Search Marketing(also known as search engine marketing or SEM) is a loosely used term. Sometimes search marketing means the same as the Google cost per click (CPC) listings that appear on the right side of a search result. Sometimes it is used to cover all forms of paid search, including CPC, banner ads, text link ads, paid inclusion, and affiliate-type deals where advertisers pay once a sale is made (also known as Cost Per Order or CPO, as well as Cost Per Acquisition or CPA). Sometimes it is even used to include as a synonym for internet marketing, covering both paid and natural language search.For our purposes, search marketing will be used in the second sense, as a descriptor for any paid advertising online. Search marketing consists of several types of advertising programs:
Paid Search, by any measure, is expensive relative to a well-run SEO campaign. The old saying about advertising before the web was that "50% of my advertising budget is wasted, I just don't know which 50%." The web made advertising ROI more measurable, one reason it continues to grow at a faster pace than advertising on traditional media channels. However, search marketing does not remove business risk around advertising, and the level of risk of poor returns varies with the type of program, as shown in the table.
OnlineMatters teams have managed search marketing programs for numerous clients of all sizes, with budgets that range from
a few thousand dollars a month to several million. Each program is tailored to the customer's specific goals, industry, and distinct
competitive advantages. Learn more about our paid search programs. |
| Program | Examples | Pricing Models | Metrics | Risks/Issues |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search Engine CPC | Google Adwords Yahoo Paid Search Microsoft AdCenter Ask Miva Looksmart |
Pay for each person who clicks on your ad
Systems are bid-based and/or relevance-based. Where you rank is a combination of price paid, quality of ad copy, and how many people click on the ad |
Net cost of acquisition for each keyword/channel combination
Net revenue for each keyword/channel combination Conversion Rate |
Individual clicks through but is not the target audience
Your site is of interest but they do not buy >Bids must be managed regularly Large numbers of keywords require automated bid management systems |
| Banner Ads | Prime Google Banner Direct publisher (e.g. CSO Magazine) Banner Ad Networks (e.g. ValueClick) Remainder Banner Ad Networks (e.g. ValueClick) Other oddities |
Model is usually CPM, but you can also find many CPC deals (e.g. Google)
There are three kinds of programs based on available publisher space:
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Click through rate
Net cost of acquisition for each campaign/channel (if channel can be uniquely identified) Net revenue for each campaign/channel |
Ad does not get a reasonable click through
Ad has good clickthrough but to wrong audience Banner ads need good visual content skills Each channel may need separate creative Ads get stale rapidly For large programs, hard to really know if specific audience is being reached |
| Text Link Ads | Text Link Ads .edutextlink.com LinkAdage |
PPC, but there are often opportunities to do CPO/CPA deals | Cost per click or cost per order Net Revenue Additions to Link Authority |
Search engines don't like these because they are an attempt to manipulate PageRank |
| Paid Directories | Business.com local.com superpages.com |
CPM or CPC | Same as for generic CPC | Expensive, as a rule. |
| Paid Inclusion | Yahoo Paid Inclusion Shopping.com |
CPC or CPM | Same as generic CPC or CPM | Tends to compete with natural search rankings on the same keyword |
| Affiliate Marketing | Commission Junction Linksys Specialty networks like Blue Lithium Direct with publisher As a rule, the kinds of vendors vary widely in this space |
Can be a percentage of sale, a flat rate per sale, or some combination | Percent of traffic Number of sales/period |
Brand Dilution Affiliate programs are great "amplifiers" of basic marketing programs Need to create programs for affiliates Make a point of learning best practices from affiliates Channel conflict between vendors You don't control how they contact their prospects If they do not follow standards or ethical practices, they can harm the brand |
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