SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of improving the ranking of a website on search engines.
SEM, or search engine marketing, is the process of using paid advertising to improve the visibility of a website.
Many businesses struggle to grow because they don’t have a good SEO or SEM strategy.
SEM (search engine marketing) is one of my favorite types of online marketing.
This article will explain how to grow a business through SEM.
What is Search Engine Marketing
SEM is the process of optimizing a website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
It involves increasing the visibility of a website through unpaid or “organic” search results, as well as through paid advertisements.
SEM also knows as Search Marketing.
SEM can be an extremely effective way to grow a business, because it allows businesses to reach a large number of people who are actively searching for the products or services that they offer.
The process of SEM involves carrying out a number of activities, including keyword research, building links to the website, and publishing content to increase share-ability.
These activities are designed to increase the visibility of the website in search engine results pages (SERPs).
When Google first started operating in 1998, it was very easy for businesses to take full advantage of the power of SEM by optimizing their websites to rank higher in SERPs.
Since Google is the leading search engine, businesses only had to worry about optimizing for Google, which made things much simpler.
Today, things are very different.
Google processes more than 3 billion searches every single day, and has an estimated 66% of the search engine market share.
This is great news for businesses, because it means that there are hundreds of millions of potential customers using Google to find what they are looking for every day.
However, it also means that more competition is coming from other websites seeking to rank higher in Google’s results.
Fortunately, SEM is more accessible than ever before, thanks to the availability of free tutorials for SEO, as well as tools that allow anyone to optimize their websites with ease.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a strategic way to drive traffic and visibility to your website by optimizing content for web searches.
Search Engine Results Pages
SEM is a type of online marketing that can be broken down into three different types:
- Paid search ads, including PPC advertising(pay per click) and CPC (cost per click),
- Organic search result
- And affiliate marketing
Paid Search Ads
A business may choose to buy ad space on Google’s network of websites using either Pay per click (PPC) or Cost per click (CPC) ads.
Pay-per-click means that a business will pay for each time someone clicks on their ad, as opposed to cost-per-impression ads, where businesses only pay when their ad is displayed.
Google Adwords is the most popular PPC platform.
This is because google ads easy to use and fairly inexpensive, and it allows advertisers to track conversions (sales) generated from their ads.
Organic Search Result
SEO (search engine optimization), or the process of optimizing a website to rank higher in organic search result on Google, is important for SEM.
SEO means “organic” search results, as opposed to paid ad space.
Organic search result can be made up of one or more webpage listings that appear at the top and bottom of a SERP.
Organic searches provide much greater visibility for businesses than paid ads do, since they appear without having to pay for them.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is an online business model that allows advertisers to pay other individuals or companies for bringing in new customers, or for getting existing customers to make purchases.
Affilate marketing works by providing a commission to the affiliate website if they are able to refer any sales, leads, or traffic.
The Stages of SEM
SEM is usually broken down into three different stages, each of which is important for growing a business:
- Research
- Implementation
- Measurement
Research
SEM starts with research. A business will need to do keyword research to identify which keywords they want to target.
This provides insight into what words and phrases people are using when searching for the products or services that a business offers, as well as how often these searches are made.
Once a business has created their keyword list, it will need to optimize its website to include these keywords where appropriate.
This means creating titles, headings, subheadings, photos and other types of content that use the target keywords so that they are indexed by Google’s crawler.
Implementation
The next step is to implement the keywords so that Google can find them.
This means placing the target keywords in specific places on a website, including:
Meta titles and descriptions for each page on the site
Alt text for photos or images used throughout the site
Body content of articles or blog posts, as well as meta descriptions for blog posts
By implementing target keywords where they can be found, businesses will help Google find and display their site when someone searches for those words or phrases.
Measurement
The final step is measurement.
Tracking conversions from SEM efforts means that a business can determine which keywords and campaigns are producing results and which need to be reworked.
This takes time and effort, but once the right keywords and campaigns are identified, SEM can be a great way to generate more business.
- Stage 1: Research
- Stage 2: Implementation
- Stage 3: Measurement
Why Should I Use Search Engines To Grow My Business
There are few reason you should consider SEM as a growth strategy, but before we begin let’s take a step back and look at how your sales funnel looks like.
Your sales funnel is the way you lead a customer from discovery to purchase, and simply put it looks like this:
SEM is a channel that sits right at the top of your funnel.
Instead of forcing people to go through all those steps to get in touch with you through your website, SEM allows you reach them at exactly the right time the moment they are considering buying your product.
This means more qualified leads for you, and less time spent on pitching to the wrong people.
The Benefits of using SEM to Grow Your Business
There are a number of benefits to using SEM as a growth strategy for your business. Some of these benefits include:
1. Increased visibility: When you use SEM, your business will be exposed to more people than if you were only using organic search alone.
This is because SEM results appear above the organic results, so they are more likely to be seen by potential customers.
2. More qualified leads: Because people who click on SEM ads have already expressed an interest in what you are selling, they are more likely to be qualified leads than people who find your site through organic search.
3. Increased ROI: SEM can be a very cost-effective way to reach more potential customers and generate more sales.
This is because your ads can be targeted to people who are more likely to buy, making every click more valuable.
4. Increased brand awareness: SEM has the power to increase your company’s name recognition among new and existing customers alike.
This is beneficial for building loyalty with existing customers and reaching new ones at the same time.
5. Easy access to keywords: SEM gives you instant access to an infinite list of keywords that describe your products and services, which means you can find new ways to attract customers all the time.
6. Flexibility: SEM allows you to be more flexible than other types of online marketing efforts because it is possible to make changes and run tests in real time.
This way, you can react to changing market conditions instead of waiting on long development cycles, which means that your business will not fall behind the competition.
How Can You Start Search Engine Marketing Campaign
There are a few steps you need to take in order to start a SEM campaign:
Choose the right keywords
This is probably the most important step, as the keywords you choose will determine the success of your campaign.
Make sure to target keywords that are relevant to your products and services, and that have a high potential for generating traffic and leads.
Create ad copy that is compelling and relevant
Your ad copy should be designed to persuade people to click on your ad and learn more about what you are selling.
It should also be relevant to the keywords you are targeting.
Set up landing pages
Once someone clicks on your ad, they should be directed to a landing page that is tailored specifically to what they are looking for.
The better your landing page, the more likely it is that people will convert on their first visit.
Monitor and refine
Once your campaign has begun, you should monitor its performance to make sure that you are getting what you pay for.
If not, then you need to refine your keywords or bidding strategy in order to get better results.
Best Practices for SEM and SEO together
When it comes to SEM and SEO, businesses should focus on the following best practices:
Conduct Keyword Research
This is one of the most important aspects of SEM and SEO, as the right keywords will help you attract the right audience.
You need to find keywords that are specific to your business and that people are actually searching for.
Here are some of the words you need to know when doing keyword search:
- Search terms
- Search queries
- Search intent
- Search volume
Writing compelling ads
AdWords is a competitive space, so you need to make sure your ads stand out from the competition.
Your ads should be well written and interesting, so that people will want to click on them.
Targeting the right audience
It is important to target the right audience with your SEM and SEO efforts, as this will increase the chances of your business getting a positive return on investment.
You need to do your research and determine who is most likely to buy from you, where they spend their time online and what other interests they have.
Using ad extensions
Ad extensions are important for businesses using SEM as they increase the visibility of their ads and increase the chances of relevant users clicking on them.
There are many different types of ad extensions, including sitelinks, callouts and structured snippets .
Tracking conversions carefully
This is another important aspect of making the most out of SEM efforts since it allows you to monitor results closely and make any necessary adjustments.
You need to use Google Analytics or another similar tool to track conversions.
Learn More With Google Skillshop.
Conclusion
SEM is a powerful marketing exercise that can help grow your business.
If you want to be successful with SEM, it’s important to experiment and find out what works best for your product or service.
Best practices when using SEM include selecting relevant keywords, writing compelling ads and targeting the right audience.
You should also track conversions carefully in order to monitor results closely and make any necessary adjustments.
Finally, what type of funnel should you send your customers to?
That’s something you’ll have to test.
If you’re interested in learning more about which funnel is best for your business, be sure to check out our DotCom Secrets Book by Russell Brunson.
In the book he shares how uses funnel to bootstrap his company, ClickFunnels to be one of the most used funnel builder.