SEM

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a service provided by search engines to promote your website. Search engines display links associated with keywords given as parameters for a search. These links include organic results and sponsored links.

As an advertiser using SEM you choose a set of keywords that will trigger the display of your link (sponsored link) when searched.

Payment? An advertiser will be required to pay for this service.

Payment methods:

Fixed price – You pay a fixed price for a defined time frame. Within this time frame your link will appear when one of your keywords is searched. This method is generally used by small search engine portals.

Payment Per Impression – You state how much you are willing to pay per impression. An impression means an appearance of your link for any user on the search engine website.

Payment Per Click – You state how much you are willing to pay per click. In other words, you pay only when a user actually clicked on the link and entered your website. This method was adopted by the big boys – Google and Yahoo.

Search engines that adopted the Payment Per Click (PPC) method like Google (the AdWords program) decide which sponsored links should be displayed according to the keyword search and according to all the bids given by all the advertisers. The bigger the bid the higher the chances are of your sponsored link being displayed.

With the proper research of keywords and bids once can conduct a successful campaign on a low budget. Follow these footsteps:

1. Define your audience – Who are they? What subjects interest them aside from the subject of your website?
2. Keyword list – make a list of all keywords that might be related, even [t] remotely, to your audience. Identify powerful keywords and identify keywords with low bids.
3. Tag line – Write a sentence that describes your website and catches the eyes of your audience. In some search engines even a picture will do.
4. Do SEM – Approach your desired search engine, present your powerful keywords with the lowest bids and your tag line.
5. Monitor and adjust – Monitor the success of the campaign, feel free to make changes and do not be afraid to make mistakes.
6. Enjoy – Enjoy the increase of website traffic.