FAQs on search engine marketing

What is search engine marketing?
Why is search engine optimisation important for my website?
How can I optimise my website for search engines?
What's the difference between search engines and directories?
Which are the top search engines and directories?
What is link popularity?
What is pay-per-click advertising?
What's the difference between optimisation and PPC?
How much will a PPC advertising campaign cost?
What needs to be done to my website to improve its ranking on search engines?
What's the future of search tools on the web?
How can the web search workshop help my business?
What skills and experience does the web search workshop offer?
How do I contact the web search workshop to find out more?

What is search engine marketing?

This is the online marketing technique of attracting visits to a website from users of search engines, either through search engine optimisation or pay-per-click advertising. Optimising and submitting a website ensures that it is indexed by search engines and directories to has the chance to appear in the top results of a search relevant to the site's product or service. By focusing on the elements of a website that will help to achieve a high search engine ranking, this technique enables the website to receive sustained traffic from relevant web users.

Why is search engine optimisation important for my website?

Search engine optimisation is a vital part of any website marketing strategy. Research has shown how search engines are the primary tool used to find information on the web and a high ranking on the top search engines will generate high-quality, targeted web traffic without incurring regular marketing costs.

How can I optimise my website for search engines?

Whether you are planning a new website, or have an existing site and want to attract more web users to visit it, we have provided a list of 10 top optimisation tips you need to consider.

What's the difference between search engines and directories?

Although often used as the generic term for all web search tools, search engines are automated search tools that send out 'spiders' to visit, record and index websites and then generate results from their huge databases. In contrast, directories are human-compiled search tools where websites are assessed and categorised with subject hierarchies to allow users to either search or browse for information.

Which are the top search engines and directories?

There are only 5 or so search tools that are regularly used by the majority of web searchers and are therefore essential to any search engine marketing strategy. You can find out which these search tools are here.

What is link popularity?

Link popularity is one of the measures that the main search engines will use to determine the ranking performance of a website. It refers to the number and quality of links from other relevant websites pointing to a site, which in simple terms can be seen as votes of confidence, making the target site rank better to selected terms. Some websites - especially if they are new - will need to undertake a link building campaign to establish a better link popularity rating.

What is pay-per-click advertising?

Pay-per-click advertising (or PPC) is the big growth area in search engine marketing and refers to the advertising technique whereby companies will buy ranking position for different search terms, based on the bid price required. A small advert will then appear within the sponsored results on most of the top search tools and once a web user clicks on the link to a website, that company is charged the cost of the visit.

What's the difference between optimisation and PPC?

There are some significant differences between the techniques of search engine optimisation and pay-per-click advertising, not least of which the latter is a form of advertising, whereas the former is a technique that should be developed into every business website to give it a chance to attract site traffic from prospective customers. We have provided a more detailed comparison of the advantages and disadvantages between these 2 techniques.

How much will a PPC advertising campaign cost?

This will largely depend on the market that your site is operating in, the number of search terms that you wish to target and the competitive nature of the campaign (which can increase the bid costs) and the volumes of search traffic. If you are interested in starting a PPC campaign, we can help you run an initial test, or provide you with a cost estimate - please contact us for details.

What needs to be done to my website to improve its ranking on search engines?

There are many factors that will determine the ranking performance of a website, including the search terms being targeted and the number of competing websites. The size and structure of a site will be important, as will the use of words on the site and the number of links into the site from other relevant websites. We can provide an initial free assessment of your website to give you an idea of the work that may be required to improve its ranking potential.

What's the future of search tools on the web?

That's hard to say as so much has changed in the past 5-10 years and more is likely to develop in the future - some feel that search is still at a very early stage of its development and search engine marketing will need to develop alongside any future changes. We've made a few predictions here.

How can the web search workshop help my business?

We can provide you with a professional service to market your website through search. We will avoid jargon wherever possible and work with you to achieve your objectives. The best way to find out more is to contact us now for an initial 'no obligation' discussion, or to request a FREE site assessment to see what work we would propose.

What skills and experience does the web search workshop offer?

We have been established since 2000, providing search engine optimisation and PPC advertising for over 300 clients, both in the UK and more recently in Australia and New Zealand. Our experience of working with many different websites across a wide range of market sectors places us in a strong position to support your search engine marketing campaigns. You can view some of our clients or read some case studies and testimonials.

How do I contact the web search workshop to find out more?

If you'd like to speak to us directly about using search engine marketing for your website, please contact us now or request a FREE site assessment to receive a 'no obligation' review of your website.