What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

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) primarily through paid advertising.

Definition - What does Search Engine Marketing (SEM) mean?

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a process by which multiple methods are utilized to improve market visibility and exposure for a brand, product or service.

SEM mechanisms include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social networking, bid placement, pay-per-click (PPC), contextual advertising, paid inclusion, geo mapping, AdSense and AdWords, as well as multiple media formats, such as YouTube and geo-specific marketing, like Foursquare.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

Maximizes search result exposure by targeting and driving Web traffic and ultimately delivering increased sales. The majority of search engine page results come from unpaid or organic search. SEO optimizes websites to ensure top search engine placement, such as Google, as only 15 percent of searchers continue beyond page one.

Social Media Marketing (SMM):

Focuses on branding, reputation enhancement and enhanced customer service via social networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Smaller SMM channels include Digg, Delicious, Wikipedia, StumbleUpon and MySpace. Social networks are visited by a collective total of over one-billion people. Thus, even the simplest marketing efforts, like paid advertising, reach potentially large audiences.

Paid Search:
Examples of paid search include sponsored links, banner and sidebar ads, where contextually generated ads are based on organic search results.