Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a digital strategy to boost website visibility in search engine results, focusing mainly on paid search advertising. Once encompassing both organic SEO and paid ads, SEM now primarily refers to paid search campaigns, also known as Pay-Per-Click (PPC).
Why is SEM important?
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is essential for businesses as more consumers shop and research online. It drives targeted traffic by reaching users actively searching for products, making them more likely to purchase compared to passive browsing on social media. Advertisers only pay for clicks, ensuring cost efficiency, and every visit helps improve organic rankings. Unlike intrusive ads, SEM aligns with user intent, delivering immediate results and being one of the fastest ways to boost website traffic.
How SEM works
While SEO focuses on content to drive organic traffic, SEM uses targeted ads to attract paid traffic. Paid ads appear prominently at the top or side of search engine results, gaining higher visibility. When users search with specific keywords, SEM ensures relevant ads are displayed, enhancing the chances of attracting potential customers.
In search results, you’ll see ads that match your search keywords, appearing prominently alongside organic listings. These relevant ads increase the likelihood of clicks. From a marketer’s perspective, SEM campaigns are quick to set up through self-serve networks, allowing campaigns to launch in a short amount of time.
When setting up a campaign within an SEM network, the marketer is prompted to:
Conduct keyword research and select a set of keywords related to their website or product
Select a geographic location for the ad to be displayed within
Create a text-based ad to display in the search results
Evaluate the cost per click (CPC) of given keywords
Examples of search ad networks
The two main SEM networks are Google Ads (formerly AdWords) and Bing Ads. Google Ads has two networks: the Search Network (search-related websites) and the Display Network (including YouTube, Gmail, etc.). Bing Ads covers both Yahoo and Bing networks. While Google Ads is larger, Bing Ads often offers lower pricing and may provide better rankings and higher clickthrough rates for competitive keywords.
Creating an SEM strategy in 7 steps
Keyword research
Start by using tools like Google’s Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to conduct basic keyword research. Focus on high-quality, relevant keywords for your target audience. Look for keywords with a balanced search volume—high enough to generate interest but not so high that they become expensive. Once you’ve identified the ideal keywords, you can begin setting up your ad campaigns.
Setting up PPC campaigns
PPC campaigns are organized around central themes or business goals, with ad groups focused on specific products or objectives. Since paid search allows for granular targeting, businesses often include multiple products with different goals in their campaigns. Keeping campaigns and ads well-organized is key to maximizing efficiency.
Create ad copy
After setting up your campaigns and ad groups, create ad copy that aligns with the search intent behind your target keywords. Use compelling headlines and highlight unique selling points in your descriptions. Ad extensions, such as sitelinks, phone numbers, and ratings, can further enhance your ads and improve the user experience.
Optimize landing pages
Ensure your landing pages match your ad copy to improve ad rank, quality score, traffic, and conversions. To enhance landing pages, include clear calls-to-action (CTAs), use responsive design for mobile users, optimize page speed, and provide quality content.
Manage your bid strategy
Start by running ads to determine the best bidding strategy. Small businesses should begin with manual bidding to gather data, while larger companies may opt for automated bidding for more clicks at a higher cost. Once sufficient data is collected, refine your bidding strategy based on factors like device, location, time of day, and customer affinity.
Allocate budget
Allocate your budget to the highest performing ads and target them to the most relevant segments. For example, B2B companies often focus their budget on desktop ads during working hours for higher conversion chances.
Refine and optimize
There are many ways to improve the overall performance of your ads once you have your campaigns running.
Improve quality score to lower the total cost of ads showing up.
Add extensions like sitelinks to highlight specific web pages, callouts to highlight specific features, call extensions for phone numbers, or even customized URLs to improve click-through rates (CTR).
Implement remarketing to reinforce brand awareness and ensure your ads are staying top of mind as they continue browsing onto other apps or pages.
