Search engine marketing (SEM) is defined as a form of online marketing that promotes websites by increasing their visibility in the results pages of various search engines. This increase in visibility is achieved through various means such as contextual advertising and paid placements. It was in the mid-1990s that search engines began to appear online, with the purpose of helping people to quickly look up the information that they need. These search engines then offered pay-per-click programs in order to finance their operations; hence, the birth of search engine marketing.
In the year 2006, an estimated $9.4 billion was spent by North Americans on SEM alone. That means an increase of 62% from the previous year. That year, SEM was growing a lot faster than traditional marketing strategies. In fact, it was growing even faster than other online marketing channels and strategies. By the year 2007, pay-per-click programs have become major money-makers for almost all search engines. Among the most popular search engines on the net, Google, Yahoo and MSN are the three biggest SEM vendors worldwide.
Today, the term “search engine marketing” is used to refer to a wide variety of online advertising activities such as the management of paid listings, submitting of sites to online directories and search engine optimization. The latest advances in this field involve SEM Management, which focuses on the management of return of investment (ROI) rather than on building traffic, which was the focus of earlier SEM business models.
This phenomenal rise in the popularity of search engine marketing has even given rise to a secondary market – that of search marketing consultants. This is because many website owners and online marketers do not quite understand how SEM works, so they turn to third party agencies for advice. These consultants not only help marketers understand the technology better, but they also provide useful tips on how you can use online marketing opportunities to their fullest advantages.
