Help Desk

We've had clients ask us if search engine marketing actually works or is it a waste of money. My reply... it depends.

(2476) Last Updated: October 21, 2017

It depends on the quality of the message on your website. Simply put, if your website's content (your message) is not convincing enough to drive a sale, then I'd answer no... search engine marketing (SEM) doesn't work and it's a waste of money. However, if you have a well crafted message that entices a site visitor to stay on your website, learn about your products, services and drives a sale... then yes search engine marketing can work for you.

Over the years I've met and talked with many business owners who say, "I want my website to land on the first page and at the top of search engine results" only to discover upon visiting their website that they have nothing worth reading. Their website message is uninteresting and doesn't tell me much about their business and how I'll benefit from acquiring their services.

I hold fast to the belief that content is king... developing a clear and informative message about the services your business provides, why someone should choose your business over your competition and how they'll benefit, will perform much better than dropping $400.00 - $700.00 per month to a search engine marketing company who is driving visitors to a website that has nothing worth reading. In addition, without quality content and message, you're setting yourself up for an expensive SEM failure.

Tip on developing keywords: When writing content for your website, add words (keywords) that mention the services your business provides and target the regions you provide your services to. This will help you target your markets.

Example: Kaleidoscopic is a graphic design and website development company based in Charlotte, NC.

In the brief sentence above I hit on 8 keywords. Can you pick them out... should be easy. Here's a rundown: Kaleidoscopic identifies the business name. Graphic design and website development identifies the services we provide. Company will target business owners and Charlotte, NC targets one of our regions of service.

So, before you reach out to a search engine marketing company, we recommend that you consider investing in developing great content and a great message. Then when someone reaches your website, they'll more likely spend more time discovering the services your business offers, that could lead to a sale.

If you're a business owner and you need help developing a clear and precise message for your website that targets your markets, give us a shout! We can help.