What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?
Although Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) have been used interchangeably, there is a distinction. SEM is more a general term, which covers:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): to modify a site and enhance so that it will be viewed as exceptionally relevant by search engines and will be awarded a top ranking.
• Paid Search Engine Marketing - The ads appear next to, above, or below the main search results. When an ad is clicked, the advertising company gets charged on a click-through basis.

Benefits of Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

• Being able to approach clients precisely in that moment when they are actively searching for a product or service. (Pull marketing vs. Push Marketing)
• By using various tracking tools you can see first hand where your customers are coming from, what they typed into the search engines, how much you have paid per click and how many visitors, on average, you will need to attract to yield one paying customer.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) vs. Paid Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

• Reach: Smaller percentage of all potential visitors clicks on the paid search engine ads.
• Speed: Search Engine Optimization can take 6 months or longer for results to show up. Paid Search Engine Marketing (SEM) can be turned on and off immediately.
• Security: With Paid Search Engine Marketing (SEM), your rankings are secure, as long as you are willing to pay the required cost per click. With Search Engine Optimization (SEO) there is no guarantee for success. Much of your rankings will depend on the search engines themselves.
• Take advantage of Paid Search Engine Marketing (SEM) for wider keywords. For more specific, granular keywords focus on a Search Engine Optimization campaign.

Two Critical Components of Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

• Relevance: the degree to which the content of the web pages returned in a search matched the user's query intention and terms. The relevance of a web pages increases if the terms or phrase queried by the user occurs multiple times and shows up in the title of the web pages or in important headlines or sub headers.
• Popularity: the relative importance, measured via citation (the act of one work referencing /linking another, as often occurs in academic and business documents) of a given document that matches the user's query. The popularity of a given web page increases with every other web page that links to it.

RFQ for Proposal for Search Engine Optimization