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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012) ISSN

SN 0976 6367(Print) ISSN 0976 6375(Online) Volume 3, Issue 2, May- August (2012), pp. 242-249 IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijm.html IAEME Journal Impact Factor (2012): 3.5420 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT (IJM)

IJM

FROM SEO TO SEM - A NEW AREA FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH


2 Ms. Jyoti Pruthi Dr. Ela Kumar 1 Research Scholar, Singhania University (Rajasthan), India 1 jyoti.pruthi756@gmail.com 2 Associate Professor, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, India 2 Ela_kumar@gmail.com 1

ABSTRACT Search Engine Optimization was a term used by web developers in the late 90s to highlight the importance of increasing a websites position in search engines results. Further development of the Internet in terms of the diversity of its users and uses such as e-commerce, blogging and wikis have highlighted the need for technical staff to work more closely with marketing professionals resulting in a new area of work Search Engine Marketing. The paper highlights the emerging role of Search Engine marketing as a new and increasingly important area for future information systems researchers and research. Reaching beyond the 'simple' undifferentiated goal of increasing visitors to a website, a mature perspective of marketing is developing that of realizing strategic marketing objectives. Keywords: Search Engine, SEM, SEO, marketing communications and customers online information seeking behavior. 1. INTRODUCTION Having a store at a prime location on a main road is a critical factor for success in retail sales. Location, location, location [1]. The store is right there when people need it and the important location makes the store appear to be the more important than the competition. In the same way, having a business website at a prime location on the internet is important. But on the internet, the biggest road is Google. In the business world most people use Google as the best route to find what they are looking for, more than any other means. Profit and non-profit organizations from different sectors and of all sizes seem to be heavily interested in and focus on the online market with their projects and ideas, realizing that the web presents very significant and attractive marketing opportunities.
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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012)

According to Achille (2008) [7], European online shoppers are heavy Internet users, having made 1.3 billion purchases in a six-month period during 2007, spending on average 747, 00 each. Businesses are quickly realizing that search engines are a prime source for these new leads and customers (Olbrich and Schultz, 2008), thats why search engines are considered (among other online technologies, i.e. RSS) to be the most dynamic marketing newest online communication channels (Olbrich and Schultz, 2008; Barnes, 2007). In comparison to traditional media, advertisers are generally not charged for the number of displayed advertisements (impressions), but for the number of clicked advertisements. Search engine spamming revolves around the malicious and methodical manipulation of a Websites relevancy to increase the Websites ranking for specific search queries. Search engine marketing leads in two directions, one is Search Engine Optimization and second is Search Engine Advertising.
Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Advertising

Figure 1: Search Engine Optimization The internet has become an important platform for businesses and small enterprises to become seen by more people than they could ever imagine. This is what search internet marketing is all about [12]. Nowadays, local operations that used to run only in a town or city level can now move across and operate in a global scale, offering products and services over the Internet. For that to happen, it is essential to have an effective internet marketing optimization strategy. With the help of Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click Marketing, it is possible to find the most effective ways to effectively transform these ideas to reality and make the business more promising and reliable for the global market. The purpose of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to improve the traffic to a website by getting a higher ranking on Google for search terms that are more important: because they are used more often and/or more important because they have a higher relevance and conversion. 2. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION According to Web Design Library (available at: http://www.webdesign.org/), SEO can be defined as a natural or rather an organic way of ensuring that a website comes out on top when someone searches for a particular product or a particular keyword. The objective of SEO is the increase of web visitor counts by ranking the website
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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012)

very high in the results of searches using the most appropriate keywords describing the content of the website [4]. Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to techniques that help your website rank higher in organic (or natural) search results, thus making your website more visible to people who are looking for your product or service via search engines. SEO is part of the broader topic of Search Engine Marketing (SEM), a term used to describe all marketing strategies for search. SEM entails both organic and paid search. With paid search, you can pay to list your website on a search engine so that your website shows up when someone types in a specific keyword or phrase. Organic and paid listings both appear on the search engine, but they are displayed in different locations on the page.

Figure 2: Search Engine Optimization SEO, as the most important technique in a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) [4] process and as part of an internet marketing strategy, can be utilized primarily for increasing a web site's ranking and lead to web domination (Olbrich and Schultz, 2008; Thelwall, 2001). SEO can take into account how search algorithms work and what exactly online customers search for, in terms of user-centered design and online customer value (McMahon and Griffy- Brown, 2009) and cost-effectiveness (Kennedy and Kennedy, 2008).
Audience Objectives Strategy Blog Video News FB

Search Engine Optimization

GOAL

Figure 3: Search Engine Optimization Flow


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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012)

3. SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING Most search engines list two types of results for any submitted search query. Alongside the organic listings, the output of the search algorithms, search engines also display sponsored links (JANSEN/RESNICK, 2006; NICHOLSON et al., 2006) [14]. Sponsored links are advertisements matched to the search query by a set of provided keywords. Search engine marketing can be defined as a set of marketing methods to increase the chance of receiving quality traffic through search engines. Search engine optimization attempts to improve the ranking of a Website in organic listings by adjusting the Websites structure, content, and programming towards certain search terms. Search engine advertising can be further distinguished in keyword search advertising and content search advertising. Keyword search advertising relates to any ad placement triggered by search queries. The advertisements can thus appear on a search engines Website or on a partner Website featuring the search engine capabilities. Three accounting systems are generally distinguished for search engine advertising: pay-per-impression, pay-per-click, and pay-per-conversion (e. g. MORAN/HUNT, 2006; SEDA, 2004). In case of pay-per-impression, the advertiser is charged for every ad appearance. Similar to traditional media, the cost per mille metric is often used for the pay-per-impression system. If the advertiser is charged whenever the advertisement is clicked, the pay per- click system is employed. [4] Pay-per-click systems allow an improved measurement of successful advertising contacts compared to traditional media. According to new research conducted by Jupiter Research and sponsored by iProspect, 62% of search engine users click on a search result within the first page of results, and a full 90% of users click on a result within the first three pages of search results [15]. Most knowledgeable eMarketers involved with Internet Marketing believe Search Engine Marketing is the most effective and the most valued way to market your Website. We believe an effective Internet Marketing is in reality the art of Search Engine Marketing. Search Engine Marketing is not just search engine optimization. Search Engine Marketing is the combination of the Right Content, Search Engine Optimization and the Link Popularity concept. For an effective Internet Marketing not only your site has to be optimized with the right content, it also has to be effectively linked with other websites in your field. 4. IMPORTANCE OF INTERNET MARKETING AND ADVERTISING Marketing, specifically, internet marketing involves numerous processes. It encompasses a system of methods to reach several unique goals. Advertising aims to offer a specific goal only help to advance the entire marketing process. Nowadays, internet marketing and advertising are being used by savvy marketing experts to create successful and truly remarkable results for online businesses.
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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012)

Internet marketing and offline marketing share some similar aspects. Both aspects involve research which is highly necessary in order to determine the key factors that make the marketing strategy successful and promising [10]. This is where most time is spent when doing marketing and advertising strategies and with a good foundation and research regarding products and services, it wont be long till we find the right set of options to appeal to the market. Internet marketing and advertising are crucial for any aspect that will involve the promotion and improvement of the sales of a business. With effective marketing and advertising, businesses can become more popular to a wide range of clients [7]. The market can also grow significantly well and develop more customers. More customers mean more possible sales and that is why internet marketing is really a powerful tool that you should take advantage of for a successful business experience. Internet marketing and advertising is all about presenting the message in the most effective and creative way. Internet marketing is a cost effective method to present ideas and while advertising captures a wide arena of platforms, it is very possible to really influence a wider population. Both entities are very dependent on each other to improve the success of the business. 5. HOW TO ACHIEVE INTERNET MARKETING SUCCESS With internet marketing, you already have several factors and aspects that you can take advantage of. First, you have the advantage of cost effectiveness. Second, you can set up the strategy a lot faster. Third, it is easier to handle and manage. However, the success is still not measurable at this point. The internet marketing success is only attained when several other factors are met and realized. Goals are necessary to reach internet marketing success. A business that only aims to be at the top without any perspective or idea of concrete goals will not fully attain success. It is true that internet marketing has some inherent benefits that offline marketing does not have. It is essential though to understand that the success of any business is not guaranteed online.

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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012)

Figure 4: Success rate of online marketing There are some hard things that the marketer and business have to overcome in order to succeed. One should have realistic goals. Lack of perspective draws one to think of very big ideas with very little results in reality. One should know the fact from the myth. To achieve internet marketing success, marketers and businesses need to be constantly be working on it. Having an expert to handle much of the implementation is already a big relief for the business owner. Patience and perseverance are necessary to be successful. Internet marketing is never fast and stratospheric rise to fame only comes with effective strategies and tons of luck. 6. CONCLUSION & MAJOR FINDINGS A Search engine optimization is a widespread phenomenon which affects consumer search abilities and search marketing decisions tremendously. Surprisingly, in many cases SEO can not only increase the search engine's traffic through improving the organic side, but also its revenues from sponsored links. Search Engine Optimization is used for optimizing the website so as to get higher ranking on the search engines used for finding about a particular product or service or brand by the increasing number of internet users. A successful SEO campaign will not only improve your search engine ranking but also put you in the same bracket with the best and largest players in your industry. Being at the same platform with biggest names in your industry will surely increase your brand value. It helps the organizations to be in the first 10 links on the search engines. Some of the major findings are as follows [13]: A significant 90% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business. The majority of marketers (58%) are using social media for 6 hours or more each week, and more than a third (34%) invest 11 or more hours weekly.
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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012)

A significant 77% of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube and video marketing, making it the top area marketers will invest in for 2012. 70% of marketers want to learn more about Facebook and 69% want to learn more about blogging. SEO helps in giving a high exposure of the brand to the rapidly growing number of internet users therefore, creating the brand recognition and recall value. Search engine optimization has become a vital part for the promotion which cannot be missed by any organization. REFRENCES [1]. Praxis Communications, Inc., SEO Process Steps [2]. Anderson, C. (2008) the long tail: Why the future of business is selling less of more, Hyperion. [3]. Taylor, Greg. 2010. Search quality and revenue cannibalisation by competing search engines. Working paper, Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1233282. [4]. BBC Online. (2009). Online advertising 'overtakes TV' [Electronic Version]. Retrieved 10 Jan 2010, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8280557.stm [5]. Conway, E. and Wallop, H. (2009) Recession will be the worst in modern history, Bank of England confirms, Daily Telegraph, 12th August,ww.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/6018483/Recessi on-will-be-the-worst-in-modern-history-Bank-of-England-confirms.html. [6]. Croxford, I. (2010) When Times Get Tough Go Online, ITNOW, 52(1):16-17; doi:10.1093/itnow/bwp122 [7]. Achille, S. (2008). Trends in European search markets. Search Engine Marketing Journal 1, suppl. issue. Available at: http://www.semj.org/documents/SEMJ_2008_supplemental.pdf. [8]. Greenburg, A. (2007) The Saboteurs Of Search, Forbes, 28th June, [9]. Aggarwal, Gagan, Jon Feldman, S. Muthukrishnan, Martin Pfial. 2008. Sponsored search auctions with markovian users. WINE '08: Proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Internet and Network Economics. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 621-628. [10]. Athey, S., D. Nekipelov. 2010. A Structural Model of Sponsored Search Advertising Auctions. Mimeo. [11]. Athey, Susan, Glenn Ellison. 2009. Position auctions with consumer search. NBER Working Papers 15253, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. URL http://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/15253.html. [12]. Waterschoot, W. and Van den Bulte, C. (1992) The 4P classification of the Marketing Mix Revisited, The Journal of Marketing, 56(4), pp.83-93. [13]. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/SocialMediaMarketingReport2011.pdf
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International Journal of Management (IJM), ISSN 0976 6502(Print), ISSN 0976 6510(Online), Volume 3, Issue 2, May-August (2012)

[14]. JANSEN, B. J./RESNICK, M. 2006: An Examination of Searchers Perception of Nonsponsored and Sponsored Links during E-Commerce Web Searching, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Vol. 57, 2006, No. 14, 1949-1961. [15]. http://www.windserve.com/services/search-engine-optimization-seo. ABOUT AUTHORS 1. Jyoti Pruthi is pursuing PhD (computer science) from Singhania University, Rajasthan. .She received her MPhil (computer science) degree in 2008. She holds an MCA from MDU, Rohtak. She is currently working as Assistant Professor, MCA Department with Manav Rachna College of Engineering, Faridabad. Earlier, she worked with CSSL, Gurgaon as a Software Engineer. Her area of specialization includes Search Engine, Spamming & Anti-Spamming Techniques. 2. Dr Ela Kumar PhD (Artificial Intelligence) from University of Delhi. She holds an M.Tech (CSE) and B.E (ECE) from IIT, Roorkee. She is currently working as Associate Professor with Gautam Buddha University, Gr Noida. Her area of specialization includes Search Engine, AI, Ad-Hoc Networks. She holds to her credit around 19 Years of experience of teaching and research. Besides publishing 30 research papers in journals of repute, she has written 3 books.

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