What is SEA (search engine advertising)?

SEA, short for search engine advertising, is showing paid ads in the search results. Via a platform such as Google Ads you bid on keywords, and when someone searches for them, your ad can appear at the top. You usually only pay when someone clicks, a model called PPC.

How does SEA actually work?

SEA works through an auction. For each query, the search engine determines which ads appear and in what order. That depends not only on your bid, but also on the quality and relevance of your ad and landing page. So in practice you play on two things at once:

• Your bid: how much you want to pay at most per click.
• Your relevance: how well the ad and page match the query.

As a result, a relevant advertiser with a lower bid can still rank higher than a less relevant competitor. The full explanation is covered in our guide on SEA.

What is the difference between SEA and SEO?

SEA is paid and delivers immediate visibility: as soon as your campaign runs, you can be at the top. SEO is organic and builds up over a longer period, but you do not pay per click. Many B2B companies combine both: SEA to be quickly present on commercial search terms, SEO to stay visible for the long term.

When is SEA interesting for B2B?

SEA is strong when you want to appear quickly for people with buying intent, for example around concrete service or problem search terms. It is measurable and steerable: you see exactly what a click and an enquiry cost. At Customer Impact we build SEA campaigns that steer on enquiries and revenue, not on clicks or impressions alone. We work exclusively in B2B, never for webshops, and always optimize towards real customers rather than vanity metrics.