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Search Engine Marketing

Let's start with a definition. Search engine marketing is the act using search engines to attract website visitors. The end goal, of course, is to have those visitors do something upon reaching the website (read, purchase, download, subscribe, etc.).

Search engine marketing has exploded in popularity over the past few years, largely due to the increasing numbers of search engine users. In fact, it has become big business. These days, there are many companies that provide various forms of search marketing services to their clients. Here again, the end goal is to achieve greater search engine visibility, website ranking, and overall website profitability.

Two Types of Search Marketing

Generally speaking, there are two types of search marketing a website owner may pursue. The first type is sponsored search, also known as pay-per-click (or PPC) marketing. The second type is organic search engine optimization (or SEO). These two strategies can be used by themselves, or in concert with one another.

Which strategy you take will also determine where your listing appears on the search engine results page (SERP). For example, in the SERP pictured below, the green shaded areas are sponsored / pay-per-click ads, while the pink shaded area contains organic / natural rankings.

So let's talk about each strategy in turn:

Sponsored Search / PPC

With this type of search engine marketing you would start by creating an ad and choosing the keywords and phrases you want to focus on. You would then earn placement / position by bidding on certain keywords. The more you bid (relative to other bidders), the higher your listing would appear. Having a high click-through rate will also drive your rankings up, at least in the Google AdWords PPC program.

The advantage of this approach to search engine marketing is that it can deliver results literally overnight. For example, I could create an ad within the Google AdWords program today, and start bidding competitively for certain phrases. Depending on how I bid, my ad could start appearing on page 1 of Google within an hour (for my chosen phrases).

The disadvantage to PPC is that you'll always have to "pay to play." The minute you stop bidding on your key phrases, your ad will disappear.

Organic SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the often referred to as an "organic" approach to search engine marketing because it does not rely on paid placement. With SEO, the website ranks well for certain phrases due to its content, structure, keyword usage, link popularity, age and other factors.

With this approach to search engine marketing the key benefit is long-lasting results. Unlike the PPC scenario above, you are not paying for placement here. Your rankings are determined by your website's content and popularity. So your rankings are considered "organic" or natural.

The disadvantage to the organic SEO strategy is that it can take a long time to get results. This is especially true in highly competitive industries like mortgage and software. This is certainly not the quick approach to getting search engine traffic — it can take weeks, months or even years to earn top rankings.

Future of Search Engine Marketing

This type of marketing has evolved quite a bit over the years. Today, there are companies who specialize in search marketing and nothing else. It requires a certain level of expertise to succeed in this area, as well as time and patience. With the constant growth and evolution of the search engines themselves, this type of marketing is here to stay.

Related resources:
SEO Consultant Blog | Real Estate Search Marketing