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Have you heard SEM? this post is an introduction to Search engine marketing (SEM) that can be used to boost online presence. It’s actually quite an effective digital marketing channel, because it’ll make your website show up on the first page of the search results page.
When talking about SEM, some discussion about SEO will usually be found. While both SEM and SEO are strategies used to boost search result rankings, SEO tends to take more time to actually work. Meanwhile, SEM can make it happen in a matter of days or even hours. If you need more information about SEO, read our SEO for business to learn more.
What is search engine marketing anyway? And how can a business benefit from it? Read on to find out!
What is Search Engine Marketing?
Search engine marketing involves using paid ads to promote a business on search engine results pages. Advertisers bid on keywords that users may use when searching for specific products or services. This allows the advertiser’s ads to appear alongside the search results for those keywords, giving them the opportunity to reach potential customers who are actively searching for what they have to offer
SEM includes various types of paid ads, including pay-per-click ads, which come in a range of formats. Some are simple, text-based ads, while others, like product listing ads, provide more visual information about products, including price and reviews. These ads, also known as Shopping ads, allow consumers to quickly see important details about the products they are interested in.
How does it work? Well, it works by putting up an ad with relevant keywords to the product or services you offer. When someone types the keywords in google, the advertiser’s website appears in Google search results. Thus, potential customers will be more likely to see it.
SEM vs SEO
Most commonly, the term “search engine marketing” is used to refers to paid search advertising, which is a system where business pay to Google so that their ads will be displayed in the search results. In contrast, SEO focuses on growth the online presence of a website through non-paid means or as organic.
Marketers often think of SEO as a separate digital marketing strategy due to the lengthy processes involved. SEO involves optimizing the visible and hidden elements of a website, such as its content, tags, and code, to improve its ranking in search engine results. It can also involve link building, or getting other high-ranking websites to link back to your site, to help improve your ranking. While these strategy can help to organically generate website traffic, they are time-consuming and may take a while to generate results. Many businesses choose to outsource SEO service to specialized companies.
SEM Benefits for Small Businesses
Using search engine marketing (SEM) can help small business compete with larger, nationally recognized brands and grow at a low cost. In addition to this, there are many other benefits to including SEM in your digital marketing strategy. Some of these benefits may include the ability to target specific audiences, measure the effectiveness of your campaigns, and adapt your strategies in real-time based on the data you collect.
Still not convinced? Here we’ve listed several benefits that SEM has for a business.
1. Reach Customers Instantly
SEM is often used to describe Google ads, because they are paid ads and help websites get on the first page of the search result page. This marketing technique is a short-term strategy that can be used to bring fast visibility to the products or services you offer.
Compared to SEO, SEM allows you to reach your target customers almost instantly. If you have a target that needs to be achieved soon, then SEM will be the better option.
2. Leads Focused
One of the main benefits of search engine marketing (SEM) is that it targets people who are actively searching for products and services related to your business. This means that it is easier to convert leads into paying customers through SEM. To make the most of this, it’s important to choose the right keywords for your ads. Keep in mind that more competitive keywords may cost more, so it can be helpful to consider less competitive options as well.
In other words, SEO is usually better to increase brand awareness, while paid ads can really focus on a specific goal and reach conversions. Keep in mind that it doesn’t always go this way, though. Be open to any possibilities.
3. More Practical
Search Engine Marketing is practical because is that they can be easily and quickly created and managed. You have control over the scheduling of your campaigns and can start and stop your ads at any time you wish. This practicality allows to adjust your ad campaigns to meet the changing needs and goals of your business.
Furthermore, using SEM is that it is easy to set a budget and control the performance speed of your campaigns. This allows you to optimize your ads and drive more traffic to your business in a short amount of time. You can adjust your budget and performance settings to meet the needs and goals of your business and ensure that your ad spend is being used effectively
4. Low Risk
Using SEM is such a adaptable, this makes it a low-risk marketing strategy, as you will always see a return on your investment. No matter how much you spend, you can always control it. Additionally, SEM strategies tend to be relatively stable, even if search engines change their algorithms, so you can feel confident in the effectiveness of your campaigns. This is a win-win situation for both businesses and search engines.
Process of SEM
1. Set the location.
This step you have the flexibility to choose the location where your ads will be visible. You can choose to target a specific city or zip code, or you can choose to reach a broader audience by targeting a global or national audience.
2. Choose keywords
To do this, you need to consider the search volume and estimated cost per click of each keyword. By carefully selecting the right keywords, you can ensure that your campaigns are reaching the right audience and maximizing your return on investment.
3. Select match type
When it comes to SEM, there are three different match types (Exact match, Phrase match, Broad match). Those match types can be selected to determine how closely the user’s search query needs to match the selected keywords for the advertisement to be displayed.
4. Creating your ad copy
The regulations and amount characters of paid advertisements on different search engines differ. As a general guideline, the heading should be up to 30 characters and the description should be between 80-90 characters. Google provides an option of three headings and two descriptions.
5. Set bids
If you make a higher bid, you will get more views and clicks, however, it will also consume your budget at a faster pace. On the other hand, a smaller bid will help your budget last longer, but your competitors may be able to reach out to customers who have not seen your ad yet. Although this may suggest that those with large budgets will always have an advantage, this is not true. Even those with a limited budget can outperform big players if they target their keywords correctly.
6. Launch and Track the Campaign
When you have finished all the steps, you are able to start your campaign. In your SEM account, you can observe your allocated budget, click-through rates, and other significant metrics. Subsequently, you will have to decide which ads are functioning best. You may want to make new ads, or adjust the content of the landing page to enhance interaction.
Search Engine Marketing: Yes or No
Why use SEM? Simply put, it works! The benefits listed are just a few of the many benefits that SEM has. It has the potential to offer instant results, conversions, and ultimately boost sales. SEM can be both a short and long term marketing strategy that helps a business to keep on growing.
P.S Looking for a local paid ads service based in Bali? Talk to us!