Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the blessed way in which Google, Yahoo!, and Bing make their millions. When used correctly, SEM can be the most effective way to market and advertise your business. It is by far the easiest way to get your name out there, and should not be too expensive.

Some of the reluctance regarding creating a SEM is the possibility of being “attacked”. The way search engines charge you is called “Price-Per-Click” and used to charge whenever someone clicks your link, off of that particular search engine. This used to pose a problem for small business with big rivals. Competitors would hire employees to simply click on other businesses links over and over until funds were exhausted! Luckily, the search engines caught on quickly and started using IP addresses to monitor the number of times that address clicks a particular site. Too many clicks from the same user and monitors recognize what is happening and even has the power to ban users from clicking in the future. (I love technology!)

The most important aspect to creating your SEM are the keywords you use for the search. Use a formatting site to gauge which keywords will be most effective, and a keyword finder to figure what they will cost. It is imperative that you use keywords actually found on you site (the marketing Gods don’t like liars). Finally, keep it brief! The more specific you are with your keywords, the more effective the results will be. And the shorter the phrases, the higher the profit!

Search Engine Marketing is the key to success in our technological era. Follow these tips and your links will be blowing up in no time!

Happy searching!

What are the most popular SEM keywords? Do you find SEM to be profitable to your company? Let me know what you think!