Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, is one of the largest parts in the broad term of Internet marketing. Webmasters use search engine marketing with the intent of increasing visibility within the search engine result pages (SERPs). Within Search Engine Marketing there are many different areas in which a webmaster can explore to improve their website.

One of the fastest means to marketing is to begin a link and/or banner campaign. Webmasters can arrange for banners or links to be placed on other websites and pay for the traffic that is generated through them. Webmasters can usually pay for either the space for a predetermined amount of time or pay per lead that is generated. Webmasters are able to target complimenting websites, sites where users would be more interested in the product or service offered.

Another type of marketing campaign is pay-per-click. Pay-per-click, also known as PPC, is a feature that search engines offer allowing webmasters to bid for placement. More competitive terms will usually cost more per click. With time and practice, webmasters will be able to manage their own PPC campaigns. Larger firms usually opt to subcontract the work and allow professionals to handle the campaigns.

One of the most common methods is search engine optimization. Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, is one of the most cost efficient methods of marketing a website. SEO is one of the most time consuming methods to optimizing a website, but once a website has strong SERP results, the cost-per-click will drop considerably.

Many times internet companies will use paid services to improve positioning. These actions usually require heavy upfront funding inorder to create a strong, instant presence in a market. It is important for webmasters to understand what methods are going to be used for marketing, make sure the companies put in charge of marketing are reputable and their practices are considered ethical. Using the wrong company or wrong practices can result in penalization by the search engines, which will severely halt any SEO work done.