News & PR

Milwaukee, WI - August 26, 2003
Written by Kosana Stojcevic
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IN THE LAST ARTICLE I ADDRESSED THE TASK OF SUBMITTING YOUR COMPANY'S WEBSITE TO SEARCH ENGINES FOR FREE. That is a very good place to start, but for those companies that don’t want to wait weeks to see results paid placement is another option.

Almost all of the major search engines offer placement in special areas of their search results page for a fee. These listings are designated with a heading such as "sponsored links" or "sponsor results" and they usually appear above the general search results or in a side margin of the page.

Typically, getting listed for free with search engines can take from 30 to 90 days. Paid placement can get your site listed sooner. However, managing a paid placement account takes time and attention to detail.

Keywords are chosen then bid on against other advertisers. The highest bidder wins the most prominent placement on a search results page for that keyword. This process involves constant monitoring because the more successful your keyword choices are, the more competition there is. The account manager will be modifying the keywords that are bid on frequently in order to determine the keywords that garner the most visitors while still remaining within the set budget.

Pay Attention to Log Files
The effectiveness of certain keywords can be determined using the website’s log files. These files are available through the website’s hosting company. The information found on these files is invaluable. You can find out how many people have visited your website. How they found the site (which search engine they used). What keywords were typed into the search engines, even where the visitors are coming from geographically.

Those details combined with sales statistics can provide a road map for your company’s marketing department.

Try a Combination
While waiting to be listed in the general search results, pay for placement advertising may be a temporary solution for small businesses that have tighter budgets. It can offer immediate exposure during the time it usually takes to be listed and to achieve a high ranking in the general search results. It is important to achieve a balance between paid placement and traditional search engine marketing (SEM). If the budget gets smaller, the traditional SEM will have taken hold and your company’s website can maintain its presence in search results.

Some of the things to consider when choosing a pay for placement campaign are: what customer base are you targeting – is it local, national, or global; is your industry business-to-business or business-to-consumer; do you have the staff to manage the campaign internally or would it be more beneficial to hire an online marketing firm to handle the details? If your company is business-to-business, there are search engines that specifically cater to various industries. If your company sells directly to consumers, then the more popular search engines such as Google or Yahoo! may be the route to take.

Formulating a plan prior to launching a paid placement campaign is essential to improving results and saving money. Search engine campaigns, whether they are paid placement or not, change constantly. Managing a search engine marketing campaign requires knowledge of the system, and the time to monitor changes and adjust the campaign accordingly.