“Search Engine Marketing” means different things to different people, so it is very important to get a specific definition when you’re choosing an agency. Some agencies will consider SEM to be Pay-Per-Click or ad placement, while others will be more geared to search engine optimization (SEO). Depending on who you ask, SEO does not fall under the umbrella of SEM, but the fallacy in this idea is the fact that people pay for SEO in order to market their products and services on search engines.

At Web.com Search Agency, we have comprehensive search engine optimization and Pay-Per-Click management services, and this allows us to create customized proposals for individual clients. Clients who need fast traffic generally start with an aggressive PPC campaign, which can be very expensive if not executed properly. (It can also be very expensive when properly executed, but it can be very profitable as well.) Many of our clients have existing PPC campaigns and want to supplement or eliminate them by ramping up their SEO efforts.

One of the reasons that SEM has such a hazy definition is that its capabilities have expanded beyond search engines and into social media. For instance, much of the advertising on Facebook and Myspace is done through SEM channels, even though the casual user isn’t searching for anything. Google ads show up next to articles on sites all over the web, but a qualified SEM firm can manage a campaign that only shows ads on relevant sites that create conversions. Some of the latest channel matching features in Google PPC make it possible for you to show up in specific sections of popular websites, and set your ads to show up for specific demographic groups.

Transparency is another factor in Search Engine Marketing. There shouldn’t be any proprietary or “secret” features of you SEM campaign. Any agency should be able to let you see the actual account, campaign, keywords, ad variations, negative keywords, conversion data, and (most important) cost per click. Several of our customers have dealt with “black box” SEM companies that take a fixed fee and deliver a certain number of clicks in a month. By knowing exactly how much you’re spending on a click, and what keywords are delivering the best results, you can become an active partner in your own success, and ensure that the agency is not marking up “cheap” clicks to make more money.

No matter what your approach, your goal should be to get exposure in the search engines at a sustainable ROI. When choosing an agency, you should be looking for an established business with experience in multiple techniques, with a diverse range of customer types. This is because a specialist in only one field may not have the experience necessary to create compelling advertisements or find groups of relevant keywords that can create new business. Although it may seem counterintuitive, experience in your particular niche may be a handicap. A marketer with experience managing multiple campaigns is usually better able to see what approaches are unlikely to be effective, and the cost savings in this area alone can justify hiring an SEM firm.

Qualified SEM experts start by finding search volume for basic phrases around what you sell, and then present you with a list of keywords and their monthly search volume. This kind of competitive intelligence allows you to change your site (or product offerings) in order to match the actual demand. Additionally, SEM professionals will advise you on how to direct search traffic for specific campaigns. A well-built landing page is essential for conversion, and larger search engine marketing campaigns will involve testing of many different versions of the same landing page, until the best possible conversion rate is achieved. If you can’t afford this kind of testing (known as A/B testing or multivariate testing) then your SEM contact should be able to advise you on best practices for landing pages and your shopping process.

Because the definition of SEM is still somewhat unsettled, your agency should be able to present options that best match your own vision of online marketing. Web.com Search Agency crafts individualized solutions to each customer based on the marketplace, competition, and potential ROI of the products and services being sold. The vast size of the online world means that there is no “one size fits all” approach to SEM. Therefore, your agency should be able to outline all of the available offerings for marketing online, while you (as a customer) may want to occasionally check on what other SEM services are available. At our agency, we routinely answer questions about new fads and trends in SEM, and we use customer questions to help us develop products that contribute to the reinvention of the online marketing world.