That whoosh you just heard was the rush of thousands, nay, millions of businesses moving to online ads and other paid inclusion search marketing programs to help drive sales and growth. Call it search engine marketing (SEM), keyword advertising, pay-per-click (PPC) or cost-per-click (CPC) — whatever name you use spells the same thing: a great, cost-effective way for small and medium businesses to reach prospects anywhere, anytime.

Almost any business that wants to attract prospects and customers should consider it. For reaching broad market segments via the web, it can't be beat. For reaching specialty markets, it's great too. It's also great for advertising locally; and especially great if you are the type of entrepreneur who likes keeping an iron grip on your budget. Top benefits include:

1. Speed, flexibility and control. Write your copy, open an account, set your budget and see your ads online within hours. Quickly change your ad message and keywords or turn your ad on/off with a mouse click. Manage your account from the comfort of your office PC.
2. Establish a monthly spending cap so you never spend more than you want.
3. Track results with greater control and precision than you've ever had before. See detailed, up-to-the-minute performance reports 24/7.
4. Target your effort locally, to special topic interests, market segments or in other ways.
5. Pay only to reach people who show an interest in your product or service by reading and clicking on your message, ad, content, location map or whatever you use.
6. Start as small as you like and build your budget as your business grows.

Business.com's "What Works for Business" blog is a great way to keep up with the latest search marketing solutions, trends and strategies for small and medium business.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get it done in Google AdWords

Google AdWords is a quick and simple way to buy targeted cost-per-click (CPC) ads, regardless of your budget. Ads are displayed along with search results on Google, as well as on search and content sites in the Google Network, including AOL, EarthLink, HowStuffWorks and many others.

I recommend: Start in the AdWords section of Google. Discover how and why it works, the costs, spending requirements and answers to your key questions in the AdWords Help Center.

Say yes (or at least maybe) to Yahoo

Yahoo offers excellent online advertising and other 'paid inclusion' solutions for small business. Their 'Search Marketing' product can deliver a huge audience for your ads.

I recommend: Yahoo calls it "Sponsored Search" and it works much like Google AdWords. Compare ROI on CPC vs. other forms of online advertising. Here, as with some other services, your ads can also appear next to relevant articles, reviews and other online content. Yahoo's Content Match feature displays your listings on other parts of the Web such as CNN, Rent.com, MyFamily.com, NationalGeogrphic.com and others.

Target your SEM efforts locally

Options for advertising a business locally online have blossomed.

I recommend: With Yahoo's Local Sponsored Search you can drive customers to your store or generate service calls within an area you determine. Google AdWords lets you set ads to appear only to people in a particular city, state or region. Click on "For local businesses." Google has also linked the service to Google Maps, so people searching for your service will see your location and contact information highlighted on a neighborhood map. Create your local business profile at RegisterLocal.com and have it submitted Internet-wide. RegisterLocal – from LocalLaunch -- will also handle pay-per-click ads for your business. The search box at Local.com lets users search for “What” and “Where” at the same time. Add or update your own business listing. You can also get free or low cost listings at Judy’s Book, Switchboard, InsiderPages, SuperPages and YellowPages.com.

Go with vertical search to reach B2B and other specialized markets

To reach a more specialized audience for your ads, look to 'vertical search engines.'

I recommend: In the manufacturing sector, for example, eMvoy is a specialty search engine. Business.com leads the pack in the B2B arena and is the world's largest B2B advertising network, including partners such as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Forbes, Entreprener.com and many others. Locate other vertical search sites at SearchEngines.com.

Have SEM specialists submit your business across the internet

Web popularity has spawned several excellent services that will help launch and refine your search engine marketing effort.

I recommend: ineedhits is a top-notch SEM specialty firm that has been helping generate search traffic for small and mid-sized businesses since 1996. ineedhits offers a range of simple, low-cost submission services, along with more advanced services for Google, Yahoo and MSN. Be sure to check out their money-saving special offers. Something new is ineedbloghits for business blogs.

Generate more keyword ideas for your ads and other SEM

Free online tools can suggest possible keywords for your ad campaign and reports how those terms have performed.

I recommend: Experiment with different terms in Google's Keyword Tool. A free search term suggestion tool from Trellian is also helpful.

Get fluent in SEM-speak

The world of search marketing speaks an entirely different advertising language than you may be accustomed to.

I recommend: Google's description of basic search ad terminology is a must-read before you spend a dime. Get more help from Business.com's glossary of common search marketing terms. A great place to learn more about search engine marketing is the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO).

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Don't measure search marketing success just by the math. Sure, the number of clicks and conversions you get is important. But search ads can also be golden for testing different ad copy, boosting a brand rather, generating PR and diversifying your marketing base to include local ads, shopping ads, map listings and more.
• •  With no monthly minimum spending limit or time commitment and only a minimal fee to set up your account, Google AdWords is certainly worth a try.
• •  There's no waiting to change or manage your online ads. Login and manage your own bids and copy from the comfort of your own computer with the self-serve tools offered by most sites.
• •  Consider increasing your visibility with a 'featured' ad or other premium placement options. It costs more, but might be worth it.
• •  Make your listing work harder for you by highlighting multiple products and services within each listing with multi-links.