Search Engine Marketing and Optimization
Search engines are the single most popular way that users find new Web sites. Search engine marketing is the process that enables your sites to rank higher for the specific search queries that your potential customers are searching for - increasing the number of qualified visitors, building brand awareness and capturing more sales and leads.
SEO is broken down into two categories, organic and sponsored listings. Organic placement lists a site in the search engines results based on the structure, links and content of its pages - determined by each engine's unique set of algorithms. Placement can take up to six weeks and is unpredictable in that it can change at any time. The advantage to organic listings is that they are free, unbiased listings that generally have a higher click through rate because of the greater perception of trust by the searcher.
Sponsored listings (also called Pay Per Click, PPC) enable much more control and the ability for a listing to immediately generate traffic. A PPC listing is essentially an advertisement on a search engine directly tied to a user's query. Advertisers pay for each click generated and can determine the ranking and content of the listing as well as how often and when it is displayed. Another powerful feature of PPC is the ability for sites to rank for their competitors search terms, effectively enabling users to find products and services similar to what they are currently using but were previously unaware.