The Search Engine Marketing program is a direct response to the skyrocketing growth of the search engine industry.
No longer the territory of geekdom, search engine marketing has exploded into the mainstream. Today, thousands of businesses are falling all over themselves to capture online searchers. And they'll pay big bucks to search engines for the privilege. Giants like Google, Yahoo and AOL can't fail to make money because everybody wants a bit of their search action.
As a search engine marketer, you'll pay for Web advertising that appears when consumers type specific search terms into a search engine. Using a combination of search optimization techniques, copywriting skills, and bidding dollars to pay for targeted advertising, you'll be able to place a product or a business directly in front of the right consumer at the right time.
A job in this industry can be highly rewarding. As noted by Jennifer Laycock of Search Engine Guide, "There are quite literally more jobs than there are skilled marketers and salaries can skyrocket to almost embarrassing levels."
This extreme demand means Search Engine Marketers can pick and choose their jobs and/or clients. The more skilled marketers are head-hunted regularly.
Job candidates who hold specific industry certification in Search Engine Marketing may well have an edge over their fellow applicants when it comes to interview selection. The Search Engine Marketer series is a bundle of 5 courses designed for persons who want to jump-start their career path in the fast-paced search engine industry.
The Search Engine Marketer series consists of the following 5 individual courses:
- Search Engine Optimization 101 +
- Search Engine Optimization 201 +
- Pay Per Click Marketing 101 +
- Pay Per Click Marketing 201 +
- This course is an elective. You may choose from Web Site Copywriting 101, Web Site Usability 101, Article Marketing & Distribution, or Copywriting for PPC 101.
Search Engine Optimization 101 will show you step-by-step how to optimize your web site to obtain better search engine positioning on the world's most popular search engines and directories for target keywords and phrases. It will also show you how to choose the best keywords to target and how to monitor and maintain successful search engine rankings for those keywords.
Search Engine Optimization 201 will take your SEO knowledge to the next level by teaching you how to further increase your site's compatibility with search engines and how to optimize a web site that uses more complex design technologies such as dynamic content, Flash and tables. You’ll also discover the concept of pay per click search engine advertising and how to accurately measure the Return on Investment of your search engine optimization efforts. There's even a bonus lesson waiting for you in case you want to start your own SEO business.
Pay Per Click Marketing 101 will give you the knowledge necessary to set up, monitor, and maintain a successful campaign to promote your web site on the pay-per-click search engines and their network of partner sites. It will walk you through the process of setting up a PPC campaign from scratch on the two most popular services, Google AdWord and Yahoo! Search Marketing. After this course, you’ll be confident in designing a successful ad campaign.
Pay Per Click Marketing 201 will take your knowledge of PPC to the next level by teaching you how to Improve the Return on Investment of your PPC campaigns on the major search engines and their network of partner sites. The course will show you how to improve your ad click-through and conversion rates, create effective landing pages, measure campaign effectiveness, conduct split testing, and tweak your campaigns for better performance.
Web Site Copywriting 101 will provide you with an understanding of keyword integration. Want to make sure you get the right search keywords into your site and design your copy so your site appeals to more visitors? After this course, you’ll be able to help your visitors take the desired action on your sight (e.g. purchase, sign-up or bookmark your site).
Web Site Usability 101 will give you all the knowledge necessary to design your site with users in mind. Your site has to be user-friendly and ”sticky” in order to retain visitors and turn them into customers or long term visitors. That's where usability comes in. Our Web Site Usability course will teach you all the most important aspects of usability, including logical navigation usage, broken link checking, custom error messages, functional feedback forms, design and layout consistency, intuitive ordering and shopping cart processes.
Article Marketing & Distribution will teach you simple and proven ways to create article distribution campaigns that gain both exposure and quality links for a website. We'll also share article syndication tactics that will help you dramatically increase your audience with very little effort.
Once search engine optimization (SEO) entered the scene and Google began making public its Page Rank technology (which is based on links), article distribution took on a new dimension. This is where we are today. Effective article marketing and distribution has now become a vital part of link building on the web.
Copywriting for PPC will help you craft PPC ads that speak to your individual markets like you do: in simple, direct, everyday language that explains why they need your product/service without the hype or the shouting. Along the way, you'll get plenty of practice writing actual PPC ads so you can hone your skills under the supervision of a pro.
Upon registering, you're given an initial twelve months to complete this program. Should you need more time beyond the twelve months, an extension may be available. Extensions for this program are done on a case-by-case basis.