Several times a day I do searches on select key words and phrases across multiple search engines to see who is purchasing specific key words and who is thriving in organic search. My assessment is that while these service providers have certainly figured out key word advertising, few actually thrive equally or exceedingly in their organic search rankings. This is because so many industry service providers have jumped on the band wagon of key word advertising without a real understanding of search marketing, especially with Web 2.0 search marketing.

Here are some things I look for to determine the depth of a SEM efforts in businesses:

1. Consistently good organic placement - Websites and web pages that consistently appear in the top organic search results are a sign of effective niche marketing, content relevancy, and search engine optimization.



2. Companies buying their way into search results - While key word advertising certainly has its use, organic search far outweighs it. True long-lasting results in search marketing are accomplished by organic listings, not key word advertising. I am wary of purchased key word ads that appear in my searches when the same company’s organic listing is no where to be found.


3. Key word thieves - Often times I see purchased key word ads from companies for products and services they do not offer. This is a clear sign of false advertising, which organic search filters out.




For more in-depth information about how and why dealers are being cheated in search marketing, please visit the corresponding entry on my blog.

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Ryan Gerardi