The Fundamental Difference Between SEO and SEM

Many individuals new to web marketing have some questions about search engine optimization and search engine marketing. Are they one in the same? How are they different? SEO and SEM have many similarities but are not the same.

First, lets focus on how search engine optimization (SEO) and search marketing (SEM) are similar. Each of these online marketing techniques requires a basic and advanced understanding. SEO requires knowledge of search engine and how to effectively optimize a website or web page. SEM requires knowledge and understanding about online marketing, online advertising, and keyword marketing.

Both internet marketing methods may appear as difficult subject matter but they are relatively easy to understand. The complexity comes in the actual implementation of SEO and SEM programs. SEO can be explained as techniques that used to drive your search engine ranking. Simply state, where your site is ranked on major search engines is based on your understanding and implementation of SEO best practices.

Search engine marketing is the practice of online advertising via major search engines. Even though Google is the largest and most well know, there are literally hundreds of smaller ad networks. Each network functions in much the same way. Advertisers place online ads throughout the network and when a browser clicks, you pay a fee. This is true regardless of conversion.

Search engine optimization is different from search engine marketing in many ways. SEO is defined as the organic result that shows up in search engine results pages after a user generates a query. Techniques associated with SEO are broken down into on-page optimization and off page-optimization. These techniques have their own nuances but are independent of one another.

The result is that search engine optimization drives organic traffic to your website or blog. That is to say that after users complete searches on major search engines like Yahoo! or Google that the results list comes from each search engine determining the best result. When users click on these results the advertisers owes nothing. Organic search is usually referred to as free traffic for this very reason.

SEM is different than search engine optimization for one fundamental reason. With SEM, you pay when someone takes an action. Unlike traditional advertising you do not pay for your advertisement to appear, only when someone clicks on your ad. Your cost varies based on how competitive your keywords are and where you want your ad to display.

Online marketing is based on a good understanding of SEO and SEM best practices. These internet marketing subject areas are common among today's marketing professionals but rarely do you find the level of expertise needed for success. Learn more about these subject ares with some research and be sure to subscribe to an SEO newsletter or blog. As you gain more knowledge implement new techniques and improve your rankings.

Top Tips For Improving Search Engine Rankings

When a Search Engine spiders your website, it's crucial that all the backend coding of our clients websites is up to par. A simple glitch in coding can cost the loss of a potential targeted keyword or the loss keywords ranking on an entire page.

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Be sure to review your Website to determine Search Engine compatibility so the next time it is crawled, you benefit from the crawl. Search Engine Optimization industry leaders have always believed in the phrase that content is king and it's undeniable.

Let's think about content logically. A Search Engine spider is a robot and is not programmed to interpret something that is not there. In other words, you can't rank under keywords that the Search Engine can't read or see.

Make sure all factors relating to the content of a website including keyword density, positioning, etc., are thoroughly reviewed for optimal performance.

Here are a few other factors to consider for improving search engine results:

Keyword Research & Analysis

Keyword research is a very often overlooked and can prove to be one of the most important parts to running a successful Search Engine Optimization campaign. Invest in keyword research including keyword research tools, reviewing multiple keyword suggestions, and/or Website content keyword possibilities in order to gain targeted Website visitor traffic.

On-Page Optimization

After generating a keyword list, keywords should be implemented into the appropriate site code and content on key pages with optimization techniques based on the Websites needs.

Manual Search Engine Submissions

Manually submit your Website to the major search engines and directories including Google, Yahoo, MSN, DMOZ, etc. and be sure to make updates as needed throughout the year to increase your ranking on all these major search engines.

These are just a few suggestions and tips for improving search engine rankings. Keep it simple but consistent. This will help you to continue moving up the search engines.

Building a Site Map From Scratch

Sitemaps are essential for improved search rankings and an easy to navigate website. Some people are a little reluctant to produce a sitemap for their site. The hardest part of building a website is not...

* The programming code
* The navigation menu
* Or even deciding what the website will be about

The hardest part of building a website is generating high quality niched traffic to your web pages. That's exactly where creating Google sitemaps come in so handy. What is a site map you ask?

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Here are 3 people's conceptions of what a site map is.

* A page which contains an organized listing of links to all pages within the website

* An alternate method, and quickly becoming the preferred method, of letting the Search Engine Spiders know about all the pages in your site
*"A hierarchical list of web pages that belong to a site.

Simply put, if you are interested in search engines finding every part of your website (and who isn't?); then you need to have a sitemap as part of your internet marketing strategy.

But how to you build a Google sitemap?

First, access google.com/webmasters/tools/dashboard

Enter your URL in the sites box and allow some time for Google to get you setup.

When you see the hyperlinked word "add" under the "sitemap" category select it.

Tell Google what type of sitemap you are looking for and complete their small form.
Download the CSV file so that you can upload it onto your site after you have entered in all the URL's. Yup, you heard me right. You are going to enter in every single URL of your website. Not a big deal if your website only has 10 or so pages, but what if it's like mine and has 100's of pages or undergoes extensive growth?

Once you've uploaded your site with all it's URL's in place your done creating your Google sitemap. Make sure that you have a link to your sitemap from your homepage. Now the rest is up to the search engines and it can take them sometime to stop by and pay you a visit, but when they do they will have clear instructions on exactly where every single page of your website is.

Keep your sitemap updated. Be sure to revisit every few months or so. This makes your site easily accessible and can help you improve your search engine rankings.

Use Web 2.0 To Improve Search Engine Rankings

Web 2.0 is being thrown around quite a bit these days. Do you have a handle on what it is, what it means to your business, and how to prosper in the Web 2.0 world? The concept of Web 2.0 includes a wide range of areas like shared media, social networking, online collaboration and adding the user generated content back into the Web.

Primary tools of Web 2.0 include video sharing sites such as YouTube; Wiki sites like Wikipedia; blogs and various "live face" technologies. We'll cover three of the fastest and easiest ways to optimize for Web 2.0, beginning with blogs.

1.) SEO for Blogs

Optimizing a blog is one of the absolute best ways to capture Google's most coveted top spots very quickly. You can hit number 1 on Google in a matter of days. Here's how you do it...

a.) First, find a good blogging tool. There are plenty out there. I use Blogger. I originally picked it because it was so quick and easy to setup. And I soon realized the platform does 50% of SEO by its very nature. It's free and you can get thousands of themes, to fit any style you wish, also for free.

b.) Once your blog app is installed, turn on the "permalink" option from the control panel. This ensures each posting you enter will also get its own URL. And finally, start entering postings of 200 words or more, focusing on only one or two keywords per post. Try to begin each post title with the primary keyword for that topic.

2.) SEO for YouTube Videos

YouTube accounts for more than 60% of ALL online videos watched in the US. And your YouTube videos can be found in Google's search results just like any normal Web page. This means they can rank number 1 in just days, with the right SEO.

If you're looking to capitalize on SEO for Web 2.0, this is a fast and free way to do it. I won't get into how to upload the videos and optimize the frame size, etc. That said; let's assume you have signed up for your free account at YouTube.com and are ready to upload your first video using their easy to follow instructions. This is all the SEO you need to know...

a.) When forming your title, think in terms of "long tail" keywords, meaning keyword phrases of three or more words. Be sure these are in the same order people would search for them (eg/ "long tail keywords" not "keywords long tail.") Also try to anticipate what the user will type in his search. "How to" is one of the most common search phrases people use in Google and YouTube to get answers quick.

b.) Think of "tags" as keywords and enter them like you would the Meta keyword tag of a web page. Select only the most likely search terms people are using and keep the words in the order people use them. Don't just use random words separated by commas. Use full length search phrases exactly how people search for them. And don't go too crazy here. Excessive tags tend to confuse the YouTube engine. Incidentally, if you have "how to" as a tag, also add "how to" (without the space.) If "how to" returns a bunch of unrelated junk your "how to" tag can better cut to the chase in YouTube's search engine.

c.) The description is where you have the most freedom. It's best to begin the description with your main keyword (and title) as close to the beginning as possible. Something like this works well... "Learn how to..." then follow up with several sentences rich in long tail keywords (the same ones from your tags.) Grammar is not the most important thing in the world but try to make it friendly for people who might read the description before they decide to watch the video. Also remember that Google uses a natural text algorithm that can spot unnatural keyword spamming a mile away.

Real Life Example: I just saw a commercial on TV for a spy movie and someone threw a knife. I went to Google and entered "how to throw a knife" (without quotes.) The top three matches include a YouTube video and Wiki entry. Wow! Welcome to Web 2.0!

3.) SEO Using "Live Face" Technology

One of the biggest reasons for the dot com crash of '01 was that Websites became way too impersonal. One of Web 2.0's strengths is the ability to help people relate to people once again. And one of the hottest technologies leading the way is "Live Face."

Live Face allows a video spokesperson to meet, greet and inform your Web page visitors. As far as SEO benefits, any sort of video has usually involved heavy RealTime or Flash files that block search engine spiders and hurt rankings. Now however, there are services like Live Face for Web that can add full length videos to your site without it interfering with onsite SEO one bit (due to the file's location) while greatly enhancing offsite efforts such as acquiring the highest quality one way and reciprocal links.

Most sites employing this technology report conversion increases of up to 5x. This means they are converting up to five times the number of sales they did before using Live Face technology.

Real Life Example: The SEOcbt.com site mentioned earlier uses Live Face for Web and they hit number one on Google for all of their major keywords within two weeks of site launch.

About The Author
Mike Small is a ten year veteran SEO specialist with thousands of top search engine rankings to his credit. He is the author of seven SEO books and founder of http://www.SEOpartner.com.

Improving search engine rankings with Web 2.0 begins with a single step. Start today and continue to enhance your use of social networking tools.

Top 10 Search Engine Strategies For Your Website

Although the concept of search engine optimization can be somewhat complex, there are a number of basic search engine optimization techniques you can use to improve your organic search results. Keep the following in mind when trying to achieve top rankings for your website.

1. Meta Tags. Meta tags are simple lines of code at the top of your web page programming that tell search engines about your page. Include the title tag, keyword stag, description tag, and robots tag on each page.

2. Create and update your site map. Developing a site map is a simple way of giving search engines the information they need to crawl your entire website. There are plenty of free software packages on the web that can help you generate a sitemap. Once you create a site map, submit it to Google and Yahoo.

3. Ensure that all navigation is in HTML. All too often, navigational items are in the form of java script. Even though navigation technically still works in this format, it’s not optimized. Create your navigation in HTML to enhance internal links throughout your website.

4. Check that all images include ALT text. Your image’s alt text is spidered by search engines. If you’re not including your keywords in alt text, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity for improved search engine result placements. Label all of your images properly.

5. Use Flash content sparingly. Content generated through java script or flash is a big no-no. Some webmasters like to use flash because of the presentation. If you must, use it sparingly, but only after your site has been properly optimized with basic search engine optimization in mind.

6. Make sure that your website code is clean. Keep in mind when optimizing a web page crawlers are basically only looking at your source code. When programming your web pages, having W3C compliant code can make all the difference. Run your code through a W3C validator before promoting.

7. Place keywords in your page content. Search engines scan your website and web pages for keywords. Shoot for a keyword density of between two and eight percent. Google likes your page to be at the lower end of this scale and Yahoo at the upper end.

8. Submit your website to search engine directories. It’s always a good idea to let large search engine directories know that you’re out there. Submit your website URL to directories like Google, Yahoo, and DMOZ.

9. Build links to your website. Consider building a link exchange program or create one-way links to your site using articles or forum posts. All major search engines value the importance of your website based on how many others websites are linking to it.

10. Stay the course. Good optimization takes time. People expect to see results immediately. You may very well see improvements in a short period, but reaching the number one position takes time. Be patient.

Learning to optimize your website for search engines takes time and patience. Start by applying basic search engine optimization principles. If you’re new to website optimization, or even a well seasoned veteran, begin by prioritizing which pages are most important to you and go from there. Soon you’ll find yourself moving up the rankings.

Page Rank: Why Its Important For Building Traffic

Google PageRank is important in building traffic to your website for a number of reasons. Before we discuss why, here is quick heads up on how it works.

Page Rank is based on links between your site and other sites, in fact specifically between web pages, since it is links between individual pages rather than complete websites that interests Google. That is because Google lists individual pages and not domains. There is a formula that Google uses to determine the value of each link to your site, which is based on the PageRank of the web page providing the link and also the number of other links leaving that page.

You can see the page Rank in the Google PageRank bar on the Google Toolbar - it is the green bar that shows a numerical value of 0 to 10 when you hover your cursor over it. This value is logarithmic, which means that if it takes 10 links to reach PR 1, then it takes a lot more to reach 2. If Google uses a logarithmic factor of 8, as it might do (nobody knows), then it will take 8 links to your site to get to PR 1, 64 to reach PR 2, 512 to PR 3 and so on. This is very basic, since, as I have stated, it also depends on the PR of the page providing the link and the number of other links leaving that page.

Here are the top 4 reasons that in my opinion help most to generate traffic and make you money:

1. The higher your Google PageRank, then the higher Google is likely to list you in the search engine results pages. Google take the view than the more other websites link to yours, then the more relevant your web page must be to the topic in hand, otherwise they wouldn't link to you. In fact, the links are to specific pages in your site, not to the site as a whole, which is why it is called 'Page Rank' and not Site Rank.

2. The higher the Page Rank, then the more relevant other people will consider any particular page on your website to be. They will feel more confident that if they visit your site they will have their questions answered and find the information they are looking for.

3. A high Page Rank shows that you have a high number of links on the pages of other websites. There is then the possibility of others clicking on these links to get to your website.

4. The higher your Page Rank, then the more people will want you to link to their website. That means that they too will be likely to visit your site. They will also offer you a reciprocal link if you want one, and that too will provide you with more exposure online.

They are all different URLs that will lead somebody using them to your domain. However, search engine spiders see them all as different URLs, and if you use different ways to write your home page URL, then they will all be listed separately, and all be given a different Page Rank. Thus, the page rank for any one of them will be weaker than your page would have been if you had used only the one way to express it. Get into the habit of expressing your domain in only one way.

There are other ways in which poor use of your website URLs and also injudicious linking policies, can harm your Page Rank, but the main point that should keep in mind is that the your page rank applies to each page individually, and you get a share of the Google PageRank of the page that provides you with the link. If that page has a PR of zero, then you get nothing.

In giving my reasons for page rank being important in building traffic, I should stress that it is not one of my more important ways. However, Google takes notice of your PageRank, otherwise why would it bother giving you a Page Rank in the first place. For that reason alone it is well worth building up as many links back to your webpages as possible, not just for the traffic, but also to keep your website in the public eye.

It is the Home Page that is highest listed on most search engines, and also the page is given the highest PageRank, so if you can persuade others to link to your home page in return for a link from a page internal to your site, then that would be a good deal, and is what you should be trying for.

Don't ask me though, because I would a link back from your highest Page Ranked page!

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About the Author
Page Rank is an important property of your website, and for more information on internal and external linking strategy check out Pete's website Improved Search Engine Rank where you will find many other SEO tips.

Improve Your Search Engine Rankings

Welcome to the Improve Your Search Engine Rankings Blog. This blog is dedicated to the on-page and off-page strategies you need for increasing your ranking on Google and other major search engines.

When I launched my first website in 2004, I know nothing about SEO. Today, I manage multiple website and blogs and have top 10 Google rankings for all of them. In fact, I rank in the first position for a number of competitive keyword terms and phrases.

Although I've published my own book and ebook on the subject of SEO (The Webmaster's Book of Secrets), I wanted to share my ideas and findings in real time... enter "The Blog." I hope you'll join me on this daily journey of improving rankings, generating more target traffic, and earning lots of revenue.