Search Engine Marketing Can Also Be Called:
- Pay-per-click advertising
- Organic advertising
- Search box marketing
- One-click advertising
The correct answer is Pay Per Click Advertising
Search engine marketing which is also referred to as SEM can also be called paid advertising(pay per click advertising). A lot of people mistake this for SEO which is so wrong.
What Is Search Engine Marketing?
Search engine marketing is strictly paid advertisement on search engine result pages; also referred to as the SERPs. Search engine marketing is totally different from search engine optimization and this fact has really got a lot of people confused.
Though, to some extent, SEO is a part of SEM as they share the same objective, which is to increase online visibility, website traffic, and increment in sales; but the fact remains that they are different.
What’s The Difference Between Search Engine Marketing And Seo?
In as much as SEO is a part of search engine marketing, there still is a huge difference and I will be explaining it right now.
In search engine marketing, we have what they call PPC which simply means pay per click, and in SEM(search engine marketing), we also have SEO which simply means Search engine optimization. Now, this is where the difference is:
When the question “what’s the difference between search engine marketing and SEO” arises, your mind should immediately replace search engine marketing with PPC.
When we talk about search engine marketing in digital marketing, we are actually referring to a paid advertisement which is why you must immediately replace SEM with PPC whenever the above question is being asked.
So, now, the real question should be, what is the difference between PPC and SEO. Remember, PPC here is representing Search engine marketing.
What’s The Difference Between PPC(Search Engine Marketing) And SEO?
Search engine marketing or PPC involves you paying for advertisement or placement on the search engine result pages(SERPs), while search engine optimization involves you looking for organic traffic without spending a dime. With SEM, you are paying for the traffic while with SEO, you are getting the traffic for free.
Whenever you or a user is targeting a particular keyword on the search engine, and your Ad shows up, that’s search engine marketing.
Whatever Ad you see shows up on google, bing, and other search engines, that’s search engine marketing and not search engine optimization because these are actual advertisements that are showing up on the search engine result page(SERPs).
Types Of Search Engine Marketing
There are actually two types of search engine marketing which are:
- SEO (ORGANIC SEARCH)
- PPC (PAID SEARCH)
SEO: This is also known as ORGANIC SEARCH. With SEO, you can achieve all that paid search is set to achieve; but the only difference is that with SEO, you will be getting organic traffic all for free, while with paid search, you will be getting traffic for a few tokens.
Search engine optimization also has a very important branch which is popularly known as local SEO.
With local SEO, you can easily have your business listings appear on the google search/map results which is a plus for your business.
Working on your local SEO as a business owner is paramount as you do not need the on-page and off-page SEO kind of stuff to rank your business on the search engine results page.
PPC: This can also be referred to as paid advertising and with paid search, you will be actually charged a few tokens whenever a user clicks on your advertisement on the Google search engine result page.
Search Engine Marketing Channels
Search engine marketing channels can be said to be the means or platform from which search engine marketing is achieved. And these means range from SEO, LOCAL SEO, and PPC.
The first three I just mentioned is known as the means. Other search engine marketing channels or platforms can be seen below.
Search Engine Marketing Platforms
Anywhere people can go and search keywords, any search engine people can go look up things and there are Ad placements, then that is a search engine marketing platform.
Below are some of the search engine marketing platforms.
GOOGLE ADWORDS: this is considered one of the biggest search engine marketing platform
BING ADS: Bing Ads is also considered one of the biggest SEM platforms
PINTEREST ADS: This isn’t left out as well. When a user or an advertiser goes to Pinterest and targets keywords, it just returns pictures or visuals instead of words. It’s really just a big search engine.
YAHOO GEMINI: Yahoo doesn’t have the greatest advertising platform. Their Gemini platform is their search engine marketing channel and people rarely use it as they’ve never been able to get great results with it.
YOUTUBE SEARCH ADS: So, if you go to youtube right now and search anything, you’ll see a couple of Ads pop up.
So, those are considered search engine marketing Ads because youtube is a search engine. When someone goes in and types in something on youtube and their ad shows up, that’s considered a search engine marketing Ad because you are targeting someone with your advertisement through a search engine.
Search Engine Marketing Examples
View visual example below :
From the above image, you can see that I tried searching for the keyword “female handbags” in the Google search engine. When I did, it returned a lot of results which search engine marketing is a part of.
By search engine marketing, I mean those results that have the Ad tag on them.
The above results are actually a google shopping Ad which is why you are seeing different images instead of words. The below image will further explain this.
When you look at the above image, you will see that I’ve circled some search results; and that’s because these results are Ads which is also known as search engine marketing.
But the difference between this and the previous one is that this keyword returns a search ad(In words) while the former returns a shopping Ad(in images).
Below is another image that has both search and shopping ads on it for the keyword “accounting software”
Cite another image below that explains the difference between SEO and SEM
From the above image, you can see that I marked out a lot of results in order for you to understand the difference between SEM and SEO.
When I searched for the keyword “Keto diet”, several results popped up, which PPC result is a part of.
The first 2 results that appeared when I typed the keyword “keto diet” is a google search ad which can also be referred to as PPC or search engine marketing, while the third result is PURE SEO. This is so because the third result/website didn’t need to pay a dime to retain its current position on the SERP.
Without the first two websites paying google to stay on that spot, the third website would maintain first position on the first page of Google all for free.
Cite an image example of Local SEO.
By looking at the above image, you will see that I’ve circled a particular result. The result I’ve circled is search engine marketing.
But those results below, that have arrows pointing at them are known as Local SEO(local search engine optimization).
Without the first company running an Ad for the search term “Software company in USA”, The next three business listings would have topped the search results even without paying a dime.
Cite the image of a Local SEO from Bing and SEM from Pinterest below.
The above image showcases the business listings of some companies on Bing as I searched for the term “small chops” This is called local SEO as you don’t actually need to do some on-page SEO to rank on SERP.
The above image explains how Pinterest search engine returned image results when I searched for the keyword “football cleats”
On searching for the said keyword, it also returned some paid/promoted results. You can confirm from the image above, I have circled it out.
Importance Of Search Engine Marketing
It helps to Increase online visibility and brand awareness: Whenever a user search for a particular keyword and your site/Ad ends up appearing on 1-3 spot of the first page of any search engine result page, the user is likely to click on your site as an average user thinks any result, most especially the one that appears on 1-3 spot, has the real or legit information they are searching for.
And since almost every user thinks this way, it means more visibility and brand awareness for your business.
With the help of SEM, you will be able to target specific users through keywords: Search engine marketing actually helps you target users of your choice. Whether the user has a buyer intent or otherwise, SEM helps you track down and target your prospects which is really good as every business needs this.
It Gives you a high chance of being able to rank on the top of SERPs: If your dream has always been to rank your website on top of google’s first page, then SEM is your go-to solution.
Search engine marketing gives you an edge over your competitors. If your competitors are outranking you through SEO, you can also outrank them in the shortest time possible with the help of SEM.
It helps to increase sales In the shortest time possible: So long as you are ranking on 1-3 spots on any search engine result page, you will definitely make a lot of sales as tons of people will find your site and eventually visit.
Remember, Traffic=sales. The more traffic you get to your site, the more likely your website visitors will convert to paying customers.
It Can make you rich in no time: The more you make sales and get a ton of profit, the richer you’ll become. From the above points, I already explained why SEM can get you a lot of sales and you making a lot of sales simply means you will get filthy rich in no time.
Imagine driving lots of traffic to your website where you have great content extensively addressing the pain point of your website visitors, and on that same page, you have about 3-4 affiliate products you are promoting. Imagine each sale gives you a $40 commission.
No, don’t raise your brows! Whether you believe it or not, there are affiliate products paying out such commissions, and one of the platforms you can find such affiliate product is Clickbank.
Imagine Driving about 5,000 traffic per day to this page. Let’s assume that amongst the 5,000 persons, only 500 persons purchased the products.
This simply means you are making about $20,000 in a day. Hell yeah! It is more than possible.
It increases your website traffic: With your site being able to retain a top 3 spot in the SERPs, it actually means you will be getting tons of traffic to your website.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Pay per click the same as SEO?
No, Pay per click is totally different from SEO as pay per click is actually paid advertising while SEO is organic advertising.
With pay per click, you have to pay search engines to retain a particular spot on the SERP but the reverse is the case with SEO.
With SEO, you can retain the same spot as PPC all for free while with Pay per click, you can retain the same spot on the SERP for a few tokens.
Which Is Better, SEO or PPC?
Both are better depending on what you want to achieve. But personally, I would pick SEO as I don’t need to pay a dime to search engines in order to rank on their first page.
As a PPC person, you also have to know what you are doing otherwise, you will end up gifting your money to search engines without getting any reasonable result in return.
This is so because there are some particular keywords that when searched on search engines, will return your ad even if you didn’t target that keyword in your Ads. And this can be so bad for business especially if you are not lucky enough with the kind of keyword in question.
That is why you will see some Ads at the bottom of the SERP which is so bad. In as much as other factors like quality score could cause such to happen, you still have to know what you are doing as a PPC person.
Let’s say, for example, you sell only baby diapers and you used the broad match(keyword matching option) in your Ad, and you plan on targeting the keyword “baby diaper”; you want to make sure to use the negative broad match option to exclude keywords like: “baby diaper bags”, “baby diaper rash”, “baby diaper rash cream”, “baby diaper bag backpacks”, “blood in baby diaper”.
Failing to do this, you are bound on losing ton of money to search engines because first, you only sell baby diaper, so why would you want to show up for the above search terms? Users might just go ahead and click on your ad which is very bad for business.
How Is SEO Different From Paid Advertising?
The only difference between SEO and paid advertising is that with SEO, you get to stay on the first page of SERPs all for free, you also get traffic, sales, and brand recognition all for free. While with Paid Ads, you pay some amount of money to get all of these things.
How do PPC and SEO work together?
PPC and SEO work together to give every business the exposure they need. Despite the fact that you can use SEO to get what you want, you will actually be needing PPC in the long run.
Both PPC and SEO require keyword research for your site to appear in SERPs, and as a brand or a business, you actually need both PPC and SEO to thrive in this century. I know what you are thinking right now, “why would I be needing PPC when I could actually achieve the same thing with SEO?”
The truth is, there are certain search terms you might want to rank for; given the fact that the big guys are already all over the place in SERPs, you just might want to run an Ad for you to be able to outrank them. And yeah, when I say big guys, I mean those that are already an authority in your industry or niche.
Why Use Search Engine Marketing?
Businesses are mostly advised to use search engine marketing because first:
- It acts like a cheat sheet: what I mean by this is that it’s just like a shortcut to finding your way to the first-third spot on the SERPs. It kind of saves you the time you will spend doing SEO on your site.
- Second, It increases brand visibility/awareness
- Third, it increases sales for your business
- Fourth, it increases traffic for your website or sales offer
- Fifth, there’s a high chance of getting a huge ROI
Why Search Engine Marketing?
It is search engine marketing because it has proven to be more promising in helping increase sales, traffic, brand awareness, and search engine rankings of every business. It has also helped in targeting the right audience which is really vital for every business wanting to run Ads or make sales.
Characteristics Of Search Engine Marketing
The main characteristics of Search Engine Marketing is SEO and PPC which I’ve explained above.
Challenges Of Search Engine Marketing
The challenges of search engine marketing are:
Change in search engine algorithm: This part specifically applies to SEO.
Whenever google or any other search engine releases an update, it drastically affects some business or website rankings and this can be so disturbing for every business owner.
You just might have to go back and study what your competitor who overthrew you has on his site. After doing that, you want to update whatever that’s causing you to lag behind.
High Bid: This part actually applies to PPC. You just might want to bid high for a particular search term if your competitor is bidding high as well. And as a small business just starting out, this can be overwhelming because you might not have enough cash at hand.
Quality score: increasing your quality score can be a daunting task when you are new to the PPC industry.
Maybe you are not aware; For your ad to perform better or have an edge over that of your competitors, there are some factors that make up quality score you might want to pay attention to, and these factors are:
- Ad Relevance
- Landing page experience
- Click through rate
What Is Search Engine In Digital Marketing?
In digital marketing, search engine is mainly recognized as the means by which your website or business is being found on the internet. There are simple settings you need to carry out on the search engines for your website and business to get found.
What Is Search Engine? Make A List Of At Least 5
Search engine is a platform where questions are asked in order to get the desired answers. Search engines also stand as a way of getting your business or website found on the internet. And the top five search engines are:
- Bing
- Yahoo Gemini
- Ask
- Youtube
What Search Engine Marketing Enables You To Do
Search engine marketing enables you to do the following:
- It enables you to outrank your competitors who are totally dependent on SEO
- It enables you to increase your brand awareness and visibility
- It enables you to increase your website traffic in the shortest time possible
- It enables you to increase your sales
- It enables you to target the right audience for your business.
What Search Engine marketing?
Search engine marketing is a system whereby you acquire traffic, customers, or website visitors through paid Ads by bidding for a particular search term or keywords and meeting search engine standards or requirements that will enable you to rank on the search engine result page.
How Does Advertising Affect Search Engines?
Advertising does not affect search engines in any way. The only thing it does is create an opportunity for you to outrank your competitors using paid ads
When To Use Search Engine Marketing
You use search engine marketing when you have a product you urgently need to sell. It does not necessarily need to be urgent.
So long as you have a business, sometimes it’s just best to promote it using Ads, most especially when you discover most of your landing pages aren’t getting enough traffic and aren’t doing well at their current position in the SERPs. If you can’t do SEO on your site, then you should do PPC.
Which Is The Benefit Of Search Engines?
Search engines create an avenue for all of your pending questions to be answered. You do realize that whenever you have a question in mind, the first thing that comes to your mind is for you to Google it as you googled and landed on this post right now right? Now, that’s what I’m talking about!
Conclusion
Overall, search engine marketing is important for every business, be it SEO or PPC. If you’ve not tapped into this wonderful marketing strategy, then I would advise you give it a try.
Just in case you are wondering how PPC is done, You might want to check out this free google ads course here.
I know this might be a lot for you to swallow, but if you have any questions, please leave them down in the comment below and I will attend to them as soon as I can.