A new year with significant economic challenges requires a new way of marketing – one that a search engine marketing company is ideally suited for. Search engine marketing (SEM) can help you keep costs in check while maximizing ROI. If you have not yet partnered with a search engine marketing company, now is the time, and here is why.

Our economy is in recession. Some companies may decide to cut back on marketing, but that would be a mistake. To help your business survive and thrive, you need to adjust your marketing focus. You do not need less marketing – you need marketing that is more effective and more affordable. Search engine marketing can be all of that, if you know how to tap into the most recent SEM trends.

Your best bet is a search engine marketing company that keeps in tune with the latest knowledge in SEM and with the changes made by search engine leader Google.

Not all SEM companies are alike. Finding one that is ahead of the curve requires an effort on your part. There are many firms that are still focused on older techniques; that haven’t grasped the importance of social media, mobile technologies and universal search. Before signing with a search engine marketing company, do a little research into the latest SEM trends and be sure that the company is aware of them and ready to implement a strategy that incorporates these new techniques. Here are a few trends that SEM experts see on the horizon in 2009:

• Google will give more weight to “off-site” factors, that is, links that point to your site. Link building is critical, but it is not as easy as a simple link exchange with other businesses. The approach needs to be varied and gradual. Ask your search engine marketing company about their link building strategy, and their opinion of how much importance Google places on links. Some experts believe that 2009 will see a shift in Google’s algorithm to 90% links and only 10% on-site content. The right SEM company will know how to shift your strategy to match Google’s new focus.

• Mobile browsing software is becoming increasingly sophisticated. Mobile Web users approach sites differently. Accordingly, Websites need to be structured differently to take advantage of mobile browsing. Ask your SEM company about their strategies for mobile search and how XML and XHTML can make a site more mobile-friendly.

• Google’s Universal Search will become more dominant. Not sure what Universal Search is? You’d do well to find out, and to talk to your search engine marketing company about it.

• Social media – like Facebook, LinkedIn etc. – will become an even more important part of link building programs. Some SEM companies already have social media marketing strategies in place. Make sure the SEM partner you choose is knowledgeable about the marketing potential of social media.

These trends are easy to summarize, but hard for a business to implement on their own. By teaching yourself a little about them, you can accurately gauge whether the search engine marketing company you partner with is up for the task of planning and implementing an online marketing strategy that takes full advantage of recent changes in the world of SEM.