Search engine marketing has huge growth potential: industry estimates have set the market size at about $7 billion worldwide by 2007. Soon it will have its own industry group as well. Some 300 professionals from a variety of service providers involved in search engine optimization and paid search are forming the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization. SEMPO will announce its official launch later this month, spokesman Greg Jarboe, whose own firm, SEO-PR, helps corporations optimize informational web site content for greater reach on the Internet, tells InternetRetailer.com.
The group’s mission is to increase awareness of and promote the value of search engine marketing. Despite the large market forecasts attached to search, many companies and industries have yet to grasp its significance as a marketing tool, says Jarboe.
“Search is such a powerful thing that if they have a line item in their budget for advertising, PR and trade shows, they need to have a search engine marketing line item, too. It’s no longer just an interesting thing that you do just in your spare time--it’s a mainstream and very effective part of the marketing mix,” he says.
One of the group’s first activities will be the collection of case studies from members demonstrating significant profit gains and ROI from the use of search marketing programs, Jarboe says.
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