search engine marketing

OK, I may not be Matt Cutts, Jill Whalen, or Danny Sullivan , but I do know a thing or two about SEO. One thing I know for sure is if you offer SEO services on your website, well than, maybe your website should be optimized for search engines.

I’ve been in the SEM industry for about 6 years now and have decided to start my own SEM business. While researching “competitors” in the area, I’m amazed by how many companies who offer SEO services haven’t even implemented the most basic of SEO tactics to their own websites. Really, they haven’t. These websites use the company name in the Title tag – on every page, have no Description tag (or a useless one), and poorly designed websites.

How these companies even sell SEO is beyond me. How do you even prove your worth as an SEO if you don’t practice what you preach? Well, considering that they aren’t showing up in searches for “SEO Services in [enter city here]”, it’s safe to say they probably aren’t selling SEO at all.

As organizations realize the true value of Search Engine Marketing they struggle with the idea of outsourcing SEM (paid search and organic) or bringing it in-house. The decision is a difficult one since every organization has different online goals. While there are pros and cons to each scenario, before making this vital decision, ask yourself these important questions.

Does your organization have the staff to cover search engine marketing?
Search Engine Marketing consists of many categories including paid search advertising, organic search, and link building. Each of these categories can (and sometimes are) full-time jobs in themselves depending on the size of your website(s) and your online goals. If you will rely on your Marketing and IT departments in fulfilling each SEM role, it is wise to first be sure they can handle the extra responsibilities.

A professional SEM firm has trained staff that is ready to tackle your projects. Also, by taking you on as a client, they are prepared to spend the time necessary on your campaigns.

Is your staff trained in Search Engine Marketing?
Let’s say your organization does have the staff to handle all aspects of SEM. The next step is to determine the depth of knowledge each individual has in SEM. Do you have an in-house marketer whom is versed in AdWords? Are they familiar with Search Engine Optimization and the correct way to optimize a website? Is your staff skilled in keyword research and copywriting? If not, is your company prepared to train these individuals? SEM, unfortunately, is not something you can just sit down and do. The learning curve may be extensive depending on the individual’s current knowledge of the industry.

While you have control over an SEM strategy with an in-house team, a professional agency has well-trained staff and resources at their fingertips. However, you will need to get the agency up to speed in your industry.

How will SEM success be tracked?
A whole other area to a successful search engine marketing campaign is ROI tracking and web analytics. After all, how will you know that your SEM campaigns are successful if you don’t track the results? First question to ask is what analytics package is right for you? Google Analytics is free, but may not be the best package if your company manages 40 websites. Omniture is a great web analytics package for larger websites, but is also costly. Before deciding which package to go with, you must first determine if you have the budget.

Once you determine which web analytics package will suite your needs, you must then determine which staff member will take on this responsibility. Web analytics and measuring ROI take a skill set that your current staff may not have. Again, will training be necessary? What costs are involved with training? Are you willing to wait the time necessary to get your staff up to speed?

Conclusion

Take your time to determine whether taking SEM in-house is the right decision for your organization. Consider your in-house resources and online goals and weigh the pros and cons. If your decision is to outsource, stay-tuned for a post which outlines the questions a potential Search Marketing agency should be asked.

Have you ever visited a website just to find yourself immediately going back to your search results? Maybe you couldn’t figure out what the company does. Or… maybe you were referred to this company and just wanted to get specs on a certain product, but instead you find yourself clicking around their website aimlessly and could not find the information you were looking for. If this has happened to you, you’ve been victim of poor usability.

There is blog post by Eric Enge on Search Engine Watch titled “Usability and SEO, Which comes First.” In his blog Eric stresses the usability and visitor experience are far more important than SEO. I whole heartedly agree with Mr. Enge. I’ve managed many website redesign projects where the company president wants their website to reflect their sales brochure. However, website visitors are looking for more robust information than what a sales brochure can offer. And many web developers (well, the inexperienced ones) are so eager to please the client that they produce flashy websites with lack luster content. The result is high bounce rates and dismal website conversions.

While SEO is very important, what is more important is to clearly define the purpose of your website. As with anything, if you do not have a clear plan, you can not achieve success. The same holds true with websites. Once you determine the purpose of your site, then you need to determine what it is you want visitors to do when they get to your site and then make it easy for the visitor to do so.

I encourage you to read Eric’s blog and pay special attention to the basic questions every website owner should ask before jumping head first into a website design project.