem is, doing so is incredibly time-consuming. The
algorithms that govern the search engine's organic rankings
change constantly. The major PPC platforms endure a
seemingly endless string of upheavals. Social media sites
are still in their infancy; as they mature, so too, will
the tactics required to leverage them. Developing
proficiency in each area of search engine marketing takes
an enormous amount of time.

An SEM expert will design a search engine optimization
campaign that pushes your website to the top rankings for
your chosen keywords. They can also launch a pay-per-click,
PPC, advertising campaign that further improves your
exposure. Social media marketing tactics can be integrated
to dovetail with the rest of your search engine marketing
deployment. Even though you could launch these strategies
on your own, do you have the time to learn and apply them?

SEM PR: Melding Search Engine Marketing With Public
Relations

SEM PR has its roots in search engine optimization. Years
ago, online public relations was managed largely through
the creation and distribution of online press releases.
This is still effective today. These press releases gain
traction in the search engines' organic listings. That
builds your company's brand while helping to push negative
publicity off the first page of results.

Today, online public relations has been incorporated within
a broader search engine marketing context that includes
PPC, SEO and online reputation management (ORM). For
example, a press release can be distributed online in order
to gain traction within the natural listings. Then, a PPC
campaign can be launched to direct your audience to the
press release on your website. Links can be placed
throughout the page to other positive coverage. The more
points of exposure, the less likely negative press will
penetrate the top rankings in the search engines. This is a
core element of ORM and by extension, search engine
marketing.

Leveraging SEM Social Media Optimization For A Competitive
Edge

Social media sites began to enjoy ranking authority in the
major search engines a few years ago. That authority has
only increased over time, making social media an important
cog in search engine marketing. This is the reason SEM
social media optimization has become critical for companies
that need to reach niche markets.

By establishing a presence on the top social media sites, a
search engine marketing agency can develop multiple entry
points in the organic listings. That increases your
audience's exposure. It also prevents bad press from
infiltrating the top listings for your keywords. These
advantages converge to deliver a competitive edge for your
company.

The Value Of Hiring A Professional SEO Marketing Consultant

Time is the most valuable commodity of all. Once it
expires, it cannot be retrieved. This is why a growing
number of companies - including your competitors - are
opting to hire a professional SEO marketing consultant.
They realize that search engine marketing strategies are
complex. The learning curve is steep. What's more,
deploying PPC, SMO and SEO tactics poorly can do more harm
than good. Precision in execution is critical.

If you have already mastered each of the strategies that
make up search engine marketing, and have a refined the
systems through which to deploy them, you may not need an
SEM expert. Otherwise, you might be fighting an uphill
struggle. Consider contacting a search engine marketing
specialist today.
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With 20 years in marketing, advertising and 10 years in
internet marketing, Rostin Reagor Smith has refined the SEM
SEO Expert Formula.  Hundreds of internet marketing case
studies have combined to build the formula that drives
search engine ranking through Social Media Optimization,
Online Reputation Management, Social Marketing and web 2.0
communities and resources. http://www.rostinreagorsmith.com
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