Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, works hand-in-hand with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to earn your website top placement in search rankings under your selected keywords. The only way to guarantee placement of any kind, SEM offers a much more reliable way to ensure that your website appears at the top of search engine results than is possible with SEO.

 

 

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Sponsor Listings (Pay-Per-Click)

Sponsor listings (commonly known as pay-per-click or PPC ads) are the text-based advertisements that appear at the top and right sides of match results in search engines. Each ad's rank or position is determined by a bidding system. Effective management of pay-per-click campaigns is what MedNet Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is all about.

 

While organic SEO positioning is often erratic, unpredictable and ultimately controlled by the search engines, SEM is controllable and highly targeted. You decide how high your ads will be placed based on the amount you're willing to bid for each keyword position. You decide when and where your ad will display across a network of websites that partner with Google, Yahoo and MSN-Live. Additionally, PPC ads can be set to be sensitive to the IP addresses of searchers' geographic locations, so your ads only appear for patients looking in the areas that you want.

 

In highly competitive markets, PPC may be the only way to earn a place on the first page of Google, Yahoo and MSN-Live. In fact, it's the only way to guarantee placement of any kind. When used in conjunction with SEO, pay-per-click campaigns are extremely effective ways to get visitors onto your website.

 

 

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Total Campaign Management

MedNet's SEM specialists identify effective keywords, write the ad titles and descriptions, and manage your bids to provide maximum exposure within your advertising budget. MedNet SEM also takes care of the entire bid process and money management. Our services include:

 

• Identifying applicable keywords and phrases.
• Establishing an account and maintain the account balance.
• Listing your websites under applicable keywords and phrases.
• Developing the titles and author descriptions that appear under each of your listings.
• Coding your listings to track activity in MedNet website traffic reports.
• Determining and managing your bids to place you within the top 5 positions. Generally, we attempt to secure the #1 listing position at the top of the page.
• Checking bids every 48 hours and adjusting as necessary to provide you with the maximum exposure at the lowest cost. We will advise you of any significant fluctuations on bid amounts and when account replenishment is required.
• Providing you with printed reports of activity.
• Analyzing and discussing your campaign performance results on a monthly basis and adjusting SEM strategy as necessary.

 

 

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Tracking Your SEM Campaign

SEM efforts require frequent monitoring of your positions and periodic adjustments to your bidding amounts per keyword in order to stay on top of the PPC market and ensure that your website is appearing where you want it to.

 

MedNet Web Visibility Services provides you with SEM Reports that analyze the success of your PPC campaigns by both search term and search engine. MedNet Site Analytic reports identify how visitors get to your website, which pages they viewed, and which search engines they arrived from. Additionally, SEM services include scheduled consultations with MedNet's SEM specialists to ensure that our efforts are meeting your objectives.

 

 

 

 

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How much does SEM cost?

Because you only pay when visitors click on your ad, PPC is the most cost-effective of advertising strategies. When search terms are combined with geographic areas, the cost-effectiveness of this type of advertising increases significantly.

 

SEM ads are sold in two different ways: auction-based and as a fixed per-click cost. 

 

• Auction-based listings are serviced by two companies: Overture and Google AdWords.
• Fixed per-click listings are serviced by LookSmart.

 

MedNet SEM pricing varies by campaign and depends on numerous factors, including your specialty, your location, your keywords, your advertising budget, and the search engine(s) on which you want to advertise. Our Web Visibility Specialists will be happy to create an integrated SEM plan that is right for you.

 

 

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For More Information

For more information about SEO, SEM and MedNet Site Analytics, complete our online contact form.

 

We'll help you identify the most effective keywords and set the proper budgets for your SEM campaign to give you the maximum exposure at the lowest cost. Plus, we'll review your organic Search Engine Optimization plan to ensure that your SEO and SEM strategies work in harmony.