Getting your business in the top rank in the search result is what most of the business struggle for. If you have enough money to invest in Google marketing you may prefer using SEM.
Here is an article that gives a complete description of SEM.
What is SEM?
Search engine marketing is a practice of marketing a business using paid advertisements that appear on the search engine result page (SERPs). It encompasses the steps taken to increase relevant traffic to your business website through higher rankings on search engines.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is an effective way to grow your business in this competitive market place. With the millions of similar companies out there, the question always raises how to make your business stand out in this market?
How advertiser place the product to advertise?
To advertise their products, advertisers bid on keywords that their customers use on search engines such as Google and Bing while looking for specific products or services, which provide the advertiser with the opportunity to make their ads appear on the result.
How does the auction work?
Auction in SEM
There is no fixed date for the ads to take place. Whenever someone enters a search query into Google, the auction gets starts. To enter into the sale, advertisers identify the keywords to bid on that keyword their customer might use to search for products or services. Your ads are entered into the auction if Google determines that the keywords you bid on are contained within a user’s search query.
How does SEM work?
Before you start doing SEM to promote your product you need to know how SEM works.
- At first, the advertiser selects the keyword or phrases that they want the ad to show up for. Therefore, the word or phrases need to be unique so that it does not match with your competitors.
- Then the advertiser determines the amount of money they are willing to bid per click.
- If Google selects your ad among other ads then your will get a top spot in search engine result.
- Your ad will be displayed on the screen if the potential customers’ search matches your keywords or phrase.
- The advertiser is charged for the click on their ads. Therefore, you only pay for if the consumer clicks the ad
Which business should use SEM?
There is no restriction on using SEM. Google welcomes everyone to use SEM for product promotion.
But, is it worth for every business to use it?
For example: If your business is selling shoes but your brand is not popular. Do you think people will search for shoes in Google? To be very honest, there is very less probability that people will search for shoes in Google and make purchases.
Therefore following two types of business are most suitable to promote their business through SEM.
Problem-solving products or services
What people do when they have some problem? In the world of digitalization people first Google their problem.
For example, Someone is suffering from overweight the first thing that, that person will do is find the ways to lose weight in Google. And if you are a business that sells the product which helps in losing weight then you may use SEM.
Another example is of business providing beauty treatment. If someone searches to get rid of wrinkles that business may appear in the top search result.
The bottom line is if you are the business that provides service or product that solves the problem then you can use SEM
B2B services
If you are providing business to business service then you may consider using SEM. B2B services include; digital marketing agency, video shooting agency, accounting services, event and promotion industry, manufacturing industries.
Google search ad is the best strategy for you if you are one of the above-mentioned industry.
Most of the customers are searching for different agencies and prefer contacting those agencies which appear in Google search result.
Type of Search Engine Marketing
Where to advertise the product is the general question most of the marketer may raise. The advertiser can use various search engine marketing platform to promote their products.
1. Pay Per Click (PPC)
PPC is online advertising for what advertiser bid on the keywords and phrases which customer may use to search the product. Advertisers pay every single time whenever someone clicks on their ads.
Where is PPC displayed?
PPC ads appear at the top and/or at the bottom of a search result page. In the Google search page, the ads are label as sponsored or as Ads.
How much time PPC to display?
Your ads will be shown on the search result as soon as ads are configured, scheduled, and budgeted.
What are the advantage and disadvantages of PPC?
PPC let the advertiser display the ads in search result very quickly. With PPC, an advertiser can target the geographic location of your customers.
The disadvantage of PPC is that ads tend to be less trusted than organic or local search results. And visibility lasts only as long as you pay for it.
2. Local SEO
SEM Local Business
Local SEO show up the ads on google map result. It focuses on showing your business link on google map, and you don’t pay for the click.
Where are the ads displayed?
Your ads are displayed in the middle of the search engine result page (SERP).
How long local SEO takes to display?
Your ad will be shown in local search within 1-8 months, depending upon your starting point, budget, and the number of competitors.
What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of local SEO?
Local SEO gain visibility in online directories and on GPS devices, and they have prominent on mobile.
Local SEO can take months to show the results and may not display the result every time a search is made online.
3. Organic SEO
Organic SEO processes the result in your website content, gaining increased visibility in the unpaid and non-local results.
Where does the ad gets displayed?
Organic SEO appears in the middle of SERPs, between paid search results and below local.
How long does it take to display?
Your ads take about 4-6 months to show up, depending on your starting point, budget, and number of competitors.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of organic SEO?
Organic SEO displays the result for any search term earning trust pf the customers and receive most of the click.
The disadvantage of organic SEO is that it takes months before you begin to see a natural search result.
SEM in 2020
SEM has evolved throughout the period. Today every business is using SEM as the marketing strategy to increase their sales.
Trends in SEM
SEM 2020 trends that you need to know
1. Automation: In the year 2020, automation will play an essential role in SEM. The purpose of automation is to optimization the task to increase the performance of the search engine.
2. Voice and Visual Search: Searching through text is not famous nowadays. Customer nowadays prefers using sound or visual to search for the information than typing the manuscript.
3. Shop by Search: In a busy life, people tend to use the digital platform to purchases the products they want. With the increasing number of an online shop, shop by search has been famous these days.
4. Interactive Content: The content that matches the curiosity of the customer makes the content more interactive. Therefore, interactive content can give a long term result in building brand awareness.
5. Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence is unbiased and takes a query as a query giving accurate results. With AI, you can improve the page ranking, which increases the search engine marketing strategy to advance level.
6. More significant Data will become more popular: When using statics for digital marketing, it becomes more accessible in the year 2020. Digital marketers in big firms use data to analyze competitors and understand consumers’ patters to develop a business model.
7. Expansion of content marketing: Content marketing has created a significant impact on the business marketing field. Building brand awareness through content marketing is the most efficient and effective means.
8. Page loading time: Customers tend to be very active on that website, which has a high speed on page loading time. Fast page loading can generate more customers for your business.
9. Native Advertising will expand: Native advertising is a paid content that offers your customer a seamless experience. It is present everywhere because it works exceptionally well.
Benefits of SEM
Investing in SEM is the most profitable digital marketing. SEM will guarantee that your business information will appear at the right time in the right place. This is because SEM gives fast results by targeting an audience that already knows the products or services of your business.
SEM creates a competitive advantage for small businesses, trying to make their place in the market. For small startups pursuing to gain competitive advantage can make the use of SEM if it has enough budget to invest in digital marketing strategy. Thereby, it can lift your business to the next level.
Top Benefits of SEM:
1. Building Brand: Increasing the invisibility your page will surely create brand awareness, which helps in building your brand. The higher your business’s product will rank on the search engine; the more people will know your brand and visit your website.
2. Lead Generation: Many people are hunting for a similar product; therefore, SEM increases the rank of your page.SEM increases your search visibility, increasing the number of searches, and generates target traffic.
3. Cost-effectiveness: with SEM, anyone can visit your website. Your website’s success depends upon targeted and qualified traffic, which can convert your visitor into your customer.
4. Measurable: You can monitor your SEM campaigns, making it easier to optimize the keywords, content, and budget, which will increase your revenue.
What strategies can be used to gain these benefits?
SEM Strategies
Customers want to get answers to all the questions they search for. Your business can achieve these benefits only if your content has all the information that customer wants to know. And the visitors on your website are more likely to be your customers.
Strategies that can be implemented
1. Personalize Ads: Personalization has become an important thing nowadays. Most importantly, personalizing can cut expenses and increases the revenue of your business.
2. Target Similar Customers: If there are customers who are buying similar products like yours, then why not target the same customer. This increases the competitive advantage of your business.
3. Create Countdown sales: Customer never wants to miss countdown sales. Countdown sales create an urge in the customers wishing to buy the product or get the service.
4. Improve Quality Score: To improve the quality of ads, keywords, and landing pages, it can cost you less and give you a better ad position.
It also depends on the budget you spend on ads. Visibility depends on the type of investment you make. In SEM, you pay every time the customer clicks on the ads, and this is the continuous and linear expense. However, investing much time, effort, and budget can help in obtaining a long-term result.
SEM Campaigns
SEM Campaigns generate several potential customers. When SEM campaigns start running, your page will have the organic position. In a natural situation, you need to rely on the keywords that your customers use to search.
When SEM campaigns are run, you’ll get to know your customer behaviour pattern. Moreover, this can help you generate well informative and attractive content to generate potential customers.
SEM has the potential to help you achieve digital marketing goals in a short period. Moreover, it is an ideal platform to promote and position your brand in the digital platform.
Conclusion
The Internet is a massive platform where you can keep your present customer active and attract future customers. Hence, your company may sleep, but the internet never sleeps.
SEM gives your business a competitive advantage to capture searchers and turn colossal profits. SEM strategies guide you to generate sales, which ultimately increases the revenue of your business.
Therefore, for your business to generate profit, you need to be well aware of your customer’s activities in the digital market.