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I usually
respond to readers' SEM
(define) questions
individually. But
sometimes I get the same
questions repeatedly, so
I address them here.
Today, I'll answer your
questions on global SEM
strategies, hiring
honest SEM vendors, and
the education you need
to work in SEM.
Note: no individual or
company names or email
addresses are used to
respect correspondents'
privacy. Some of the
questions have been
paraphrased into more
general queries.
Q. The company I work
for wants to take our
SEM strategy global.
What should I look for
in a global SEM vendor?
A. Executing an SEM
program on a global
scale isn't easy; SEM
combines business goals,
technology, and
creativity. Yet global
SEM campaigns can
produce amazing results
when geographically
divergent branch offices
are unified in a global
search campaign.
Different vendors will
have different
approaches to producing
a global strategy for
your organization. To
determine which vendor
best suites your needs,
organize your Web assets
by priority. Know which
markets, languages, and
places are most
important to your
business. From there,
review each vendor's
capabilities in the
countries and markets
that mean the most to
your business.
Ask for local references
from organizations
operating in the
countries that have the
greatest effect on your
business. The SEM vendor
you select must have a
working knowledge of
local directories and
search engine usage in
each market on a
language-specific basis.
Also, be certain the
vendor has either a
local presence or access
to talented translators
who speak the languages
your business needs.
Q. How can I be certain
I don't hire an SEM
vendor that will spam
the search engines?
A. Once again,
references are
essential. However,
three good references
don't necessarily mean
the vendor won't
leverage questionable
SEM tactics. Some
vendors will go so far
as to put no-spam
clauses in their
contracts. But this
doesn't guarantee the
services they provide
aren't contrary to what
search engines deem best
practices.
No reputable vendor will
ever guarantee organic
search results. Nor will
they promise results
within a definitive time
frame. Such promises
usually mean that link
farms, doorway pages, or
cloaking will be
employed to produce
temporary top rankings.
Your best course is to
review the Webmaster
guidelines at each of
the major search
engines:
Google Webmaster
Guidelines
Yahoo Search Content
Quality Guidelines
MSN Guidelines for
Successful Indexing
You can usually spot a
link farm or doorway
page by doing a few deep
searches for the vendor
or a few of its clients;
simply drill down
similar page details in
Google or analyze who
links to them. Another
signal of questionable
strategies is if the
vendor expects your
business to link to it
or an off-topic site. If
a vendor tells you it
can increase search
traffic to every page of
your site, they're
probably building
doorway pages for your
site.
Spotting a vendor that
employs cloaking is no
small task. Sometimes
the vendor tells you
very few site changes
need to be made, only
some "special code"
needs to be added to the
site. An easy way to see
if a vendor uses
cloaking to deliver
different search results
is to check out the site
or its clients in
Google's cache. If what
you see is different
from what Google sees,
the vendor's probably
using IP cloaking to
sway search results.
Q. What educational
focus provides the best
background for getting
into the SEM industry?
A. The answer depends on
which elements of SEM
you want to specialize
in. Computer science is
a natural if you prefer
programming over site
design, for which an art
degree would be handy.
An advertising or
marketing degree
provides a solid
background if you prefer
the PPC (define) side of
the street. If writing
and composition are your
forte, an English degree
is in order.
Top marketers in the
industry have highly
diverse backgrounds. No
particular educational
background makes one SEM
more successful than
another. Focus on what
you're good at and what
you enjoy doing. From
there you'll need to
practice, practice, and
practice. After that,
the sky's the limit.
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