What is Search Engine Marketing?
There are a number of terms that float about for advertising on the internet. There are at least as many types of programs. Pay Per Click is a commonly recognized type of internet advertising, yet many people aren't really sure of what it is. This is mostly due to the variety of advertising available on search engines and web sites. The most common type of Pay Per Click advertising is found on the search engine pages, such as those on Google, Yahoo Search, and Bing.
Google has the largest search traffic share on the internet and the Google Adwords program is the most common Pay Per Click advertising found today. Since Pay Per Click, or PPC, could be found in a variety of forms, advertising programs such as Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing are generally referred to as Search Engine Marketing. These are also likely the most effective programs because of the volumes of visitors that see the advertisements.
So, how does a Pay Per Click (or Search Engine Marketing) program work? Well, the advertiser (you), place advertisements in a program such as Google Adwords which then appears on a search results page when certain keywords are queried. When your ad appears AND a visitor clicks on your ad, they are taken to your web page. At that time, you are charged for that 'click'. The 'click' being that the visitor selected your advertisement over all others and clicked on your link. Hence, you only pay for the clicks that you get from your advertising program.
Search Engine Marketing; Benefits
Here's probably the number one advantage to a SEM/PPC advertising campaign… it is the fastest way in today's business environment to jump into a market and get exposure. Within minutes of establishing a campaign on a service like Google Adwords, your advertisements can be viewed by potential customers. In addition to that, your customers come to you, because they initiate the search for your specific products or services.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM/PPC) can be a one of the most effective means of advertising, online or offline. The greatest advantage that the internet and SEM has is the ability to almost instantly track results. Ad campaigns track the number of times an ad is viewed (impressions), the number of follow throughs (clicks), and can even track actions taken on the click (conversions). Since the results can be monitored and tracked so quickly, it allows the advertiser to fairly rapidly adjust campaigns to improve results.
There are a large variety of advertising options available for business when you look at both offline and online offerings. The biggest problem with most advertising is figuring out if it works, isn't it?
That is why SEM/PPC is so enticing and can be so beneficial to any business. You can begin a SEM/PPC program relatively quickly with limited risk and investment. As the program is developed the tracking results will show you if the program is working in a short period of time. The program can then be quickly modified to test for what works and to figure out a level of investment and its potential return. Compare that to traditional advertising where you wouldn't know if a program worked for weeks, months, or even years. That's if you ever do.
Learn more about SEM/PPC programs by reading a little about the most prominent Ad program online, the Google Adwords advertising program.
"Since working with Shawn, I have seen a considerable increase in the traffic both in Click throughs and quality of leads that come in... My business has doubled as a result and I have a much better view of where my marketing dollars are going. My advice to anyone building a real online business is to hire someone who knows how, and Shawn is the person to choose."
Robert Coffy
Plotter4U.com
Owner