Search Engine Marketing or SEM is a straightforward and efficient technique of marketing online. For a company owner, SEM helps to connect his brand with individuals looking for a business similar to his business but don’t particular know about it.

SEM is closely related to Search Engine Optimization or SEO. This too-familiar term is the method by which a technique can affect the way search engines (like Google, Yahoo and Bing) find the company website and rank it in their respective search engine results pages (SERPs). This method is known as organic search mainly because it costs nothing. And as such, many companies spend lots of time looking at strategies to appear higher in SERPs.

As the algorithm that generates Google has evolved and been polished over time, numerous critical methods have emerged. These include the use of keywords and keyword assessment, conversion process via linked websites, and improvement of internal navigation.SEM, which is paid search, is the offspring of the primary SEO strategy. As an alternative to wishing to show up among the top-ranking organic search results, a company can have its site promoted either over SERPs or on the far right side of the search engine results page. With such advantages, there’s a price to be paid. However, it varies according to the policy of the hosting site and the form of advertisement implemented.

Here are the fundamental SEM terms every internet marketing handler must know:

• Paid Placement

These are advertising campaigns that are visible on search engine result pages. Assuming that the website address can be displayed organically (making use of the local SEO keyword method), it will be featured as an advert before other websites counting entirely on SEO. The cost for this service is based on the number of times that ad shows up on a SERP.

• Paid Inclusion

This is SEM’s fast track alternative. The company must pay for the advertisement to show up on a particular page. This is the SEM strategy most removed from web optimization strategies in the sense that ranking isnt automatically dependent on keyword relevance, but rather on the price tag of such a ranking. A company will typically pay a yearly subscription for their site to be consistently listed.

• Pay per Click

As the name implies, the amount of traffic sent to the website through its advertisement demands the amount the marketer pays to the hosting site. As opposed to traditional campaigns, there is instant feedback regarding whether or not the ad works. However, it’s up to the marketer to determine what keywords are highly relevant to its target audience. This requires time, energy and financial capabilities.

Implementing a solid SEM technique instead of a local SEO plan can offer the company a solid kick-start online. Ranking and visibility with SEO rely on a website’s three fundamentals: popularity, content, and traffic. On the other hand, SEM doesn’t. It can certainly level the playing field regarding online visibility. It obviously comes at a price, but if the company calls for maximum exposure, using SEM is worth paying for to target consumers, get more traffic and generate actual sales.