Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Choices

Search engine marketing (SEM) is the industry that has built up around search engines. It consists of both paid and organic search. SEM has two arms: search engine optimization (SEO) and pay per click (PPC) advertising. These correspond to the two types of search results. But there are fundamental differences between SEO and PPC.

There are many SEM tactics to consider when designing the right online strategic marketing plan for a project.

I found this “comparison of the common online marketing tactics” very useful while building a marketing strategy for a client.

(Source: http://www.sunant.com/eprofitability/appendix-sem-strategic-comparison-matrix/)

Strategy	Expense Frequency	Relative Cost in Dollars	Relative Cost in Effort	Cost of Inaction	Impact Horizon
PPC Advertising	Ongoing Expense	High	High	Variable	Immediate
Link-Building	Periodic Expense	Low	High	Variable	Long-Term
Onsite SEO	Periodic Expense	Moderate	High	High	Long-Term
Lead Capture Optimization	One-Time Expense	Low	Low	High	Immediate
User Path Optimization	One-Time Expense	Moderate	Moderate	High	Immediate
Cross Promotion	One-Time Expense	Low	Low	Variable	Immediate
Increasing Sales Conversion %	NA	Moderate	High	High	Mid-Term
Increase Net Profit per Transaction	NA	Low	High	Variable	Mid-Term
Decrease Expense per Transaction	NA	Low	High	Variable	Mid-Term

elliance has an excellent infographic on SEM Strategy Matrix