The key to successful SEM is a good management of SEM cost, keyword and traffic analyses, and the resulting cash flow and profit corrrelated to each keyword. Your money should be spent on powerful SEO Keywords that work.
 Most people know the term "SEO" for Search Engine Optimization. However, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a powerful part of working with search engines to increase traffic while SEO Campaigns are gaining speed. You don't pay for SEO Rankings, but you do pay for SEM Positions before SEO takes effect, your search engine rankings may not be good. SEM lets you purchase page 1 sponsored ads that can create traffic. They can also generate SEO traffic info that can benefit your SEO Campaigns. The primary purpose of SEM, as relates to SEO, is to gain exposure until your search engine rankings reach page 1. Once your SEO Campaigns gain page 1 position, your paid SEM Ads can be discontinued and those funds allocated to
keywords that still need SEO help.
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 Search Engine Marketing SEM is essentially managed paid advertising. What makes this type of advertising different is the fact that you pay the search engines for ads that are displayed with search engine results depending on the keywords usedd in the search. Your "sponsored"
ads can be throttled to limit how much you spend per month, calculated on
how much you want to spend per moth and per click. The keywords used in the search and the competition for the sponsored ad spots determine whether your ad is displayed. If the ad is clicked, bringing someone to your site, your account is charged a fee. The amount you spend is related to the qualtiy and value of the keywords you are optimizing for. When high value keywords are chosen, ad clicks
will cost you more. The foundation for a well managed SEM campaign is quality keyword research and regular analysis of SEO and SEM Reports.
Keywords creating cash flow traffic rise to the top of the list, but keywords not generating traffic or creating no cash flow drop to the bottom
or off the Keyword list.
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 Web traffic can be tracked for SEM Keywords the same way it is tracked for SEO Keywords. Reports are generated from the data collected, which provides informational statstics about how people find your web pages. Your SEM Campaigns may use multiple keywords, different combinations of marketing verbiage and other variants of presentation. Knowing which SEM Keywords brought in the most traffic is an important start to SEM success. Different ad spots and styles will inspire different amounts of clicks and different qualities of traffic.
The bottom line for deetermining the success of most Online businesses is the profit it creates. SEM reporting must include the cash flow specific to each keyword, and the net profit each SEM Keyword brought in at the end of a report period. Without this level of tracking and reporting, your SEM Campaigns may lose traction and your SEM efforts may be wasted. With everything in place, an SEM Campaign can sustain traffic and cash flow until SEO efforts take up the slack. |
 The excitement of SEO and SEM can easily distract from the true purpose of all the work. The goal of SEO and SEM is profit, profit, and profit. There is no other valid business goal.
SEO and SEM should be viewed as opposite sides of a counterbalance, tilting toward paid ads or toward free SEO rankings. Getting started means a lack of SEO position in search engine results, which is why we purchase ad spots from search engines. These create traffic and hopefully cash flow. Meanwhile, SEO efforts continue to push SEO listings into page 1, at which point our SEM ads are no longer required. The money from SEM is then shifted to the best strategic SEO Keywords. Without SEM Campaign management, SEM money might be wasted where SEO listings already exist. SEM Campaigns involve more than SEO Keyword juggling and watching the reports. SEM Campaigns should be run along with SEO Campaigns for the same purpose, but different methodology. If done well, SEM benefits SEO and your profits. » Search Engine Optimization SEO |
