Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been shown to be increasingly interested in search marketing, with a new report revealing them to be spending more on keywords.

 

According to BizReport, a survey by WebVisible has indicated that SMEs spent 93 per cent more in the third period of 2009 than they did in the second quarter, with the average amount coming to $1,658 (£1,002).

 

This is also a rise of 91 per cent year-on-year, with the majority of firms spending between $1,000 and $1,999.

 

Furthermore, it was discovered that Google still tops the search engine rankings, accounting for 60.4 per cent of advertising spend but that it had actually dropped five points year-on-year as other companies such as Yahoo attract more attention.

 

Regarding this, WebVisible's Jenny Brown said that it is "exceptional news for Microsoft's Bing", with its first foray in the search space proving "highly successful".

 

More keywords are also being purchased by SMEs, with the typical number of phrases bought being 55 during this time. This is a climb of 30 per cent from the 43 recorded in the third quarter of 2008.

 

However, brands were recently advised to avoid overstuffing content with keywords as this can prove damaging.

 

Vitabits.co.uk's Sam Tilston warned companies to be wary of overdoing their campaigns in this area.