Paid Advertising

When many companies identify the need to be at the top of Google, they want to see results immediately. Paid Advertising is best for this. The ads shown in the orange section (above) appear in what is called the paid listings (or sponsored results). You can get your company to the top of these listings immediately - within two days - simply by paying more for ads than your competitors. However, as soon as you stop buying advertising, you lose your ranking in this orange section.

Online Advertising Competitors vs. Real Life Competitors

When a SEM Manager talks about "competitors," he or she is often referring to companies competing for a specific keyword. These entities may not be a company that your typical customer would actually do business with. In some cases, there may be companies that only are competitive in the online advertising market and may not have a presence at your industry's trade shows. In some cases, spam websites may run ads that compete against your's. In any case, any entity that runs an ad for a keyword you target - is your competitor. You are competing for the attention of an internet surfer.

Outside SEM Manager vs. Hiring an Employee

Someone needs to manage your advertising accounts. This role is called an "SEM Manager." SEM stands for "search engine marketing." You can hire an employee or use an agency to do this. Some companies that first start their SEM campaigns prefer to contract with an outside expert (or Ad Agency) to manage the effort.

Adding Tasks to a Current Employee

There can be risks in adding this duty to an existing employee's workload. If your company is spending a lot on advertising (or bidding on keywords that are expensive), you want someone to focus their attention on your campaign and not simply "check the account" every Friday. Some ads can cost as little as 10 cents each time someone clicks on your ad. More effective (and competitive) keywords can cost $12 or more each time someone clicks on your ad. (Rates vary by Keyword.) Chances are, if a keyword is expensive, it has been shown to bring in sales leads and your competitors know this.

Some companies start by using an outside SEM manager and then later bring the role in house - once they get up to speed on how to operate their campaigns.

Outbidding Competitors

One reason you want someone to focus their attention on your advertising can be if you begin to outbid / outrank your competitors. If you start taking sales away from your competitors, they will notice and respond by outbidding you (or running a more effective ad).

One of the most common tactics is to make sure your ad appears whenever a competitor's brand name appears. A competitor will certainly notice if your ad appears at the top when someone searches for their brand name.

TIP: The more relevant your ad, the less you pay Google! By monitoring the performance of an ad, your SEM manager can tweak the ad if needed, or replace it. The more people who click on your ad, the more Google will place it at the top of the results. When this occurs, you do not need to bid as much money on your ad. Being relevant acts as sort a "discount." This is one example of why you want an SEM Manager or Agency to devote their full attention to your campaign.

NEXT TIP: Learn why special "Landing Pages" are the other side of online advertising...