SEM is one of the most effective ways for you to build a solid business “empire” in a constantly competitive and changing market.
With millions of businesses out there competing with each other, online advertising has never been more important, and search engine marketing is the most effective way to promote your products and grow your business.
With the following article from Centrix Digital, we will learn what SEM is and some good tips to use SEM marketing effectively.
What is SEM?
SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing, or also means Marketing through search engines. This is the process of using promotional activities to ensure your product or service appears on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Websites can increase traffic from these search activities. Besides, SEM includes both SEO (search engine optimization) and PSA (paid search advertising).
Why does SEM play an important role?
In the current era when the Internet is an endless treasure, we all use the internet in many roles, from entertainment to work and study. When we want to learn about a certain issue or have a difficult question that needs to be answered, we all go online to look for information and answers.
And according to surveys, websites that appear on the first page get more views. Therefore, the higher the search result position, the greater the number of visits.
Search engines, such as Google and Coc Coc, all have complex algorithms to select websites with reputable information and rank them at the top. This is the way to help them satisfy and retain users, so that users come back to use their search engine.
According to Google statistics, appearing in both advertising positions and organic search positions helps increase clicks on the website by 50%.
Therefore, SEM is important if you want your website to appear on the top results page suggestions from search engines. From high traffic, you can also improve brand awareness, brand identity and more.
Advantages and disadvantages of SEM marketing
SEM in marketing is a means to help marketing strategies succeed. However, SEM also has its own advantages and disadvantages.
What are the advantages of SEM?
Benefits of using SEM include:
Increase traffic: this is the biggest advantage of SEM. With a good search engine marketing strategy, clicks for your website can increase very quickly and sustainably.
SERP: as mentioned above, your website will also show up more on search engine results pages. The higher and more frequent the impressions, the more trustworthy your website will be.
Establishing brand identity: SEM is an extended aspect of digital marketing, so compared to traditional marketing, SEM offers more promise in online purchases and services. From here, your brand will have a certain number of loyal customers and help build brand identity.
Predictability: Pay a certain budget and search engines will tell you how many clicks you will get for your website. From there, you can determine the number of potential customers through your conversion rate.
What are some downsides you will need to consider with SEM marketing?
High cost: After evaluating the size of the business, marketers can spend large amounts of money on keywords to attract internet users to the business’s advertising. The more people click, the more money you will need to spend. You can look at the following calculation formula:
The amount you pay = Number of people who click on the ad x Unit price.
Easy to be confused: Many types of ads are appearing widely on the Internet and not all types of ads bring a good experience to viewers. SEM Marketing is easily equated with these types of ads.
Distinguish between SEM and SEO
Overall, SEM is a paid search marketing tool. Businesses pay for this system to have Google display their ads on search results.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) differs from SEM in that businesses do not have to pay Google for traffic and clicks. Instead, the search position you get in the toolbar is based on the relevance of the content you produce to certain keywords searched by users.
SEO and SEM are both basic elements in an online marketing strategy. SEO is a powerful way to drive repeat traffic at the top of the funnel, while SEM is an effective (albeit costly) way to drive conversions at the bottom of the funnel.
Steps to create an SEM strategy
The steps for you to build an effective SEM strategy are hassle-free.
Do a keyword search
Choose keywords related to your business and have the right and reasonable direction
Open Google Ads and create a campaign
Choose the most suitable keyword
Create an ad that will appear on the SERP
Choose a bidding strategy and pay for each click you receive
SEM allows you to place ads right below the search bar. This means the conversion rate (CR) will be higher and you will have more customers.
What you need to do, though, is make sure your search marketing campaign has the highest ROI and you need to target your keywords appropriately.
Top 5 best SEM tools
What are the best tools for you to do search engine marketing? Let’s take a look at some of the following prominent names with Centrix Digital.
1. HubSpot’s Ad Tracking Software
HubSot is a prominent name in the Marketing industry. HubSpot Advertising Tool will help you get a large amount of traffic from clicks, thereby bringing income to the business you want to invest in.
By collecting necessary information and data, this application will help you learn what advertising is most effective.
2. SEMrush
SEMRush allows you to do extensive keyword research, track keyword rankings, audit your website, analyze traffic, and more.
SEMRush is known to be a popular tool that helps your long-tail keywords rank high without getting lost. But also, you can use this tool for SEM marketing.
For example, you can use SEMRush to see where your competitors are focusing their marketing and analyze their regional presence to figure out how much you should spend on keywords. certain.
3. Google Trends
Google Trends allows you to track search volume for a specific keyword in a region, in a language, or in a specific time frame (week, month, year, etc.).
From these factors, you will determine which phrases are trending and which are not. And from there, you know how to invest in keywords with high and long-term popularity.
Additionally, if you work for an e-commerce business, the ability to gauge interest in a product or service in a certain area will certainly help you spend your advertising budget. More specific reports, helping you save in the long run.
4. Keywordtool.io
One of Keywordtool.io’s most useful features is its ability to analyze Google, Youtube, Bing, Instagram, Twitter, Amazon, even the App Store. Using this tool, you will better segment your keywords across a variety of channels.
Additionally, this tool will give you many variations of the keyword words and phrases you want to research. From here, you will have a list of many potential keywords that you may want to include in your ad.
In addition to using Google Autocomplete, the free version of Keywordtool.io also allows consumers to refer to 750 long-tail keywords and potential keywords for each search.
This tool also gives you a clearer view of trends on Google, thereby ensuring a certain influence of the keywords you want to target in the long term.
5. Google Ads Keyword Planner
Google is one of the platforms you want your ads to appear on, so you should not ignore Google Ads Keyword Planner when using SEM search engine marketing. Keyword Planner will help users decide which keywords are most effective to bring in income and reputation for the brand.
Additionally, Keyword Planner provides suggested bid ranges for each keyword, so you can determine which keywords fit your advertising budget.
Conclude
To answer the question of what is SEM, this is an indispensable marketing tool in the marketing process, enhancing and expanding the brand of every business, small or large. Understanding what SEM is in marketing, you will gain wings to bring success to your project.