Outsource Search Engine Marketing?

SEM has become increasingly important to all who do business and use the Web as a marketing tool (which by now should be every company). According to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), the SEM market is over $10 billion in North America alone. Therefore, the biggest question now isn’t whether you should use SEM, but rather who will manage your SEM campaigns.

What should you do? It depends. When reviewing your options for in-house or outsourced search engine optimization (SEO) or pay-per-click (PPC) bid management, consider these important skills (which may not be feasible for one person):

1. SEO specialist (certificate or training)
2. PPC specialist to optimally manage your bids (Some Google certification helpful)
3. Web stats analyst to monitor and analyze web traffic patterns
4. Usability professional to ensure your campaign is engaging the user and increasing conversion rates
5. Web designer to ensure the site landing pages are laid out in an attractive fashion
6. Web programmer to code the site
7. Project manager to ensure everyone’s efforts are coordinated

And the most important thing:  RULES and TECHNOLOGY CHANGE.  The team or person should have time to keep abreast of how this industry changes.