Windows Woes and SEM

Well the idea was to keep things moving, develop content progressively over time and add my own observations on the SEO world.

But as we all know the best-laid plans of mice and men...

I'm writing on my trusty Acer notebook. NOT on my Dell workstation. Why? Because Windows automatically installed an update that causes the PC to freeze after about 5 minutes. I have been patiently securing all my data and carrying out an obscene number of diagnostic tests since Thursday.

Am I the only person in the world able to jam a dual processor workstation with everyday work applications?

The worst thing is that system restore doesn't work as the PC freezes up while uninstalling the first of six upgrades...

The joy of letdowns.

On a lighter note, I was watching a video by Leslie Rhode from Optilink who mentioned SEM for the first time. Once the definition had been given (Search Engine Marketing), I then hopped over to Wikipedia for an explanation.

I had never given much thought to PPC advertising but it seems to me that a healthy combination of the two could work wonders. Sure enough, that seems to be what the world's top SEO experts also recommend.

I can see the short-term advantages of PPC advertising when trying to sell an offer (i.e. Buy before) but if there's just brand awareness going on, I think the equation would shift away from PPC. I mean what sort of return do you get from it (in terms of brand name bulding) and how can that be measured?

Still, SEM a fascinating addition to this SEO journey.