What is SEM?

SEM is the acronym for Search Engine Marketing. When we talk about SEM we usually refer to paid search engine advertising campaigns, although actually, being purists, SEM refers to any marketing action within search engines, whether it is paid or not.

This video will help explain everything:

What is SEM?

SEM is the use of tools and strategies that help us to optimize the visibility and increase the accessibility of websites and web pages thanks to search engines.

It is also the search engines themselves who often offer us these tools to advertise in their search engines. Thanks to sponsored ads in these search engines (Google AdWords, Bing Ads or Yahoo! Search Marketing) quality traffic is generated to the web. This involves activities such as keyword research, ad creation and bid management. It is also known as PPC (Pay Per Click) and CPC (Cost Per Click).

Advantages and disadvantages of SEM

If we are thinking of using SEM in our strategy, the advantages are clear:

• It allows us to quickly make a product known on a large scale.
• It allows to compete face to face with large competitors
• The return on investment is fast (if the campaigns are optimized).
• It allows to bring very segmented traffic to our website

However, it is not a perfect technique, it has its disadvantages:

• For the vast majority of sectors, keyword bidding is expensive.
• It is a type of interruptive action, which the user has not previously demanded.
• It requires a large optimization effort