Q.Choose the correct option: Improving a website so that it appears higher in the unpaid results of a search engine is called —

Search engines return two kinds of results — paid and unpaid — and this question is about the unpaid (organic) kind.

SEO earns organic positions without paying; the paid options (SEM, PPC) buy visibility, and SMM is social media marketing.

This tests whether you can tell the unpaid search channel apart from the paid ones.

• (a) SEM — Search Engine Marketing uses paid advertisements on search results, not unpaid rankings.
• (b) SEO — correct. Search Engine Optimisation improves a website so it ranks higher in the organic (unpaid) results, using keywords, quality content, technical structure, and backlinks.
• (c) PPC — Pay-Per-Click is a paid advertising model where the advertiser pays for each click; it is part of SEM, not unpaid.
• (d) SMM — Social Media Marketing promotes through social platforms, not through search rankings.

The commonest error is confusing SEO (unpaid/organic) with SEM or PPC (paid). Remember: SEO earns free rankings over time; SEM/PPC buys immediate visibility.