Search engine marketing is the process of increasing website visibility and traffic. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the natural or organic unpaid method used to reach a higher search engine ranking. Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising is the use of paid ads to display directly on search engine result pages. Pay Per Click (PPC) or paid search engine advertising uses advertising platforms to place ads on search engines based on a bidding system, quality score and other variables.
Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising
Pay per click or PPC, is an advertising method that produces website traffic by generating clicks via paid ads that appear on search engines when an ad is clicked (rather than “earning” clicks organically). PPC ads are tied to keyword phrases that are relevant to the advertiser’s target market.
An advertisement will be displayed when certain keyword searches are made and match those of an advertiser. When this ad is clicked, the searcher goes to a predetermined page on a website and a fee is charged by the search engine (hence Pay Per Click). These sponsored ads typically appear above, below or to the side fo the organic or natural search engine results.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, or SEO as it is often referred, is the process of generating website visibility and traffic from unpaid, organic and natural search engine results. SEO employees a number of strategies, techniques and tactics to improve a website’s search engine ranking. Improving the ranking of a website’s search engine results page (commonly known as SERP) helps ensure that a website is visible and accessible by both search engines and internet searchers.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing gains website traffic or notoriety by leveraging content on social media sites. This is typically accomplished by creating content on social media sites that encourages readers to share the content with others in their social networks.
Sharing content increases reach and distribution since all of a persons’ social media connections are able to view the content. In turn, anyone that viewed the initial shared content can then share it themselves, increasing social media reach exponentially. At its essence, social media marketing is electronic or digital word of mouth advertising.
Content & Blog Marketing
Content marketing is the creation of relevant, stimulating and valuable content that is to be used for marketing purposes. More precisely it is the development of content for distribution to attract, acquire and engage a target market – with the end goal of producing profitable customer actions. Content marketing uses a number of formats including blog posts, articles, videos, photos, graphics, white papers, ebooks, case studies and how to guides/instructional information just to name a few.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a marketing approach made up of two parties: affiliates and marketers. Marketers or advertisers are those with a product or service they wish to market or distribute while the affiliates or publishers are the party responsible for the marketing activities which generate leads and sales.