(317) 721-4736

Indianapolis Indiana Search Engine Marketing Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

SEM FAQ

Everything You Need to Know about Indiana and Indianapolis Search Engine Marketing

What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?

Search engine marketing, also known as PPC or pay-per-click, is one of the ways to promote your business online. A business owner bids on keywords/phrases relevant to their business website that can help attract customers to their site. For example, if the business is Indiana search engine marketing, bids would be placed for a keyword such as “Indiana search engine marketing” and other related phrases. When someone searches for that particular keyword, the business owner's advertisement will be listed among the top or side of the natural search results. The business owner will pay for each click that directs online searchers to their site.

When do I need SEM?

Unlike SEO, SEM campaigns require a lot of money and time, so it's not usually recommended to those with small businesses and small capital for promotion. However, you may consider SEM as part of your marketing strategy in the following cases:

- You have a new site and you want to have it promoted/advertised on search engine result pages immediately.

- You have an established site that offers short-term promotions which cannot wait for the indexing of organic results, since the promotions may be out of date by that time.

- You have a newly established site or product to launch or re-launch quickly.

What are the different kinds of SEM campaigns?

Traditional Pay-Per-Click ads:

You pay for the ads placed on search engine result pages (SERPs), and these ads will appear based on the keywords entered into the search engines. You get charged per click on the ad. For example, if you have an ad on Indianapolis search engine marketing and someone clicks on your ad when they search for the specific keyword, you pay for that traffic driven to your site.

Paid inclusion:

You pay the search engines and directories to have your site included in their database.

Which is better, SEM or SEO?

Ideally, SEM and SEO are combined to achieve the marketing goals of a business. However, SEO is very important since an SEM campaign is not complete without it. SEM also requires much more money than SEO in the short and long term.  Studies show that online searchers prefer and trust organic results more than sponsored links and ads. If you have a business in Indianapolis which you aim to promote locally and also statewide, you first need to avail of Indianapolis SEO and Indiana SEO and then back it up with Indianapolis search engine marketing and Indiana search engine marketing for best results.