Search Engine Optimization Marketing Tutorial – Basic Introduction
This SEO tutorial is introduction to search engine marketing and search engine optimization.
Search engine marketing is huge. Google makes around $5 billion per quarter (4 months), which is around $30,000 per minute.
If you want to have a website, you will need to take care of search engine marketing, because search engines own internet traffic. No search engine visibility – no visitors. No visitors – no buyers and no money.
If you plan on making an online shop, I suggest you incorporate search engine optimization into your marketing strategy. In fact, make it number one priority over design, graphics and technology. A site that gets 1000 visitors per day with “OK†shopping cart and “OK†design is better than a site that sits in “no man’s landâ€, with expensive design and mega high tech shopping cart.
Prepare to invest in either search engine optimization or pay per click, above design.
What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Search engine optimization is an adjustment of website elements that affect your visibility on major search engines. When users search, they put in queries, called “keywordsâ€. Search engine return websites relevant to the keywords.
Search engine optimization ensures that your website shows up on the first page for keywords that are searched by your customers.
For example, if you sell computer memory, your site will benefit from visitors that search “buy computer memory†on Google.
What is Pay Per Click (PPC)?
Pay per click is exactly what it sounds like. You pay money per each click you receive on your advertisement.
The advertisement is showed in “Sponsored†section of search results.
Price per each click is determined by bidders. As an advertiser, you bid on keywords that you want to show up for on search results. Highest bidder gets the first spot, second highest bidder gets second spot and so forth. Prices ranges between $0.01 per click for non-competitive keywords, and up to $20 for consolidated markets (mortgage, credit cards).
Search Engines
There are currently 4 leading search engines in North America those are
| Search Engine | Market Share |
| ~70% | |
| Yahoo | ~18% |
| Microsoft (MSN, Live.com) | ~8% |
| Ask.com | ~4% |
Don’t even worry about Ask.com and Microsoft. Shoot for Google above all. I suggest you even throw Yahoo out of the equation. In 4 years Google doubled its market share from ~35% to ~70% and is predicted to become a monopoly at 90%. To you this means that if you establish Google presence now, you’ll get more customers later on. If you worry about Yahoo, you may hurt Google rankings, which is a bad move.
I don’t like monopolies, nor Microsoft, but Google is becoming a monopoly fair and square. They’re too good. If you research, you will also find that buyers interested in electronics are fairly savvy, and savvy crowds use Google.
How to Optimize A Website?
Let this beginner guide explain everything (recommend very much).
Below you will find basic introduction (to get the concepts grasped) and many resources to help you get to the next level.
Let’s clear some myths:
- Forget about submission to search engines for $20 per month. Pure scam. Period. Submit here for free. You don’t even have to submit to Google, because it will find you on its own if you have incoming links.
- Optimization for $200 bucks. Quality SEO comes at very least for $3000 for a few competitive keywords. If anyone tries to pitch you anything less, they’re either starving for clients or just aren’t good enough. Save up some money and invest in expert search engine optimization, it will return tenfold.
- Get you first place. If anyone pitches you that, run away and block their email. They’re either full of it and want to steal your money, or do “Black Hat SEOâ€. Black hat SEO is the dark side of optimization, and sites that get caught are banned from search results. If you want a long term business, stay away from black hat, because you’ll get caught eventually. There are very few optimizers who practice true “black art†and those don’t share their secrets, because it would stop working.
- Optimization in 1-2 months. Optimization takes 3-6 months, so don’t buy into it(assuming you go after competitive terms). Whoever tells you they can get you up in 1-2 months will be probably optimizing for keywords that have no competition and that no one searches with, meaning it’s worthless. What good is a search engine ranking, even #1, if no one searches with that keyword? No searches, means no traffic.
Keyword Research
Search Engine Optimization starts with keyword research. People head out to search engines and use keywords to find information of their interest.
Search engines store those keywords on their servers and allow marketers to see what people search and how many times. This way you know exactly the keywords you need to target on search engines.
How to use the tools: simply search for your keyword of interest and the tools will give you related key-phrases that people used. For example “mortgageâ€.
Yahoo Search Marketing (need account)
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