When you are just starting a business or transferring one to an online environment, it is essential to know the possible ways to grab the audience’s attention. Search engine marketing (SEM) is one of the ways you can push your product out there and get the attention you deserve.
The following article will explain the definition of the SEM, how it works, and how it can benefit the business you are promoting.
What Is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?
Because of the online world, more people are turning to Search Engine Marketing to get to the top. Using SEM will guarantee search engines will position your website on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), where all interested parties will have no trouble accessing it. What is SEM?
Search engine marketing is a form of paid website promotion that allows your website’s SERPs placement to be as high as possible. In other words, it is a strategy for increasing your website’s search visibility, and it allows you to present the most important pieces of information and solutions you offer.
At the same time, it takes care of your advertisement connectivity to all of the relevant keywords people might use when searching for something online. That way, it provides a safe place for a business to present itself to the world of potential users.
Unlike SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which doesn’t require any form of payment, if you are doing it by yourself, SEM is paid to the search engines (like Google or Bing), and based on that, it catapults your website right into an eyeball of an audience.
If you wish to know more about the difference between SEO and SEM, you can read it here.
How Does SEM Work?
If you decide to invest in search engine marketing, have enough information before starting. Because, as simple as it may seem, there is an entire logic behind online marketing. To make the best out of it, read our advice on the main steps of the SEM advertisement setting.
There are four main steps to take into account when using SEM as an advertisement:
- Keyword research
- Determining the location
- Snippet creation
- Set the price you are willing to pay for clicks
Keyword research
With SEM, just like with SEO, the first thing is making clear and precise keywords.
That is important because most search engines do not show all paid promotions to the same user. Using algorithms, the search engine, based on the search history, content, relevancy, keywords, links, etc., will push specific ads to the user at the right time and place. That is the importance of setting the right keywords – if you do not, your product will never reach the eyes of the targeted audience.
Finding the right keywords is done by research, but it can be good to have a few tricks up your sleeve. For example, know when a customer really needs your product and when they are only looking for a piece of information. If they are using questions that start with “Do/Does” or “Why” (examples: “Do I need SEM?”, “Why do I need SEM”), the chance is they are looking for a piece of information. On the other hand, if they use a different set of research words, they might want to buy what they are looking for.
To make it more clear – if someone is typing “Do I need SEM?” in the search engine, there is a greater chance they are only looking for information about whether they need it or not. But if they type “The best SEM services” or “How to do SEM,” their chance of being a potential buyer increases.
When researching keywords and coming up with the best ones, make sure you have someone to remind you of the questions and phrases keywords could be a part of. Instead, you can use several programs for that, like Google Trends or Keyword Tool. Make sure you filter out all unnecessary keywords but also add negative ones.
Determine the Location
Since not all users are located in the same area, ads will not serve the same purpose in the different parts of the world. For example, maybe you are selling IT products where they still have one lightbulb in a household. Not that anything is wrong with having one lightbulb, it just means that those people are less likely to buy IT products because they do not need them, nor will they use them.
That is why determining the location is essential. It provides a place where your business will be relevant and valuable, and people will need it and want it.
Create a Snippet
The snippet is a small piece of SERPs in which your business is presented. It contains a heading with a product and business name and one or two brief sentences that describe your business/product.
The snippet is the first thing a buyer sees, so you want to make sure that you accurately describe your business. Not too much information should be displayed, but not too little either – the customer should be intrigued enough to click on the link to get more information.
Set the Price
The final step is price setting for the clicks you get on the advertisement. Then, you pay it to the search engine you use. It can be determined in advance by the search engine marketing policy, but in most cases, it is calculated from the amount you paid for the advertisement campaign and the number of clicks you managed to get.
Remember, if an advertisement is good and you see a significant improvement in traffic, the price of the click you pay should not matter too much but should matter enough not to make you overpay.
If you are using Google as a search engine and a marketplace, having all these steps covered will increase the overall Quality Score of your website. Aim to get a high score. It will be far more beneficial for your business.
How Does SEM Benefit Your Business?
If you are going to invest in the advertisement or not mostly depends on the nature of your business. Not all companies need advertising, and not all of them will prosper from the same type of advertisement.
That is why you should make clear intentions for SEM. Ask questions like: “Why do I want to invest in the advertisement?”, “Do I need an advertisement?”, “What will it benefit my business?”. That way, you will be able to make the most of what you have and work with.
Investing in SEM benefits your business in several different ways. Some of them are:
- Increase of brand awareness – SEM makes your business visible to a broader range of audiences.
- Increase business traffic – Using good advertisement strategies will increase your business traffic.
- Targeted promotion – SEM allows you to choose a location where you want to put your product out for more effective and to the point advertising.
- Paying only when users click your ad – After you set your advertisement once, there is no need to pay for it again unless no one clicks on it.
- Testing and measuring the performance – With SEM, you can keep track of advertisement and determine if it has proved useful, with more precision and clarity.
So, in conclusion, SEM can be a good thing for people who want to take a bit easier way than using SEO strategies. It also represents the fastest way to attract traffic to your website because the information you offer is placed right in front of people looking for it.
If you need more information or advice on optimizing your website and finding an excellent place for it in SERPs, check out our article about SEO and all the benefits it brings.
You can also contact our team of experts. So don’t be shy, talk to us!
