Internet Marketing Glossary

SEM

(Search Engine Marketing) - SEM is an umbrella term for a group of techniques used to increase a website’s accessibility to search engines. Often times, these techniques are implemented in an attempt to direct search engine crawlers to specific information or to help increase a website’s location within a search engine’s results page. Search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC) and paid or sponsored listings are the main techniques used.

SEO

(Search Engine Optimization) - SEO involves fine-tuning a website so that search engines and crawlers know exactly what kind of content a website is offering. For example, a website may use very specific wording in hopes the crawler will detect and categorize the website accordingly. Some sites also include embedded meta tags that are only visible to the search engine or its crawler. These meta tags help ensure the website has certain keywords associated with it within the search engine.

SERP

(Search Engine Results Page) - Simply put, the search engine results page is the full listing of search results displayed for the user when they search for something. Made up of sponsored links, advertisements, and natural results, the SERP is the part of the search engine that most people are familiar with.

Sponsored Ad

Sometimes advertisers pay search engines to display their ads or website more prominently than the other search engine results. When a user searches for keywords that the advertiser has “sponsored”, their website or products are displayed first, usually above or alongside the natural results.

Sponsored Link

Sometimes advertisers pay search engines to display their ads or website more prominently than the other search engine results. When a user searches for keywords that the advertiser has “sponsored”, their website or products are displayed first, usually above or alongside the natural results.

View-Through

Similar to a click-through, a view-through differs from a click-through in that the advertiser’s ad is not clicked on. Typically, a user reads the information contained in an ad and proceeds to the advertiser’s website directly (usually by simply entering the site URL in the address bar of their web browser).