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Archived views
Ronel Schoeman, Databases for retail uplift
Richard Roche, The times are a changing
Jeremy Saul, Holistic
Richard McCann, Friday's of Piccadilly
David Harrison, WSPS
Russell Loarridge, Firstwave Technologies
Alan Joen, Touchstone
John Whittingdale MP

Your view

From David Harrison, WSPS

Companies and agencies claim to be able to provide an advertising campaign to get thousands of visitors to your website by getting you to the top of search engines - but can these claims be substantiated? And how do you know that you're attracting buyers, not just browsers? David Harrison of WSPS believes companies should see search engine marketing (SEM) not as a black art of cowboy operators and unknown returns, but as a truly accountable form of highly targeted permission marketing.

WSPS Viewpoint
Internet advertising techniques have taken off rapidly over the past few years, but some marketers remain wary of digital marketing techniques. Three to four years ago, businesses were throwing money at banner ads and pop-ups, without really being able to tell how effectively the budget was being spent. Search engine marketing was in its infancy and web site optimisation was complicated and considered to fall into the realm of the IT team. Yet in the intervening period, the industry has had to grow up pretty sharpish. As the bottomless money pits of the dotcom era have been replaced with financial caution, it's no longer acceptable to have only a vague idea whether money is well spent or not.

Accountability has become the watchword for all major e-commerce players and media agencies. And this is the killer point in SEM's favour. As 81 per cent of consumers use search engines to find information on the internet, advertisers have realised that SEM, particularly pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, is an ideal way to target consumers. These consumers are already looking for what the advertiser is offering - the ultimate in permission marketing.

By using automated bidding strategies on thousands of mined-out keywords that relate to their web sites, companies will be able to target their consumers using highly efficient methods. Rather than targeting people who might be interested, companies will reach people who have already decided what they want.

With PPC, the advertiser only pays for the clicks they receive, giving them accurate information about where their spend is going. There are now products and services available that will allow you as a marketer to see which of your search engines, and which of your keywords, are giving you the most sales leads. Indeed some of the latest services will show how much each visitor has spent as a result of clicking on which search engine keyword. Detailed customer acquisition costs and spend can be compared.

Without the ability to prove that the spend is worthwhile, internet advertising will eventually fall out of fashion. I firmly believe that companies should be looking to SEM to provide best value from their advertising budget. Anyone who isn't taking SEM seriously is really missing a trick.

About WSPS
WSPS (Web Site Promotion Services Ltd) offers industry leading search engine marketing solutions to a wide range of blue chip clients. The company offers search engine traffic generation, search engine optimisation, pay-per-click bid management, website optimisation and keyword data mining.

Archived views
Ronel Schoeman, Databases for retail uplift
Richard Roche, The times are a changing
Jeremy Saul, Holistic
Richard McCann, Friday's of Piccadilly
David Harrison, WSPS
Russell Loarridge, Firstwave Technologies
Alan Joen, Touchstone
John Whittingdale MP