Marketing professionals who need to know how to leverage pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns for maximum effect and return on investment will benefit from the SEMPO Institute’s new, intensive distance learning class: Advanced Search Advertising, the third class in SEMPO’s (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization) new series of online classes designed to help marketers better understand the intricacies and dynamics of search-based marketing.

“Advanced Search Advertising gives marketers the ability to get more return on their ad buys by providing them with a deeper level of strategy as well as hands-on tactics they can implement,” says SEMPO President Jeffrey Pruitt. “The class is the most comprehensive one available to marketers and it comes at a time when online advertising is growing in importance. At the same time, these ad budgets are being scrutinized closely so providing more ROI is essential,” says Pruitt.

Also available as online classes from SEMPO Institute are the Fundamentals of Search Marketing and Advanced SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Since SEMPO Institute launched its curricula earlier this year, the results have been outstanding. Some 80% of those who completed the Fundamentals course say they would recommend the Institute classes and/or take another SEMPO course themselves.

There have also been practical career successes already for those taking the SEMPO Institute classes. Martin Clinton is making a shift from a career in accounting, having taken the Fundamentals class. “My certificate enabled me to get in the door at a major agency and obtain a job interview. That would never have happened without my taking the Fundamentals course,” says Clinton. “The SEMPO Institute convinced me that the search marketing field has a lot of potential and I could be happy in making a career switch,” he says. Clinton is now taking the Advanced SEO class, which he says “has the level of technical detail I’ve been craving. It has both broad coverage and depth of detail and will help further prepare me for entering the search marketing profession.”

Advanced Search Advertising consists of 13 lessons: An Evolving Opportunity, PPC Models, Keywords & Campaign, Copywriting for Ads, Bidding & Ranking, Landing Pages, Success Metrics, PPC Program Specifics, Reporting & Analytics, I.P. - Click Fraud - SPAM, Alternative PPC Search Engines, Feeds & Feed Advertising and Branding & Campaign. Curriculum cost is $2,250. Students can register online for all classes at http://www.sempoinstitute.com.

SEMPO Institute Dean Terry Plank says students will be tested and graded on each lesson, and will need a passing grade of 75% or higher in order to receive a formal Certificate of Completion.

In order to take either Advanced Search Advertising or Advanced SEO, students must register first for the Fundamentals Course. “What we find,” says Plank, “is that most students, regardless of their career position, find they learn something new in the Fundamentals course.”

Fundamentals of Search Marketing consists of 14 lessons intended to give the student a high level understanding of the essentials of Search Engine Marketing. Cost of the Fundamentals course is $499.

Advanced SEO consists of 15 lessons including keyword research, site architecture, advanced link building, editing and optimizing pages, web analytics and brand management. Curriculum cost of the Advanced SEO classes is $1,750.

SEMPO membership is not required to take the courses but SEMPO encourages new members to join and take advantage of the 20 percent member discount on course fees (30% for Circle members). SEMPO offers military personnel and fulltime students a 50 percent discount on course fees, to encourage an influx of new talent.