Week 2 - MKTG 3349: Fundamentals of Online Marketing

How do you budget for search engine marketing? First of all, there are three common cost structures for online marketing. Cost-per-click is the most popular model being used nowadays and it is setup for advertisers to pay for each time their ad is clicked on or viewed. This does not include the ad appearing on the browser but only if the user clicks on the ad to view more info on the company website. Another structure is the cost-per-action model. This model focuses on activity produced from the paid advertisement such as purchasing a product or completing a survey. This is a safer alternative to cost-per-click due to click fraud.

Also, cost-per-impression(CPM) is the last common model which is the traditional option. CPM is based on the number of appearances in a search result. This model differs from the others because users may not even see the ad but the company will owe that cost regardless of influence. Therefore, CPM is typically easier to budget for where CPC and CPA models can be more unpredictable. Overall, these are the basic cost models used for search engine marketing so it is important to track performance so that the budget is met!

Week 1 - MKTG 3349: Intro to Search Engine Marketing

Throughout this blog I will be sharing my ideas covering multiple areas in the field of search engine marketing. Before I get into that I would like to share a little bit of my background. I am a Student-Athlete at Benedictine University where I am studying business management and organizational behavior. Baseball has always been one of my passions and I am truly blessed to have come this far. I am in my junior year and plan to graduate on time next year!

On another note, what exactly is search engine marketing? This is the strategy where businesses will pay for their advertisements to appear at the top of searches based on keywords. Engines like Google is the perfect example because most people have experienced a search with a sponsored advertisement or some form of paid advertisement. These ads are often called PPC ads(pay-per-click ads) which actually can differ by appearance. There are many different ways to market your ads. Here are a few examples:

• Product Listing Ad
• Display Ad
• Video Ad
• Informative Ad