"Search engine marketing is the single biggest development in the field of marketing since the birth of broadcast television advertising," says Drew Graef, Vice President of Sales Consulting at In Touch Media Group, Inc. (http://www.intouchmediagroup.com), a full-service marketing company that specializes in using the Internet as a key public relations and advertising tool. "Internet advertising comprises 20 percent of all advertising spending, and the fastest growing segment of Internet advertising is search engine marketing."

For the uninitiated, Graef explains that search engine ads are found on the right side of the results page after an Internet search on, for example, Google or Yahoo! "Search engine ads are also known as sponsored links and pay-per-click ads," he says. "The key differentiator between traditional advertising and search engine advertising is that the latter is results-driven. Advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their ad."

But getting the click isn't enough, says Graef. "It's one thing to bring consumers to a website, but it's more important to convert those website visitors into customers," he says. "At its best, search engine marketing is both an art and a science. It's achieving the winning combination of ad copywriting, keyword selection and placement, web site design and copywriting, and the website's call to action."

Graef explains that an effectively written ad will draw more clicks, while a well-designed website with a call to action will cause visitors to linger. "Having a search engine ad that is frequently clicked, along with visitors who stay on the website, causes the ad to move up in the search results and draw even more visitors," he says. "When all of the elements are correctly choreographed, advertisers draw highly targeted customers to their websites at a fraction of the cost of radio, television, and print advertising."

Research indicates that 62 percent of search engine users do not differentiate between search results and paid search advertising. "Given that 68 million Americans go online everyday, and that the average person spends 43 minutes a month conducting searches, companies can't afford not to take advantage of the search engine marketing channel," says Graef.

Graef is quick to note that search engine marketing shouldn't replace traditional advertising, but that it's an important component to any advertising campaign. "If a company only advertises in traditional media, a company selling similar products can easily siphon off business through search engine marketing," he says. "Ultimately, search engine advertising channels and captures the consumer demand that is already present on the Internet."

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