SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing, which is the process of paying for top placement on SERPs (search engine results pages) for specific keywords/phrases. These listings usually appear above the organic results or off to the right hand side of the page. Each time a user chooses to click on your ad and is directed to your landing page, you are charged a fee. The fee, or cost per click (CPC) is based on a variety of different factors from relevancy to the amount of other bidders who are also interested in paying for those same keywords.

The main advantage of search engine marketing is that you can instantaneously have top listings on a search engine, thereby appearing ahead of your competitors. Many companies choose to use SEM as a supplement to SEO because SEO takes time to show results. Others use SEM as a supplement to SEO because they already have top organic rankings for a certain term and the addition of paid listings gives them complete domination over their competitors.

There are a few important factors that need to be taken into consideration when deciding to use search engine marketing. Ideally, you should have a well designed website PRIOR to implementing a search engine marketing campaign. This means having a clear plan and knowing exactly what you want consumers to do when they reach your site, as well as providing a simple route for them to do so. If your website is not setup to entice users to take action, you are not yet ready for an SEM campaign.

Also, know who your target market is and where they are. If you run an e-commerce store, your market may be worldwide. If you run a repair shop or local service, your market may only be a 30 mile radius. This will be important when choosing the  geographical placement of your listings.

Be prepared for an increase in business. Not to say that you will be suddenly overwhelmed with thousands of eager customers, however depending on your product and the market demand, it is possible. If you can barely handle the current volume of business you have, or are running out of your most popular product, consider postponing your SEM campaign untill you are ready to prvide. You don't want to spend the money advertising if you can't make the sales.

In the next article, we will discuss the most common mistakes that beginners make with search engine marketing.

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