Search Engine Marketing, or SEM as it is referred to by internet marketers, is the process of design, development and promotion of websites in search engines with the specific goal of gaining a high ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs) for a desired keyword or phrase. Search engine marketing may include search engine optimization, paid search engine inclusion, pay per click bid management and contextual advertising with a goal of promoting a website to increase targeted website traffic generally for specific keywords related to the website.

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO as it has come to be known, is the process of optimizing a website or page for better ranking in search engines such as Google or Bing. Search engines look for certain elements in a webpage to determine what keywords are relevant and what ranking to apply to each page for that desired keyword. SEO includes all aspects of actual on page optimization such as proper HTML formatting of important meta tags including the all important Title, Description and Keyword tags plus lesser known but equally important tags such as H1, H2 and H3 headings, Alt Image tags, internal link structure and most importantly keyword rich website text.

For the professional search engine marketer the SEO process always begins with proper keyword research to determine exactly which keywords you wish to target on each individual page which should be optimized for one keyword set. Website ad copy will be created to describe each keyword set and proper formatting techniques will be applied to include the desired keywords in each of the aforementioned HTML tags. Proper keyword research is vital in driving qualified website traffic which in turn leads to better conversions to sales or leads and maximized return on investment for the small business owner.

SEO can be broken down into two camps, white hat seo and black hat seo which refers to how aggressive an internet marketer will get with their optimization strategies. White hat seo agents will utilize industry standard best practices in a safe approach to avoid being penalized or banned for certain unaccepted seo practices. Black hat seo agents take a no holds barred approach with more cutting edge techniques that may be frowned upon by search engines and can lead to a website being banned when the techniques are discovered. Black hat seo techniques include keyword stuffing, hidden text, link spamming, cloaking and other non standard practices which are a direct violation of webmaster guidelines as provided by Google. Black hat seo is generally utilized on disposable websites which may achieve high rankings quickly but will most likely be banned eventually and white hat seo is more often the approach taken by those committed to building a long term and lasting ranking in search engines.

Ocala Webmaster offers white hat seo services in Ocala Florida with a goal of long term rankings for your business website.