Both search engine optimization (SEO) and search marketing (SEM) require a specialized set of skills. SEO requires knowledge of search engine and how to effectively optimize a website or web page. SEM requires knowledge and understanding of online marketing, online advertising, and keyword marketing. Although it can be intimidating diving into either of these fields, the key is simply identifying where you will be best served.

Search engine optimization is a broad term for all of the various tricks and techniques used to promote a website within search engine results. Sites with good SEO (whether intentionally applied or a result of natural growth) will appear higher in the results pages than those with poor SEO. Since so few search engine users bother to even go on to the second page of results — let alone third, fourth, and fifth — you need to have good SEO if you want to see any traffic from search engines.

SEO can take time to enact, and results cannot be guaranteed. For some a more direct approach to appearing on search engine results is advisable, which is why search engine marketing is a growing field in advertising. SEM puts ads for your site in prominent positions on search engine results for the terms you specify. Unlike traditional marketing, you only pay when someone clicks through the ads, making it an excellent source of cheap, targeted traffic.

So what does your website need? You’ll have to consider a few factors before making your decision. SEM works quickly and easily, without any changes to your website or new content being generated, so it’s a good choice if you need results now. Most savvy internet users pick out search engine ads easily, though, and tend to be wary of clicking on non-organic results. SEO is a good long term investment, as having good results will generate more traffic than ads alone. Good SEO will also get you results in keywords you may not have targeted directly, helping you target more of your market than just with SEM.

A common tactic is to use SEM to get your link on search engine pages while waiting for your improved SEO to take hold and generate solid results. That’s why Local SEO Company offers both tactics for our clients. We can even help you determine which services fit your unique needs better.

This videois amazing.  Anyone wanting SEO advice from the best needs to watch this video.  This is originally from Matt Cutts blog, http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/seo-site-review-session-from-google-io-2010/

Article Marketing is as simple as writing a few hundred words about a topic related to your business and posting it on a blog or submitting it to a website that will publish it online. Many websites have a minimum word count of 500 to 600 words, although others will allow any length. It’s important to make sure that any articles you publish are well thought out, complete, and free of errors such as typos. Quality writing is important in these articles, as it could be the first way a customer hears about your company. Your content should be clean, unique, and useful. Duplicate content will not only hurt your credibility with readers, it will also hurt your search results.

Another important thing to consider when writing your articles is the title choice. Using a title that includes the keywords you want to target (the words that people will be typing into search engines) will help connect your company to those terms. You should also use keywords as the text for links back to your website within the article if you are able to. Some sites do not allow links inside the article, but do allow them in an author information area or resource box, where you can use the keywords as anchor text too.

Getting started as an article writer isn’t always easy, which is why Local SEO Company offers article marketing services for your company as part of our comprehensive SEO packages. We can offer anything from article submissions to hundreds of sites to creating unique, targeted content for your articles.

So how do you get reviews for your company online? The experts all agree that the most important thing to do is just ask! Most happy customers are excited to share their experiences with others, so just making the request is sometimes enough. You can also work to make it easier for your customers to submit reviews to websites. Links in follow up emails or on a thank you page on your website are one way to streamline the process for your customers.

When it comes to incentives for reviews, the jury is still out. While offering a discount on future purchases or a small gift may convince more people to take the time to submit reviews, it may also smack of insincerity. Some companies have been caught paying outright for phony reviews, and you wouldn’t want any potential customers to suspect your reviews of being fake.

If you’re ready to let your customers do the talking, we’re here to help. Here at Local SEO Company we can assist you with everything you need to get good reviews. This includes: package inserts that ask happy customers for reviews, lists of the sites where reviews will be the most helpful, site changes to ask customers for their thoughts, and anything else that could be needed.

The first is link creation. By having a reasonable number of links in each blog post back to your wite with relevant anchor text, you help to build your backlink strength and improve your search engine results. These links can also send traffic directly to your website, which in the end is the entire point of online marketing of any kind.

The second way is by creating changing content for your website. Google loves changing content, and it’s very easy to add code to your website that automatically puts up the latest couple blog post titles. Websites with content that changes a couple times a week (or more!) get the attention of search engines and get indexed more frequently, which means your hard work to improve your SEO gets noticed faster.

Most importantly, though, having a blog with solid content about your business helps promote your status as an expert in that field. Establishing a reputation online as someone who knows what they’re talking about it is a great way to drive traffic and business to your site, and it can help your search engine results as well.

Of course, maintaining a blog can be a lot of trouble, especially when you’re busy running your own business. We can help you put together quality content for your blog, either through training for you or your staff on blog management or by creating content directly.