SEM
Search Engine Marketing
In one line
Search engine marketing (SEM) refers to paid promotion within search engine result pages — primarily Google Ads and equivalent search ad networks.
Going deeper
SEM is more or less interchangeable with 'paid search' or 'PPC search ads' in everyday use. The work centres on bidding on keywords inside Google Ads, Naver SA, Bing Ads and similar networks to surface ads on the search results page.
Its core advantage is intent. Visitors arrive already searching for a solution, which is why paid search typically converts better than display for the same spend, and why most performance teams turn it on first.
Definitions get muddy here. Strictly, SEM covers all search-engine marketing including organic, but the everyday convention is narrower — SEM means paid search, SEO means organic. Either reading is defensible; just be explicit which one you mean.
Related terms
Paid Media
Paid media is any channel where you pay to be seen — search ads, display, social ads, video and OTT all fall under this umbrella.
MarketingCPC
Cost per click (CPC) is the average amount an advertiser pays for a single click — the default unit of measure for paid search and most performance display campaigns.
MarketingCTR
Click-through rate (CTR) is the share of impressions that resulted in a click — the most basic measure of how compelling an ad, link or search result is.
MarketingUTM Parameter
UTM parameters are standardised query strings appended to URLs that label the source, medium and campaign so you can tell where each visit came from.
MarketingAttribution Model
An attribution model is a framework for deciding how credit for a conversion is split across the different touchpoints a customer interacted with on the way there.
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