The world of digital marketing is full of rules, tricks and – alas – acronyms and acronyms to remember. One of these acronyms is SEM. But what exactly does that mean?
In English Search Engine Marketing, contains all the paid digital marketing strategies that aim to achieve greater visibility on search engines.
You probably already use SEM strategies even without realizing that you are, in fact, implementing Search Engine Marketing campaigns. Or maybe you did some research online to understand us more, and found yourself more confused than before. In this article I will try to clear up all that confusion.
SEM: definition
SEM is an acronym that stands for Search Engine Marketing, literally search engine marketing.
With SEM, brands pay to have their ads appear as search results on the SERP (the search results page).
Just like you would with SEO , you will choose specific keywords so that when a user searches for those terms they will immediately see your brand ad.
You can find paid ads for almost any search query, usually at the beginning or end of the SERP. They are easily distinguished from the positions obtained thanks to SEO as they have the label “Ad” before the link.
In any case, to really understand what SEM is about, it is necessary to talk about its two main components, often confused or misused: SEO and SEA.
SEM = SEO + SEA
In fact, SEO and SEA strategies also fall under the SEM umbrella. But what are they?
SEO is search engine optimization (Search Enginge Optimization), that is the strategy that – through the use of keywords – aims to achieve the highest possible positioning within the SERP, the page of the search engines. Research. SEO activities take place both on-page and off-page (such as backlinks), and work synergistically to get your site among the top results on Google.
SEA is Search Engine Advertising, and it is the branch all phone number list of digital marketing that focuses on promoting your brand through tools such as Google Ads.
That is why we have said that the SEM is made up of SEO and SEA. To conquer Google’s infamous first result, you’ll need to work on both fronts, constantly optimizing your site and investing in paid strategies that will help you achieve your goal.
So what is the difference between SEO and SEM?
SEO includes all the activities necessary to optimize your site to make sure it arrives among the top results of search engines like Google, while SEA is the process of advertising your (paid) site directly on search engines.
What are SEM campaigns?
SEM campaigns are a great way to quickly reach your potential customers, and they relate to your sponsored ad campaigns on search engines.
SEM campaign ads appear on Google and other search engines based on the keywords you have chosen, and compared to SEO campaigns they manage to get to the top of the results in a much shorter time.
But how do SEM campaigns work?
Of course, you won’t be the only one competing for top results, and Google will follow criteria to determine which ads to show.
The three main elements that will affect your ranking are:
- Keyword
- Offer
- Relevance of the site
The best way to make sure your SEM campaign is successful is to start with a clear goal in mind. What do you want to achieve? More visibility, traffic to your site, increase conversions, sell more? If your goal is clear, SEM can really improve the fortunes of your business.
How much does it cost to do SEM?
The key word when it comes to Search Engine Marketing and cost is: flexibility. It all depends on your budget and the goal you intend to achieve with your campaign.
The main thing to consider is your target audience. Who is your buyer persona ? Once you have identified your ideal customer, you can create targeted ads and campaigns, which will increase your chances of success.
It also tests different keywords and different approaches to understand what works best for your business. You might start with a very high volume keyword, only to realize that it is better for your business to use lower volume but higher conversion rate keywords.
For sure, you need to be prepared to spend a little more at the start of your SEM journey. This way you can create a realistic and effective budget. Pulling on the price in the beginning could result in a waste of time and money, and your campaigns may still not be as successful as you hoped for.
That said, there are several strategies you can set up to, for example, pay only when a user clicks on your ad, or based on the number of times your ad is viewed.
The advantages of SEM for your business
We’ve already talked about how Google Ads can help your online store on our blog . Now let’s see how SEM campaigns can accelerate the growth of your business.
- SEM campaigns are a great way to increase your company’s ROI, so much so that SEM makes up the majority of investments in online promotion activities .
- SEM allows you to increase your conversion rate : imagine creating a landing page and promoting it with SEM. Your page will have incredible exposure and will bring traffic and conversions.