Your Guide to Effective Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

We live in an increasingly digital world. Most people turn to the internet when they are looking for anything – from a restaurant for dinner to which new dishwasher to buy. The competition is fierce as countless other businesses are competing for the same attention – attention that does not span past the first page of results. If you want to be seen, you need to be on page number one. Search engine marketing strategies will effectively promote your business through measurable ads targeted at people searching for your products or services and will also help you land on the coveted first page.

What is Search Engine Marketing?

You may have heard the term but are wondering what search engine marketing (SEM) actually is. SEM is marketing your website through digital ads that appear with search results on Google, Bing or Yahoo. Many people confuse SEM with SEO, but they are not the same. While SEM focuses on paid ads, SEO involves optimizing your website content to appear in organic search results.

SEM helps both small startups and large businesses reach potential buyers. It’s a nonintrusive advertising method since customers are already searching for specific products or services. You choose keywords to target and bid on them. Your ad then appears on the search engine results pages (SERPs) alongside organic results.

SEM can include search engine optimization (SEO) where you adjust your website content to complement your pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. SEM Ads can range from text-based to visual ads with product descriptions or banners. SEM is cost-effective because you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.

What are the Benefits of SEM?

1. Motivated and Engaged Audience

The greatest benefit of this type of advertising is that you are marketing to an engaged and motivated prospect that is actively searching for your products or services. They are usually in the final stage of the buying cycle and are ready to make a decision. It’s a prime opportunity that no other advertising medium can deliver, which is why search engine marketing is such an effective tactic to grow your business.

2. Quick and Easy to Implement

Other benefits of search engine marketing are that its easy and quick to implement. Agencies can launch an SEM campaign within a few days to a week.  Any changes can be done as needed. You can adjust the campaign keywords as you make changes to your website or adjust your spending based on your sales cycle or audience behavior.

3. SEM is Measurable

SEM campaigns are completely measurable. You can track the campaign success using the detailed analytics and continually adjust the keyword mix to optimize your spend. The reports will show you exactly how much you are spending by keyword so you can make informed decisions on your budgeting.

The Importance of Keywords

Keywords are fundamental to a successful search engine marketing strategy – they are the main ingredient in your recipe for success. Keywords are what link your ad or content to what the user is searching for. If there’s a match, that’s a win!

The first step in any SEM campaign is to think about which keywords your potential customers will use to find your products or services. You will need to conduct keyword research to identify relevant keywords and phrases with high search volume. Once you’ve compiled a list of keywords, you’ll evaluate the cost of each one. Popular keywords tend to be more expensive, so you’ll need to consider your monthly budget and how competitive the keywords are.

Additionally, things like Quality Score, click-through rate (CTR), and ad rank affect how much you pay per click. Google uses Quality Score to assess how relevant your SEM ad is to the keywords you’re targeting. The higher your Quality Score, the lower your cost per click (CPC), which helps keep your budget on track.

Focused Targeting

One of the reasons search engine marketing is so effective is that advertisers can specify who they want the ads to target.  You can set your ads to run at certain times of day or night, on specific devices and target customers by location. This focused targeting helps ensure that your ads reach the ideal customers and maximizes the effectiveness of your advertising budget.

What is Pay Per Click (PPC)?

When we refer to Pay Per Click (PPC), we’re talking about a type of SEM where you bid on keywords and only pay when someone clicks your ad. It takes time and expertise to manage a successful PPC campaign. Without the right strategy, you may get clicks that don’t convert into paying customers, which can become costly.

At ZOO Media Group, we specialize in creating and managing effective SEM campaigns that turn clicks into paying customers. Our team leverages advanced tools to manage your campaigns efficiently and maximize your ROI.

How Much Should I Spend On SEM?

When it comes to search engine marketing costs there is no one-size-fits-all.  The cost will ultimately depend on your budget and goals, and could range anywhere from $500 per month to over $20,000 per month.

We suggest starting at a lower cost and augment your budget as you gain more insight into which keywords work best. The fact that this digital strategy is highly measurable, you will be able to clearly gauge what’s working and what isn’t then adjust the budget accordingly.

Managing Your SEM Campaign

We know you’re looking for profitable leads that turn into clients and not just some statistics about clicks. At ZOO, we focus on conversions. You’ll see that our analytical approach provides you with progress updates and an opportunity to make decisions based on actual measurable data.

SEM Monthly Stats Report

We will test your landing pages monthly and make changes to help increase conversion rates. Using A/B testing allows us to determine which approach provides the highest conversion rates. This means incremental increases in the ROI over time.

We understand that bidding on keywords and deciding which keywords are most suited to your needs is a complicated venture for the average business owner. So, we take care of monitoring which words are performing best, without budgeting too high on words that don’t convert and not too low on words that are working well. When we identify the highest performing keywords, we individually manage them to maximize clicks and profitability. Likewise, we identify the poorest performing keywords and eliminate them to reduce cost.

We think you’ll go wild for our ZOO Team’s expertise and service for CPP campaigns. Give it a try and see the roaring results for yourself!

Search Engine Marketing vs. Search Engine Optimization

With all of these letters being thrown around, it’s tough to keep track. So, what’s the difference between SEM and SEO? Search engine marketing is paid advertising which allows your ad to appear in search results. Search engine optimization is different because you’re not paying to advertise. You are utilizing keywords in your website content to try and earn a free spot in the search results.

Organic search results refers to the unpaid results of a query. Although paid search engine marketing makes up the top search results, SEO is a way to enhance your organic results. Figuring out how to leverage this can be tricky and time consuming as Google and other search engines use complicated algorithms to compile their results and these algorithms change frequently. Fortunately, our ZOO team follows these trends and can help you navigate. Be sure to reach out to us with any questions you may have.

Both search engine tactics should be an important part of your digital marketing strategy. SEO can direct a fresh stream of prospects to the top of your funnel while SEM effectively converts prospects into clients. Together, they work in tandem to bring you the best digital results.