Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a powerful digital marketing strategy focused on boosting the visibility of a website on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). While the term “SEM” once encompassed both organic strategies like Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and paid advertising, it’s now primarily associated with paid search advertising, also known as Pay-Per-Click (PPC).
Why is Search Engine Marketing Important?
In today’s digital landscape, where a vast majority of consumers research and purchase products online, SEM has become a vital tool for expanding a company’s reach. A significant portion of new website visitors arrive through search engine queries, highlighting the importance of SEM in driving traffic and acquiring customers.
One of the key advantages of SEM is its efficiency. Advertisers only pay when users click on their ads, making it a cost-effective way to invest marketing dollars. Furthermore, each visitor gained through SEM can positively impact a website’s organic search rankings over time.
Unlike other platforms where users may not be actively searching for products or services, search engine users are typically seeking specific information or solutions with commercial intent. This makes them more receptive to purchasing, and SEM allows you to reach them at precisely the right moment – when they are actively seeking information. Paid search advertising is also non-intrusive, providing users with relevant information without disrupting their online experience. Additionally, SEM delivers immediate results, offering the quickest path to drive targeted traffic to a website.
How Does SEM Work?
While SEO relies on content marketing to generate organic traffic, SEM employs targeted ads to drive paid traffic. Search engines employ sophisticated algorithms to deliver the most relevant results for each search query, taking into account factors like location and available user information.
In paid search advertising, sponsored ads are strategically placed at the top and sides of SERPs to gain greater visibility compared to organic results. These ads are triggered by keywords that match the user’s search terms.
From the perspective of a customer searching for a product or service, they enter specific keywords into a search engine. The resulting SERP displays company ads whose keywords align with their search query. These prominent ads increase the likelihood of users clicking on them due to their relevance to the search.
From a marketer’s standpoint, SEM networks operate on a self-service basis. After selecting a network, marketers can swiftly set up a campaign by:
- Conducting thorough keyword research to identify relevant keywords.
- Defining a geographic location for ad targeting.
- Crafting compelling, text-based ads.
- Evaluating the Cost-Per-Click (CPC) for targeted keywords.
Text-only ads are simple to create, requiring marketers to input a headline, ad copy, a call-to-action, and a hyperlink URL. For many, search engine marketing is considered the most effective way to maximize marketing investments.
Examples of Search Ad Networks
The two leading search networks for SEM professionals are Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) and Bing Ads.
Google Ads encompasses two networks: The Google Search Network, which includes search-related websites owned by Google, and the Google Display Network, which comprises platforms like YouTube, Blogger, and Gmail. Bing Ads enables advertisers to run ads on both Yahoo’s and Bing’s networks.
While Google Ads boasts a larger audience (roughly double the size of Bing), Bing Ads often offer lower pricing. Advertisers may secure a higher ad ranking for competitive keywords at a reduced cost compared to Google. Some studies also suggest higher click-through rates on Bing Ads.
Creating an Effective SEM Strategy in 7 Steps
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Keyword Research: Begin by conducting keyword research using tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to uncover relevant keywords. Prioritize high-quality keywords that align with your target audience. Focus on finding keywords that strike a balance between search volume and cost, ensuring they aren’t too expensive or lack sufficient interest.
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Setting Up PPC Campaigns: Structure PPC campaigns around central themes or topics connected to specific business goals. Organize them into ad groups, further broken down into individual ads. For businesses promoting multiple products with diverse objectives, granular ad targeting in paid search is crucial for maximizing efficiency.
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Crafting Ad Copy: Create compelling ad copy that directly resonates with potential customers. Craft compelling headlines reflecting the search intent behind the targeted keywords. Highlight unique selling points in your ad descriptions to set clear expectations. Utilize ad extensions, like sitelinks, phone numbers, callouts, structured snippets, and user ratings, to enhance the user experience and maximize ad effectiveness.
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Optimizing Landing Pages: Ensure landing pages are relevant to the ad copy that led users there, enhancing ad rank, quality score, and ultimately conversion rates. Improve landing pages by including clear Calls-To-Action (CTAs), implementing responsive design for mobile users, optimizing page speed, and delivering quality content.
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Managing Bid Strategy: Before budget allocation, run ads to determine the most effective bidding strategy. Most ad platforms allow manual bidding or automated bidding, where the platform sets bids for you. Smaller businesses may benefit from starting with manual bidding to gather data, while larger companies with greater resources can leverage automated bidding, even though it may incur higher costs. Over time, refine your bid strategy based on collected data to account for various segments like devices, locations, time of day, and customer affinity.
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Allocating Budget: Focus budget on the highest-performing ads and target them to your most relevant segments. For example, B2B companies often allocate most of their budget to desktop ads during working hours to increase the likelihood of conversion.
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Refining and Optimizing: Continually optimize ads for improved performance. Focus on improving quality score to reduce ad costs. Add extensions like sitelinks, callouts, call extensions, and customized URLs to improve Click-Through Rates (CTR). Implement remarketing to reinforce brand awareness and ensure ads remain top-of-mind as users browse other apps or pages.
How A/B Testing Complements SEM
In addition to platform-level optimizations, A/B testing can significantly enhance traffic conversion and maximize spending efficiency.
A/B testing landing pages is an effective strategy to optimize for Average Order Value (AOV) or revenue per page. Optimizing landing pages can also improve Quality Score within SEM networks, leading to lower average CPC.
Platforms like Optimizely Web Experimentation facilitate structuring and implementing A/B tests, providing real-time results for confident business decisions. Integrations with popular ad networks like Google Ads and Meta simplify the setup of ad-related experiments.
By understanding and implementing these strategies, you can harness the power of SEM to drive targeted traffic, improve your online visibility, and achieve your business goals.
