Smaller firms 'may benefit from SEM'

28/07/2008

Small to medium-sized enterprises may be among those who benefit most from search engine marketing (SEM), a newspaper writer has asserted.

Rhonda Abrams of HartfordBusiness.com suggested that SEM is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways for firms to advertise themselves on the web and added that the pay-per-click system of charges may be of particular benefit for small businesses on fixed budgets.

"One of the great things about SEM ads is you pay only for results," she wrote.

The best search engine marketing ads, she continued, are those that are given due attention and time. She also suggested that while more thought needs to go into an SEM strategy than setting up a banner ad or getting a portal listing, well-crafted ads are generally the most successful.

Last week, Josh Dreller of Search Engine Land offered a number of strategies for search optimisation and search engine marketing, including the use of negative words so that an SEM search for 'cruise' does not appear next to searches for the actor Tom Cruise.