The 5 Best Ways to Work with Your SEM Company

Okay, you've done your homework. You've looked around and you've figured out that marketing methods and services have changed—especially now that online shoppers have a new and easy way to shop: the Internet. Since millions of people are searching for online products and services every day, you've decided that you would like to have your products and services online where qualified buyers can find them. If you haven't already, you'll soon find out there is more to attracting potential customers on the Internet than making a sleek-looking website. It is in your best interest to hire an experienced SEM (Search Engine Marketing) company to handle the technical aspects of your Internet campaign.

As elsewhere in business, there are certain points of etiquette that will help you get the most out of this relationship. Submitted for your approval, here are the five best ways to work harmoniously with your SEM company:

1. Become Involved, But Not TOO Involved
This first point can be likened to the well-meaning husband, who, having tried to fix a complicated plumbing problem, has finally been forced to hire a plumber. Instead of pointing out the problem and getting out of the way, the husband crowds the plumber, constantly offering unsolicited suggestions, advice and opinion.

The plumber, wanting to keep the customer happy in order to garner repeat business, will distractedly nod at each suggestion, do his best to discretely sidestep around the husband, and will then use his professional experience to methodically solve the same problem that he has resolved many times before.

It's much the same with Internet marketing. Most established search engine marketers have proven processes that they've successfully used with many clients. An Internet marketing consultant knows that a client knows his or her own business better than the Internet marketer, and an experienced SEM consultant will rely on the client's expertise to get the campaign moving and will consult closely with the client throughout the campaign. However, when the campaign is progressing and the SEM company is reporting good weekly results and upward trends, it's often a good idea for the client to step discretely aside and let the Internet experts do what they do best.

2. Full Disclosure
Everyone has done things that he or she is not particularly proud of, and it's up to you to decide with whom you'll disclose that information. However, when you're working with a search engine marketer, it's in everybody's best interest to confess past Internet marketing mistakes. Some marketers may have encouraged you to run spammy e-mail campaigns, to post multiple mirrored websites, or to try your hand at domain cloaking or other questionable SEO tactics.

Most experienced SEM companies have seen these mistakes and can usually vary their processes to compensate for past errors, but it is crucial that they have your past Internet marketing information early in the campaign. After your Internet marketing company has toiled fruitlessly on your site for six months, your mention of a forgotten, duplicated site will NOT be met with enthusiasm.

It is also helpful to brief your SEM company on your additional advertising and marketing efforts. Much of that information can be used for the benefit of both your online and offline campaigns. Also, the more site access you can provide to your Internet marketers, the quicker they can do their job.

3. Have a Good Product with a Competitive Advantage
Internet marketers can bring traffic to your site and, with that traffic, increased visibility. However, if your product or service is inferior to the other products listed in the search engine results, or if the product is a lot less expensive at the local Wal-Mart, it will be difficult to convert your visitors into buyers.

Work with your SEM company and help them understand why it is that your product or service is superior to the other products that will show up in the same keyword search. These product or service advantages should also be clearly specified in prominent places throughout your website.

4. Speeding up the Spiders?
Remember that search engine optimization is a process that requires patience. The job of your Internet marketer is to get great rankings for you, but the job of the search engines is to try and ensure that SEM companies can't manipulate them to get great rankings for you. An effective Internet marketing company will add great content to your website and make sure your site pages are optimized so that search engine spiders find everything in the proper place.

Calling your account manager every day is NOT going to speed up the spiders any more than your kids' constant "Are we there yet?" query is going to transport you magically to your vacation destination.

5. Avoid Corporate Quicksand and Analysis Paralysis
Ideally, your SEM account manager will work with one main contact in your company who is empowered to make Internet marketing decisions. If each SEO recommendation has to be passed through Marketing, forwarded to IT, approved by the CEO, given the OK by Legal, and then sent by Marketing back to you, your fledgling six-month contract will be burned through without returning significant search engine results.

You're not the only company who is targeting the same keywords. The longer it takes for your organization to make a decision, the more successful your competitors will be at carving out their space in the search engines. Search engine spiders are moving at a consistent speed and flexible companies who can make quick decisions will be found indexed by the spiders first.

Questions?
For more information in regards to effective search marketing, please feel free to contact 10x Marketing.

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