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Archive for June, 2007


Which One Do I Do? SEO vs. PPC

Monday, June 25th, 2007

It is already a popular fact that Organic Listings get more click-throughs than Pay-Per-Click Advertising “ Internet users dont usually prefer to utilize the Sponsored Listings for their search needs. While reports say that the click-through rate on Natural Search Results go up to as high as 70%, JupiterResearch says that a whopping 87% of commercial clicks actually happen on major Search Engines Results Pages (SERPs) Organic Listings.

Which brings us to one burning question, is SEO better than PPC or is PPC more advisable over SEO?

Search Engine Optimization

If you want to talk about a value-added discipline that can enhance your ranking on the SERPs, it is a no-brainer that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the way to go. Anyone can benefit even in a one-time engagement with service providers. SEO covers a lot of ground in inviting quality traffic to your website as it can cross over to Copy, Usability, and Social Media to name a few. Many say that it is ideal particularly for companies or site owners that look ahead to long-term profitability or monetization.

Search Engine Optimization, however, requires more effort over a considerably longer amount of time, typically accompanied by stress and results that will test your patience. You will have to involve yourself in Content Build-up, Design, and Link Building. These in themselves are already tedious commitments but ones that are also guaranteed to deliver consistent quality traffic for a long time.
Search Engine Marketing

The practice of Search Engine Optimization for the sponsored search results is technically Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Its best-known method “ unrivaled both in popularity and in effectivity “ is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising. With PPC, you do not avail of the ad space per se; you only pay every time a searcher clicks on your advertisement. Hence, PPC has established a reputation as a low-risk, high ROI optimization endeavor.

Another key benefit to doing Pay-Per-Click Advertising is the traffic it can generate from the exposure particularly for new websites. Since newbies wont immediately show up on the Organic Listings, PPC helps as the sponsored links show up on every search results page, including the first. You place higher as you bid higher. However, this is feasible only for those who have enough capital to spend “ and serious capital at that. In addition, some of the aspects about Pay-Per-Click are not too ideal because of the requirement for training along with getting people to help you (increasing your expenditures further).
Our Take

To conclude, there is no “real winner” between Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing. Neither can stand (and stay standing) on its own. You can actually make them work together, however, especially when you strike the right balance: keeping the dedication to optimization initiatives and managing a Pay-Per-Click Advertising campaign at the same time. This concept, simply put, means that you can already expect results from your PPC campaign while you strive to nurture your site to its maturity. But thats not all there is to it. All efforts should of course each provide you with high Returns on Investment (ROI). Else, they are plain useless.


How Businesses Can Benefit from SEO

Tuesday, June 19th, 2007

There is no doubting the convenience that the Internet brings to audiences from around the globe. Almost every type of business now thrives on the web: from health to travel to flights, fashion, credit, hobbies, news/media, mortgage, home/living, outsourcing, classifieds, and much, much more. For all these businesses, however, there is a common ultimate need: be found.

Internet users typically use Search Engines to look for something. So typical, in fact, that the three major players of web search “ Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft (MSN) “ generates a cumulative average of 7 billion search queries per month in the United States alone (with Google accounting for almost four billion, Yahoo! serving two billion, and MSN close to a billion).

Let’s face it, it is so easy to obtain your own spot in cyberspace nowadays and beautify it, so to speak. But in an age when the competition is excruciatingly stiff for popularity and placement before anything else, SEO or Search Engine Optimization activities help you achieve visibility that allow you to reach places you can only dream of visiting or get in touch with people that can contribute to your success.

SEO gives your products, services, and any other offerings a chance to actually be presented to the market. New websites can engage in Pay-Per-Click (or Per-Impression) campaigns to jumpstart their long-term SEO plans. As one of the cheapest yet most effective ways of marketing, SEO can also delve in web design, usability, cross-browser compatibility, and accessibility through service providers out there“ extending the benefits to the very experience that your website visitors will have while browsing through your pages. Whether your business is a start-up or one that is already mature, Search Engine Optimization or Search Engine Marketing (SEM) overall can ensure that you rank high on Search Engine Results Pages for years to come, deliver targeted traffic to your website (and keep them returning), return every bit of your investment ten-folds, and have a consistently-high number of sales.

SEMLaguna delivers these benefits and more through comprehensive SEO services that wont break the bank. Businesses can choose from a wide array of strategies and methodologies that can fit the nature of their paradigm.