What is SEM ( Search Engine Marketing)

What is SEM ( Search Engine Marketing)

What Is SEM?

SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is the process of gaining website traffic by purchasing ads on search engines.

Google AdWords is by many measures the most popular paid search platform used by search marketers, followed by Bing Ads, which also serves a significant portion of ads on Yahoo.

Beyond that, there are a number of “2nd tier PPC platforms” as well as PPC advertising options on the major social networks.

What exactly does SEM encompass - paid, organic, or both?

The term "SEM" is used in varying applications. In some organizations, SEM refers exclusively to PPC (pay-per-click) paid search marketing (or even more specifically, Google AdWords). Other marketers use SEM as an umbrella term that describes all marketing efforts that influence performance in search engine listings, including organic results. A related term, "search marketing," can also be used to describe both paid and organic search.

While there's no right or wrong definition, BigCommerce uses SEM to describe both paid and organic search marketing. As ecommerce becomes increasingly channel-agnostic with more customer touch points, unifying marketing efforts is preferable to siloed campaigns.

SEO and PPC: How they're different

Paid search advertising, or PPC ads, are results that appear above and beside natural organic ratings.

The top paid SEM platforms

The most popular vehicle for paid online searches is Google AdWords, due to its leading market share in the search space. The second-most widely used paid search system is Bing Ads, used on Bing and Yahoo search engines.