Know What They Can Do? SEO, SEM, and now SMM

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There are many ways to approach online marketing. SEO, SEM and SMM are three mainstream channels to advertise your website.

So what do the abbreviations mean? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing and SMM, which is the newest among the three stands for Social Media Marketing.

Knowing what they stand for is meaningless until you know what they can do for you.

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SEO

SEO improves your organic ranking on search engines. For example, if someone searches “Pizza” on Google and if your SEO expert has done a good job, your Pizza website link should appear on the first page. This is important as most users don’t look past the first 2 pages of searches. With that said, don’t expect instant results from this method. It may take up to 6 months to see the results!

Why is this so?

Because no one knows how Google ranks its pages. Moreover, its algorithm is constantly changing. Even though Google provides guides to help SEO experts, the results are still ambiguous. It may sound hard but to gain a better position in the online world, SEO is essential. It is proven that web pages that appear in the first page are perceived to belong to industry leaders and superior brands.

SEM

SEM is the fastest method to put your website on the search engine front page. Google Adwords is a popular tool for advertisers to create ads on Google search pages and advertising network.

Upon confirmation of your ads content, keywords and placement, your ads would be featured within ten minutes (It is that fast!). You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, which would direct them to your website. In other words, you only pay for quality leads since these people are searching under your product scope!

Advertisers simply love Google. Although Google has recently experienced a slight drop in its market share, it is still the undisputed search engine leader. Google is constantly improving its advertising platform to make sure that your ads are seen by its users. Your advertising investment would definitely be worthwhile.

SMM

Although newest among the three, SMM could result in the greatest impact.

As people are going social on the web, advertisers who do not reach out to this huge traffic (through ads or direct interaction via social media tools) are missing a great opportunity.

So is SMM effective? NO if you’re looking for immediate result and YES if you make the effort to interact with consumers and humanize your brand.

Social media is not a spam tool or a place for hardcore selling. It requires interaction and perhaps a little fun. By using various social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Digg and StumbleUpon, you could very well expect an improved natural ranking and see your links flood search pages.

The greatest advantage in using SMM is it being potentially viral. It offers a direct channel for you to expose your products to target groups and have them speak your brand in the online world.

Have you seen someone forwarding a Google ad? I guess many of us would rather share a nice video or a Facebook Page. Give consumers reasons to spread your name and products.

Summary Table

Even though SEO, SEM and SMM are a big part of online marketing, there exist many other methods to market your business – They include article marketing, banner and RSS advertising, video marketing and email marketing.