SEM

Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a set of strategies aimed at marketing and advertising via search engines, like Yahoo, Google, MSN, AOL, etc. SEM campaign can consist of several components:

• Pay-per-Click Advertising (PPC) — it is an Internet advertising model used on websites, in which advertisers pay their host only when their ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market. Content sites commonly charge a fixed price per click rather than use a bidding system. With PPC, you pay only when someone clicks your ad and visits your Website. Ads may be placed on search engine results pages (SERP) or on Websites that are identified as related to your targeted keywords. How much you pay for each click depends on how much you’re willing to bid for your selected keywords, and in Google AdWords, to some extent on your “Quality Score”. The higher your bid (and, in Google, the higher your Quality Score), the better chance you’ll have of getting your ad listed at the top of the ads displayed on the page. When managed skillfully, pay-per-click advertising can help you attract prospects to your Website and convert your prospects to paying customers.
• Pay For Inclusion (PFI) — In addition to search engines, like Google, Yahoo and MSN search, numerous directories also exist on the web. These directories may be general in nature or related to a specific topic. You can get free listings in some online directories, like DMOZ but most directories now charge for a listing. Verizon’s SuperPages is an example of a PFI directory. Another example of a major directory is again, Yahoo. Yahoo Directory, which is separate from Yahoo search, is described in Yahoo’s own words as: Subject-based directory listing websites in a wide range of topics, from arts, entertainment, and society and culture, to science, education, and health.

Why is Search Engine Marketing Important?

Search engine marketing is used as a way to get traffic to your online casino, which in turn should ideally lead to getting new online gamblers and adding to your casino business revenues. Compared to other means of marketing and advertising, search engine marketing can be very cost effective. For example, you could implement some search engine optimization techniques on your own. Organic search rankings are free, so if you can move yourself up in the rankings, your traffic should increase, which, in turn, should increase your home business revenues. Similarly, Pay-per-Click Advertising can be very inexpensive. Since you can set limits on how much you’ll pay per click and how much you’ll pay per day, it’s fairly easy to keep your costs in line. Likewise, some Web directories — like DMOZ — allow free listings, and others can cost as little as $30 per year.