What is Search Engine Marketing?

Author: Mahesh Mohan

6 Oct

Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing can be an effective, low-cost way to get new customers to find your business when they’re online looking to buy. Maybe you’ve heard about search marketing, also called keyword advertising, but as a small business you wonder if you can justify the expense of advertising online. Search marketing isn’t just for big companies with big budgets.

What is search engine marketing, really, and what can it do for your business?

In today’s marketplace, being a competitive business typically
involves hosting and maintaining a Web site as a means of
communicating with your customers. Search engine marketing is the art of using search engines as a way to drive more traffic to your website. Think of it like the yellow pages for the Internet. But, unlike more traditional marketing methods, you don’t have to spend a lot of time or money to stand out in the crowd!

When you advertise via search engines, your advertisement appears in a special section of the search results page when customers search for goods or services that match what your business has to offer. 80% of Web usage starts with a search engine, so a search engine marketing strategy makes sense if you want to acquire new customers through your website.

Can we afford it?

Compare cost per lead on an average is about $0.29 versus $1.18 for yellow pages advertising and $9.94 for direct mail inserts as you set your bids to match your budget.

How Search Marketing works:

You pick your keywords and set your own price per click.
You can target your keywords by the cities, times of day and
customer demographics you want the most.
Your ad appears when someone searches for a word that matches one of your keywords.
You pay only when people click your keywords.