Search Engine Marketing Guide

Search Engine Marketing is a massive subject so to begin with the LoudMouse will simply highlight the most important topics in a logical order. Click the lessons...
  

Lesson 1: Define your websites/page purpose

Lesson 2: Keyword Selection

Lesson 3: Search Engine Optimisation

Lesson 4: Link Strategies 

Lesson 5: Website Promotion and Advertising

As Featured On Ezine Articles


 

LoudMouse Home Page

Search Engine Marketing

Keyword Selection Guide

Keyword Selection Tools

Web Directory List

SEO Software (Free Download)



















 Lesson 1: Define your websites / web page’s purpose                      Print this page.

  • First you must define your website's purpose, everything else will follow.
  • Do a brain storming session: ask yourself what you want your website to achieve both in the short term and long term.
  • List the different things you want to achieve. 
  • For example, sell more products, build an opt-in mailing list, build a community, or like the LoudMouse provide valuable information.
  • Once you are clear about the purpose of your site, your web pages can be designed to achieve the different objectives.
  • At the points when you have the users attention, where appropriate use a relevant call to action: 
  • i.e. click here for further information, request a brochure, register for a newsletter, download something (trial software, ebook etc…), or buy a product. The call to action helps achieves the purpose.
  • Whatever your websites purpose it will only be successful if you provide your visitors with good useful content, it is what they need and expect. 
  • This can be a useful guide, product specifications, reviews, articles, resources, links etc… As long as it will add- value and help achieve your sites purpose.
The above points are a basic guideline for developing a successful website or web page that achieves your desired purpose. As mentioned good content is key. 
 
Click here to go back to the top of the page
Lesson 2: Keyword Selection
 
Keyword selection is an essential part of both search engine advertising (PPC) and web page optimisation. 
  • In web page optimisation your keywords tell the search engines what your site is about, the products and services you offer.
  • With pay per click advertising you build a list of relevant phrases to bid on. 
Both activities start with keyword/keyphrase selection.
  • First you must conduct Keyword Research to identify profitable niches. 
  •  You need to know what your potential web site visitors/customers are typing into the search engines.
  • You need to know how strong the competition is for certain keywords i.e. how many other web sites are targeting the specific phrases.
  • The rule of thumb is to begin with keyword research even before you start compiling the content for your pages. However it is not always possible, and the most common situation is when you’ve got a website with the ready content and need to optimise it.
Keyword selection is a very important part of the search engine marketing mix. The LoudMouse has put together a keyword selection guide including tools, resources and software to get you started. 
Click here - Keyword Selection Guide.

Click here to go back to the top of the page
Lesson 3: Search Engine Optimisation

Search engine optimisation tells the search engines what your web pages are about by using keywords/phrases within the content and structure of the website's copy and page layout, the HTML meta-tags and the submission process.
  • SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), is an essential part of the Internet Marketing mix.
  • You could advertise on TV, send direct marketing letters, exhibit at tradeshows etc… If you have a large enough marketing budget and can justify spend with ROI. As you know these methods cost lots of money.
  • However most online businesses start small with limited advertising budgets and need to find the most cost effective way of attracting new customers and developing. If done correctly, Search Engine Optimisation is the most cost effective way of finding new customers FACT.
  • Of course you could outsource your SEO to a specialist company, which would cost you money, but if done by you in-house the only cost is time (SEO is a long-term strategy).
  • SEO,  a long-term strategy!, it is best performed gradually, by naturally adding optimised content (food for the search engines) and links to your website.
To help you out the LoudMouse team are putting together a step-by-step guide to web page optimisation including access to tools, resources and techniques to speed things up. 

Click here to bookmark this page and come back soon for details!
                                
However if you do not have the time to learn and implement your own SEO campaign and would like the LoudMouse team to help we are happy to offer you a free consultation and website evaluation
 Click here to make an enquiry!

Click here to go back to the top of the page
Lesson 4: Link Strategies

To establish your website in the online marketplace you need links, internal links within your own website and links from other web sites in your industry.
 
The 3 main types of links;
  1. Reciprocal links: you exchange links with sites that will complement your own.
  2. One-way links: websites link to you because of your valuable content
  3. Internal links: run of site and navigation links so your visitors can find your information
Your link strategy has two purposes
  •  Web site traffic, of course visitors will find your site via links from other web sites.
  • Web site optimisation, one of the things search engines look for when determining your position in the SERP (search engine results page) is link popularity, the logic is that websites link to you because of your valuable content.
It is a good idea to use key phrases within your linking text and descriptions as this tells both the search engines and potential visitors what the content of your web page is about.

All three types of links are important. There are many ways to create and build links however it can be very time consuming.

But luckily for you the LoudMouse knows that this is one of the most important parts of your search engine marketing campaign and has developed a 7-day e-course to teach you all the techniques you need to get started.
                              Click here to sign up for the course 7 Days to Linking Success

However if you do not have the time and would like the LoudMouse team to help we are happy to offer you a free consultation and website evaluation - Click here to make an enquiry

 Click here to go back to the top of the page
 
Lesson 5: Website Promotion and Advertising

- PPC (Pay per Click)
- Affiliate Marketing

Here is a quick list of some of the most effective ways to advertise on the Internet in 2006:

PPC (Pay per Click), a very effective way to get cheap targeted traffic to your website very quickly. 

Basically you build a list of key phrases (See Keyword Selection Guide) your potential site visitors might type into the search engines. 
 
Then you write compelling adverts for the phrases, using your keywords in the Ad copy helps increase relevance and the CTR (click through rate).

You must also make sure your landing pages are 100% relevant if you want your visitors to convert into sales or enquiries.
 
Then you bid the amount you are willing to pay for a visitor whicvh will also determine the position of your Ad in the results against other advertisers.
 
You only pay when someone clicks on your ad and arrives on your web page.
 
Different systems have different levels of competition and sometimes it is possible to identify phrases with little or no competition meaning that you can get the click for the minimum bid amount which can be as little as 5p..
 
The LoudMouse Pay Per Click Guide coming soon will explain this better.


Affiliate Marketing: Pay for Performance advertising – An advertiser or merchant will only pay when a sale/transaction is actually made. You can see why this is very attractive for advertisers. 
 
It is also a very good way for website owners (publishers) to make additional income by promoting good products and services that will add value for their site visitors and subscribers.
 
Basically the advertiser provides copy, text ads, banners, buttons and other forms of creative for the publisher. The publisher gets paid a set commission by the advertiser. 

For example 5% of the sale when they send a customer via the affiliate link, or say £2 per lead for a registration. 

The commission is pre-agreed and the whole process, tracking etc, is either managed by the advertisers affiliate software or affiliate manager websites like Commission Junction and Tradedoubler for example.
 
The LoudMouse is in the process of putting  together an Affiliate Marketing Guide to help you including useful web sites, tools and resources. Click here to bookmark this page and come back soon for details!

Or to be notified when the Guide is ready - Click here!
 
 Click here to go back to the top of the page