Search engine marketing (SEM) involves promoting websites to increase visibility in search engine results pages through optimization and advertising. SEM uses search engine optimization (SEO) which adjusts website content for higher search rankings, or pay per click (PPC) listings. SEM covers activities like SEO, managing paid listings, and developing online marketing strategies. As the number of websites grew in the 1990s, search engines and pay per click programs from companies like Open Text and Goto.com emerged to help people find information. Google later introduced AdWords in 2000. By 2007, PPC programs became primary revenue sources for search engines. SEM consultants and agencies emerged to help businesses use search engine advertising opportunities.
2. Definition:
Search engine marketing (SEM) is a form of Internet
marketing that involves the promotion of websites by
increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs)
through optimization and advertising. SEM may use search
engine optimization (SEO), which adjusts or rewrites website
content to achieve a higher ranking in search engine results
pages, or use pay per click (PPC) listings.
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3. History of SEM:
The term "Search Engine Marketing" was proposed by Danny
Sullivan in 2001 to cover the spectrum of activities involved in
performing SEO, managing paid listings at the search engines
and developing online marketing strategies for businesses,
organizations, and individuals.
As the number of sites on the Web increased in the mid-to-late
1990s, search engines started appearing to help people find
information quickly. Search engines developed business
models to finance their services, such as pay per
click programs offered by Open Text in 1996 and
then Goto.com in 1998.
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4. Google also began to offer advertisements on search results
pages in 2000 through the Google AdWords program. By 2007,
pay-per-click programs proved to be primary moneymakers for
search engines.
Search engine optimization consultants expanded their offerings
to help businesses learn about and use the advertising
opportunities offered by search engines, and new agencies
focusing primarily upon marketing and advertising through
search engines emerged.
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5. Market:
In 2012, North American advertisers spent US$19.51 billion on
search engine marketing. The largest search engine marketing
(SEM) vendors were Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Baidu. As
of 2006, SEM was growing much faster than
traditional advertising and even other channels of online
marketing. Managing search campaigns is either done directly
with the SEM vendor or through an SEM tool provider. It may
also be self-serve or through an advertising agency.
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6. Methods:
The following are the categories of methods used to optimize
websites through search engine marketing:
PPC( Pay Per Click): In this, the marketers pay only when their
ads are clicked upon by users after which they land up on the
respective client website. On the other hand, there are ads
that appear either on top or just nearby the natural search
results. These are called sponsored links in Google. The
marketers bid for different keywords in this method. These are
the terms, which a searcher is believed to type in a search
engine’s query box to search for the desired service or
product. When a surfer types in any particular term in the
query box, which matches the marketer’s keywords, the
respective ads show up as sponsored links.
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8. Organic or Natural Search: This is done by Keyword
research and analysis: Ensuring the site can be indexed in the
search engines, finding the most relevant and popular
keywords for the site and its products, and using those
keywords on the site in a way that will generate and convert
traffic. As online searching is often the first step for potential
consumers/customers, the search perception impact shapes
the brand impression for each individual.
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9. Paid Inclusion: In paid inclusions, the marketers will pay a
certain amount to the search engines as charges to include its
site in the search index/result pages. Also known as sponsored
listings, paid inclusion products are provided by most search
engine companies either in the main results area, or as a
separately identified advertising area.
The fee structure is both a filter against superfluous submissions
and a revenue generator. Typically, the fee covers an annual
subscription for one webpage, which will automatically be
catalogued on a regular basis. However, some companies are
experimenting with non-subscription based fee structures
where purchased listings are displayed permanently.
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10. Each search engine is different. Some sites allow only paid
inclusion, although these have had little success. More
frequently, many search engines, like Yahoo! use mix paid
inclusion (per-page and per-click fee).
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11. Advantages Vs Disadvantages of SEM:
Drives targeted traffic to the
company’s site 24/7
Cost effective
Easy to implement
Measurable
Requires constant
monitoring
Time consuming
Expensive (PPC)
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Varies from company to company.
12. Importance:
Search engines were not important to some industries in the
past, but over the past years the use of search engines for
accessing information has become vital to increase business
opportunities worldwide. And SEM is now the most cost
effective marketing strategy which is also easily available for
businesses.
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