Get found
GEO and AI visibilityBeing visible and recommended by ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot.Organic search (SEO)A durable, profitable investment.Buy traffic
Paid advertisingOptimized to generate sales that pay.Convert and measure
Conversion rate optimization (CRO)Selling more with the same traffic.GA4 auditKnowing what every dollar returns, beyond what it costs.Build
Website designSites designed for conversion. Online retailMargin per purchase rather than volume of visitors.Search engine marketing
Organic and paid (SEO, Google Ads), run together.
As soon as an organic position is won, we cut the advertising budget attached to it. That is the advantage of one team on both channels.
See the pricing ↓ · Montreal · Quebec · Laurentians · One client per industry in each market
Definition
SEM (Search Engine Marketing) brings together the strategies that grow your sales from search engines like Google and Bing.
There are two ways to define it today.
Traditional definition
SEM rests on two revenue-generating parts:
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): organic acquisition, with no cost per click, through organic search and AI (GEO).
SEA (Search Engine Advertising): immediate customer acquisition bought with paid ads, such as Google Ads.
The formula
SEM = SEO + SEA
Lasting acquisition and immediate acquisition, brought together for your gross margin.
Modern definition
In everyday usage, “SEM” often means Google Ads advertising alone. When a company looks for an SEM expert, it often wants someone who manages Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Search and Shopping campaigns, rather than someone who builds an SEO asset.
Our position
At Falia, we cover both meanings, for maximum profitability. We run the paid budget day to day to generate quick sales, and we build the organic SEO position to bring your overall cost of acquisition down.
One clarification: advertising on Facebook and Instagram is paid social, another channel. We manage it too, to generate leads, but technically it is not SEM.
The two parts of SEM
Earning your place in the results without paying per click. The asset that pays the most over the long term.
Buying high-intent leads within 48 hours. On two search platforms:
Beyond search
Facebook and Instagram advertising. It is paid social, another highly profitable channel for generating demand. We optimize it too.
The paid part
Paid search (SEA) is buying keywords above the organic results, on Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising. You pay to acquire the traffic, sales arrive within days, and the channel stops dead the day the budget stops. It is the immediate part of SEM.
In Quebec, business owners rarely say “SEA”: people talk about “Google Ads campaigns” or “search advertising”. We run those budgets with an absolute demand on the cost per sale.
The profitability equation
SEM = organic search (SEO) + paid advertising (Google Ads)
SEM is about splitting the budget between the two to bring the cost of your sales down. Running both channels together avoids paying for acquisition forever, and builds your SEO in parallel.
Paid search gives immediate sales and goes out without a budget. Organic search (SEO) takes months of senior expertise and leaves an asset that keeps generating margin. The two complete each other.
| Immediate paid acquisition | Lasting organic acquisition | |
|---|---|---|
| The cost | A Google budget paid per click, plus our experts' fee. Acquisition stops with the budget. | Time, technical SEO and content, not bought clicks. It is a business engineering cost rather than rent. |
| Long-term value | Limited to the customers already acquired, once the advertising stops. | Cumulative. A well-ranked page (SEO/GEO) keeps generating sales with no click budget. |
| How the prospect sees it | Identified as an ad. The B2B buyer may skip it by reflex. | Read as the market authority validated by Google or by AI (ChatGPT). |
| Targeting precision | Precise: exact keywords, hours, retargeting, waste excluded. | Organic: we aim at broad buying intent and qualify through conversion (CRO) on the site. |
| Time to profitability | A few weeks for the first B2B or eCommerce sales. | 6 to 12 months to settle at the top of the organic market and stabilize the flow of leads. |
Our partners' rule: paid Google Ads goes after this quarter's sales, while SEO builds your long-term profitability. The detail of our methods is on the SEO page and on the Google Ads page.
Our method
A results-driven SEM engagement changes its split between month 3 and month 18. As organic search (SEO/GEO) captures the leads, the Google Ads budget is pulled from the queries won to open new markets. That is the work of a team that runs both channels.
The keywords that actually lead to sales in Google Ads become our SEO content priorities. You see the real margin within weeks in advertising, which avoids losing six months of SEO on vanity content.
Every first organic position won frees up Google budget. That money does not disappear: it is reinvested to win new advertising market share. Your overall cost of acquisition (CPA) drops clearly.
The list of keywords, the organic position, the advertising investment and the sales generated (CRM). One profitability page, both channels together.
Who it is for
For you if:
You already spend $5,000 or more on Google Ads advertising without knowing what organic search would save you in advertising.
You want one team of strategists on both acquisition channels, rather than two separate teams to coordinate when sales dip.
Your market has a strong volume of buyer searches, and you steer on the cost per sale rather than the cost per click.
Not for you if:
You are looking for Google Ads management on its own, with no organic part: that is our Google Ads page.
You want organic search on its own, with no advertising budget.
Your industry is already taken by another of our clients. We take one client per industry.
Case studies
Home building · B2C
Falia reviewed the marketing already in place, then optimized the site for SEO, GEO and conversion before launching the Google Ads campaigns. The goal: generate more requests and support sales.
12 Domus awards won by the company, the most recent at the 2026 APCHQ Montréal Métropolitain gala
Read the Écohabitations Boréales case study →Children's publishing · eCommerce · B2C
For two years, Falia has managed the Meta and Google Ads advertising of their Shopify store. We also run the email campaigns for back-to-school, Black Friday and Boxing Day.
Read the Petits Génies case study →We are proud to contribute to our clients' success.
Pricing
SEM combines organic search and advertising. The two are billed separately, and bringing them together earns a discount.
Who it is for
An engagement requires seven conditions, including a minimum budget. For every situation we turn down, we say who is better placed.
See the conditions →You have nobody in house to run marketing, and no time to micromanage it yourself. You approve the business direction, we handle the execution.
What we do for you →Your team is in place, but you are missing a specific expertise or the hands to move forward? We fit in naturally to get your projects unstuck.
How we fit in →Frequently asked
SEM is acquisition on the search engines. In its pure definition, it rests on two revenue pillars: SEO (durable, profitable organic search) and SEA (immediate Google Ads). In short: SEM = SEO + SEA. At Falia, we run both together to maximize your return on investment.
There is no ready-made ratio. We start from your current sales: the more free leads you get through SEO, the less work the Google Ads budget has to do. At the start of an engagement, Google Ads brings the quick margin. Then SEO takes over and brings your cost of acquisition down.
No. SEM targets buying intent on the search engines (Google, Bing). Advertising on Meta is paid social, excellent for creating a need. We manage it with the same demand for profitability, but it is not SEM.
Three clear amounts. 1) Your advertising budget, paid directly to Google. 2) The SEO and GEO work, which builds your site's asset. 3) Our management fee, which covers both channels. For our integrated management fee, count from $2,495 a month. The cost of a click is rising everywhere: it is the balance between paid and organic that protects your margins.
In paid search (Google Ads), the first qualified leads arrive within days, and a stable campaign takes 60 to 90 days. In organic search (SEO/GEO), count months of work to settle in for good. Balancing immediate cash flow and long-term profitability is exactly why we run hybrid SEM.
No. We keep our clients through the gross margin we help them earn every month.
When you hold the first organic position and cutting the Google Ads ad does not bring your monthly revenue down. We test rather than assume: we cut the advertising, watch sales for four weeks and put it back if the overall margin slips.
If your business has a critical need for cash flow or sales this month, Google Ads (paid SEM). If you want to lead your market in two years with the lowest cost of acquisition, SEO. Falia's hybrid approach finances the long-term SEO asset with the quick sales from Google Ads.
Hybrid SEM is the main engine of the goal “Generate demand and growth”, organized to break through a sales growth ceiling.
See the goal →Paid and organic search together
A partner answers within one business day. You get a straight read on your situation, and you decide what comes next.
Got it.
A partner answers within one business day, at the address you just gave us.
Thirty minutes with our experts is enough to put your Google Ads spending and your SEO rankings side by side. If you are wasting budget on clicks you would get organically, we show you, with the evidence.
Book 30 minutes with a partner to decide between your paid and organic budget.
Book a call →
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