What is Search Engine Marketing?

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a well known marketing method evoling out of Search Engine Optimisation to promote a website in search engines using a mixture of online marketing and advertising. Some SEM can be achieved using natural SEO but most often it involves purchasing paid listings through advertisers like Google Adwords, Yahoo Directories etc.

Paid listings referred to in a number of different phrases, Paid Placement, Pay-for Performance, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Cost-Per-Click (CPC). These items are directly related to the sponsored ads the Search Engines show on search query results pages. Pay-Per-Click advertisements are usually text ads placed near search results when a query is completed by the search engine but can also be images or even flash animated trailers. When a visitor clicks on the advertisement, the advertiser is charged a small amount. With this seemingly guaranteed high ranking, Cost Per Click is becoming a huge business.

The most popular Pay Per Click programs are Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture), Bid Advertiser and MSN AdCenter.

Minimum prices per click range anywhere from £0.04 to over £15. Remember that everytime someone clicks on a CPC advert the advertiser is charged whether you stay on the web site for 1 second or all day. So you can see how expensive it can be especially if you opt to use very popular keywords and do not manage your advertising carefully. On the other hand CPC advertising can be an exceptionally powerful tool to direct lots of traffic to your website.

Wilson Creative Search Engine Optimisation team of professionals focus on top three Search Engines, Google, Yahoo and MSN, for your Search Engine Marketing needs. These search engines make up the vast majority of all searches made worldwide and cover most English speaking countries including the UK and Ireland.