What is SEM or Search Engine Marketing?

SEM is the acronym for Search Engine Marketing and though it is often confused with SEO (Search Engine Optimization), it is not the same thing. SEM is the specific part of online marketing that can be the most effective and achieve almost instant results. Search Engine Marketing is based on PPC (Pay-per-click) advertising through search engines; allowing you to receive great results when people search for a product or service that you offer. As with all advertising, Pay-per-click campaigns cost money, and depending on the keywords, can cost several thousand dollars per month.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization on the other hand, can establish your business over time for very little cost but can take time to achieve the results desired. The results are usually long-lasting, and there is no additional cost for SEO because you are only paying for our service, not advertising.So, your next question is likely to be, "if SEO is so good, why would I pay for SEM?"

There are a few good reasons for SEM or PPC campaigns:

• SEM can provide instant results. If you have a special, or want your product or service to gain quick exposure, you can do that with Search Engine Marketing.
• Since search engine optimization takes time to achieve results, SEM is a great way to market your product or service while waiting for the optimization to “catch-up;” allowing you to not waste critical time that can be gained by an internet presence. Eventually you can discontinue your search engine marketing efforts once you feel that your website is optimized enough and you are receiving the amount of traffic to your website that you want.
• SEM can help you target specific audiences in a short amount of time. For example, if there is a news story about the economy, such as with the “bail-out,” you can target your advertising to certain keywords to attract visitors searching for things related to the bail out. Search Engine Marketing often needs immediate attention to be effective and we are here to help your business or organization achieve the results you require.

SEM is complicated, and we can simplify this for you by managing your online advertising campaigns. We can not only save you money, we can also save you time and effort of creating your own campaign which will not likely achieve the results that we can offer.