Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Intermediate 📣 Marketing / Advertising

Definition

Paid advertising on search engines to drive traffic. It's what you do when SEO is taking too long.

Example Usage

We're doing SEM on Google Ads for our high-intent keywords while our SEO efforts take 6-12 months to pay off.

Origin

Search advertising terminology, emerged in early 2000s

Fun Fact

Google Ads generates a 3:1 return on average, making it one of the most consistently profitable advertising channels.

Source: Search marketing terminology

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