Search Engine Advertising

Search Engine Advertising is a term I see from time to time that is inherently confusing. Some use this term interchangeably with Sponsored Search or Pay Per Click Advertising as in Google Adwords. Of course, these are actual advertisements that are tied to specific keyword phrases. As such they are targeted advertisements because they are only viewed based on the keyword itself. Others use this term to mean Organic Search Engine Optimization or SEO which in fact are not advertisements. Rather, these are listings based strictly on relevance as rated by the search engines themselves. These listings are not purchased or bid upon like PPC; they are earned through highly sophisticated optimization techniques. Successful Organic Optimization results in highly visible listings with no cost to the website owner no matter how many times the listing is displayed or clicked.

Regardless of the context, PPC or SEO, Search Engine Advertising is always keyword targeted. This is in striking contrast to traditional advertising such as Direct Mail, Telemarketing, TV / Radio, Print Advertising, Billboards. Traditional Advertising "comes at you" in that you are rarely seeing or hearing the ad precisely when you are looking for the exact product or service. For instance, Direct Mail Advertising is considered very successful with a 1% response rate in many instances. Even lower percentages are considered successful using print media as well as TV/Radio. Even email marketing, which is not traditional as it is electronic, also has relatively low return rates. Again it is advertising that is initiated by the seller.

Search Engines are the direct opposite as it is the buyer who actually initiates the contact. Both PPC and SEO are targeted by the companies engaged in Search Engine Advertising for relevant keywords and phrases of likely interested parties. So those searching for specific products, services, information etc. are likely to find exactly what they are looking for on the first 1 or 2 pages of a Google search. A well executed PPC or SEO strategy will result in high visibility at or near the top of the relevant keyword search results.

The fundamental advantage of Search Engine Advertising should be obvious. With the searcher, or potential buyer, initiating the search, it is being done at a date and time precisely when the searcher deems it important enough to focus on it. It doesn't occur at inappropriate or on untimely occasions as virtually all of the traditional forms of advertising do. Traditional advertising can never be this targeted because there is no control as to when and under what circumstances the advertising will be seen or heard. So, if your Search Engine Advertising program makes you visible in the first seconds of a buyer-initiated search, you have the maximum possibility of being found precisely when the buyer is actually ready to buy. The psychological power of this cannot be overstated. Consider the typical reaction of most individuals when they are faced with advertising coming at them vs. the state of mind of a searcher seeking products and services and information and finding it on the spot with no one there pressuring to do anything else.

One exception to this discussion is the Yellow Pages. For over a century it was the low tech and primitive search engine. People opened up the yellow pages only when they needed to get a phone number to actually act on something. However, when was the last time you used the yellow pages? With Google, Yahoo et al it seems now counter-intuitive to open the bulky book and leaf through all those pages ... and if you want to get listings outside your local area, you have to get and even buy other bulky books. Kindly of silly now when you can just open up Google and type exactly what you are looking for and even specify the geography you may be interested in.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out here that just because you have these great search engines and you can employ sophisticated PPC and SEO professional techniques to be seen by your targeted audience, doesn't mean that you are going to be successful; you have won only half the battle. Once your visitors land on your site, you have to grab their attention ... in seconds! Website searchers are inherently impatient and are looking for exact matches and an immediate compelling reason to read on or otherwise engage on your website. If you can't grab their attention they are back to the search page to look at someone else. So, if you are seeking SEO, PPC or "Search Engine Advertising" ... whatever you want to call it, you have to CONVERT the visitors to customers. So Search Engine Advertising must be about CONVERSION in addition to VISIBILITY. To achieve the highest conversion rates possible, you must have an excellent "grab" followed up with a very precise conversion "funnel" that leads the visitor through the site, each page being more and more targeted and focused on the conversion step.

Search Engine Advertising has many advantages over traditional advertising and marketing methods. It basically comes down to this; do you like your chances more if someone is beating a path to your door or if you are trying to get the attention of non-targeted, random people who are overwhelmingly not interested, at least at the moment of contact. A professionally executed Search Engine Advertising strategy combined with a solid value proposition and company supporting it is the best success strategy yet in the 21st century.