Why do I need a website?
Typically, the first time someone sees your business it's online. From a return on investment point of view, besides word of mouth, a website is the most cost affective form of advertising for your business.
Most of my business is word of mouth, why do I need a website?
Even if you're business was referred, the person will go to your website to see learn about your business or see your work.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it has two major parts to it. The first being how the website is created and the second is on going optimization to ensure your website is competitive. Good SEO puts you in the organic, or non-paid, section of search engine results page.
How does Google determine my ranking?
Google uses a complicated algorithm which is somewhat of a secret recipe and it's always changing. The main factors are customer reviews, backlinks and how relevant your content is. Content includes text, properly tagged pictures and videos and user generated content such as blogs. See 8 Tips to Increase Your Online Presence for more info.
What is SEM?
SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing. SEM is paying for positioning on Google or other search engines. A common example of SEM is Google Adword
What's better, SEM or SEO?
Users are more likely to click on an organic result because they know it's more relevant. The logic is that anyone can pay to be on the right hand side. That being said, it could be alot more expensive and time consuming to be on the first page of a results page. A proper online marketing strategy should encompass both.
How much is Google Adwords?
The cost per click varies depending on how competitive the keywords are for your industry and not necessarily on how much traffic those keywords get. On this way, "restaurants vancouver" costs about 62 cents per click while "VCR repair Vancouver" costs 8 cents.
What if my competitor clicks on my Adwords 100 times to bankrupt me?
Google counts only unique clicks and it resets every month so your competitor can do it once a month at the most.
What if 100 people a day end up clicking on my ad?
You set your budget for the day and then you get dropped off the list when that quota is met.