Marketing is not about direct sales anymore. People have become more research oriented than they were a decade ago, which has unveiled a significantly broader field of marketing – that is online marketing.

But internet Marketing isn’t as simple as it was back in the day. Marketers now know that unlike the past, people research a product in depth before taking the decision to buy it; and this research is solely based upon online search engines, the leading among which is Google. So, to rank higher in Google’s ranks, certain algorithms and practices need to be followed. This is what Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is all about.

What is SEM?

Search Engine Marketing refers to the different tools and techniques that ensure that whenever a prospect searches for your business, or anything even remotely close to the product you are offering, the results of the search engine rank your business on top. It is also a known fact that the top results are trusted and clicked the most, and even landing on the first page sometimes does the job, but rank any lower than that, and you lose those potential clients that you might have had. This is why Search Engine Marketing is key.

SEM is done in two ways; there is Organic SEM and Inorganic SEM. Organic SEM refers to the one done without paying Google or any other online advertising tool to rank higher in search results. On the contrary, Inorganic SEM is done by using paid tools like AdSense to land among the top results regardless of the relevancy of your business.

How Does it Work?

There is no fixed rule as to what to do to rank your business better among the search engine results. It may include anything from Social Media Marketing to posting relevant blogs and articles about your products and services. Search engine optimization is another technique used by marketers under the umbrella of Search Engine Marketing. However, some tools and techniques are more productive than others.

According to research, organic marketing drives more traffic to your website when searched on Google. However, it tends to require more effort as you need to have updated and relevant content, social media hits, high quality blogs and tagged local and third party articles if you want to rank higher up in the search results.

So it is simple, become famous online and you land the highest ranks automatically. Of course, producing such content isn’t easy if you are a small business and making your way up. But there is a solution to that – the Inorganic approach.

Here, you don’t necessarily need to have all the high quality content (that doesn’t mean giving up on relevancy of the content), but instead, you pay Google and use tools like AdSense and Pay-per-click ads to make sure people see your name among the top results or alongside them in the form of relevant ads.

The key however, in both the cases, is relevant keywords and tags. That is actually where Google helps you – by letting you know the relevant keyword searches for products similar to what you offer.

Why Should I Use It?

If you want to outmatch your competitor, expand your business, or make it among the top names among your industry, Search Engine Marketing is not something you should overlook at any cost!