90% of users choose the first result Google recommends on the search results page. Is this first appearance based only on SEO, or are there other measures that guarantee you appearing on the first three results?
In fact, it is more than just SEO measures, but you must also rely on paid ads.
Search Engine Marketing [SEM]:
It is a marketing activity that relies primarily on paid ads that appear on the first search engine results pages. Marketers focus on keywords that customers use to search for specific services or products on Google, which gives brands the opportunity to appear as results of searches done by customers or users.
These ads come in a variety of formats. Some are small text ads, while others, like product listing ads (Shopping List), are visual product-based ads that allow consumers to see important information summarized with prices and features.
What is the difference between SEM and SEO?
In general, the term “Search Engine Marketing” refers to paid marketing, in which companies and brands pay “Google” to show their ads on the search results page.
On the other hand, “Search Engine Optimization” differs in this context because companies do not pay “Google” to get visits to the site they want to promote and the number of clicks; instead, they gain a free ranking in the search results by making improvements to the content and the site as a whole.
Is it enough to go for one type?
Both SEO and SEM should be an essential part of your marketing strategy to ensure 100 % initial appearance on the results page. As we mentioned in our previous articles, an SEO strategy is a powerful way to drive more traffic and potential customers, while Search Engine Marketing is a very foolproof method in terms of directly targeting the right audience.
Important statistics about search engines:
More than half of companies invest 25% of their marketing budgets in link building. Meanwhile, 34% of companies invest more than $ 1,000 a month in building them. This great interest in link building can be attributed to the idea that it helps in boosting the position of your website pages and maintaining their ranking on the first search results page.
Google’s search and advertising tools helped generate massive economic activity worth $ 335 billion in the United States alone in 2018. Collectively, this activity has generated profits for millions of companies, website owners, and even non-profit organizations. Every month, Google facilitates billions of communications between local and international organizations and their audiences.
Thus, when you add paid ads campaigns to your marketing strategy, you have a golden opportunity to generate unexpected profits and attract more targeted customers to your brand.
How it works:
If you want to advertise through search engines, you must follow a set of steps, which are summarized as the following:
- The main focus remains on keywords, as they are the link between your product and what your audience is searching for, so choose the appropriate keywords for your product or service.
- Select the appropriate geographical location where you want your ad to appear.
- Prepare textual content for the ad you want to post, and do not forget to choose the appropriate language that suits your audience and your brand.
- Choose the price that you will pay for the number of clicks or special impressions for your ad.
Advantages of Search Engine Marketing [SEM]:
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Measurable:
The process of measuring results remains in need of tools that facilitate it, so Google gives you many tools such as “Google Ads” that provide detailed reports on your campaign activity so that you can always know the latest results of these ads.
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Fast results:
Compared to other branches of marketing such as SEO or content marketing, Search Engine Marketing [SEM] allows you to achieve relatively fast and broad results.
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Direct follow-up:
The Analytics interface through the tools provided by “Google” allows you to know what is happening at every moment and to edit and amend the ads if you do not get the results you are looking for.
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You can promote all of your competitive advantages:
When you have a specific competitive advantage that your competitors do not have, search engine advertising makes it easier for you to promote that additional feature. This could be an option for free shipping, a lower price for a similar product, or even a service that no one else in your area can offer. For many clients, this means that you are promoting your biggest strengths directly to them.
How to get the ultimate benefit?
Some procedures must be followed to get the most out of Search Engine Marketing:
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Following an effective strategy:
Define your target audience, focus on their needs and motivations, and try to highlight the method that best meets their needs. Set your own goals and criteria, such as search ranking, sales, site visits, and other ROI metrics.
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Choose the right keywords:
Identify the most important terms related to your business that your target customers search for most frequently, and brainstorm the potential terms they use when thinking about your products and services.
Interact with your sales and customer service teams, and reach out to your best customers to ask them what phrases they use the most during their research. You can use keyword research tools to compile a list of the most searched terms.
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Improve your website content:
Focus on the structure of your website and try to keep it simple and easy to navigate.
Create clear and correct content that catches your users’ attention. Use keyword phrases conveniently in page title tags, file names, meta tags, and othes.
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Now your website is ready for indexing:
In order to be visible to customers on the Internet, make sure that all pages of your website are fully indexed by search engines such as “Google”, “Yahoo” and others.
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Adding high-quality links to your website:
To strengthen your website, add valuable links of other sites visited by your target audience, because the higher the quality of your external links is, the more loved your website will be to Google and other engines.
- Make your website content worth sharing. Create fun and informative content on your website like a blog with articles covering best practices in your industry.
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Measuring advertising success:
The simplest way is to check your past performance and compare it to your current one.
It’s very important to measure performance results such as cost-per-click, cost-per- impressions, clicks, views, ROI, etc. Employ web analytics to monitor the performance of these ads and solve problems as they occur. Regularly monitor your position in the search results to identify problems and strategies for improving your results in the future.
Three golden tips for achieving effective SEM results:
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Remember you are not the customer:
What I mean by “remember you are not the customer” is that the keywords and terms you might use to search for your business are not what customers search for. Use tools like “Google AdWords” and study your site’s search analyzes for the keywords and terms your customers are already using while searching. Then use the data to improve your overall marketing strategy and plan.
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Choose long-tail keywords (made up of several words):
Search for the top 100 keywords in your industry that are searched monthly. Take advantage of free tools provided by “Google” and then arrange these keywords by size, cost-per-click, and priority.
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Test is the best proof:
Many IT companies provide SEO services, and they are interested in testing designs, search ads, videos, snippets, etc. due to their fear of losing business opportunities that they might miss. If you are among them, it is time for a change because ill-considered ads are a waste of money and effort. You need to verify the effectiveness of your ads by testing, measuring, and modifying because a consistent way of advertising does not fruitful all the time.
Search Engine Marketing Strategies:
There are many ways to increase the visibility of your website and improve the performance of your business, but the two main strategies you need to consider are SEO (which we talked about earlier) and pay-per-click which we’ll cover in our next article.
- An effective strategy is not enough to achieve an impressive product, as you see, it requires a lot of planning and following up, contact Shibly Marketing to get the service that guarantees the success your business needs.
Search Engine Marketing [SEM] Mistakes Made by Marketers:
In a study that recently analyzed more than 30,000 accounts on “AdWords” to measue overall performance, the results were generally positive. However, there are many common mistakes that most account owners have committed, namely:
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Ads do not match their landing pages:
There are a set of basic principles and practices that must be followed to achieve the goal of the advertisement being published:
It should provide a clear and easy-to-use experience that includes a specific call to action (such as making a purchase or subscribing to a service).
How can this problem be fixed?
Optimizing ad matching to your landing page begins with keyword targeting. Create separate ad groups that include related keywords, in other words, make the ad personalized and clearly oriented with specific keywords in order not to distract the user.
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Inconclusive ad:
As you know, the bridge between your chosen keywords and landing pages is the ad itself.
If you don’t write ad text that aligns with the searchers’ intent that directly attracts them to click on the ad, you won’t achieve the expected results.
Paid Ads Marketers Mistakes:
In short, here is a list of the most common mistakes marketers make in the ad text they prepare:
- Trying to sound like everyone else.
- Not focusing clearly on the benefits achieved.
- Neglecting the linguistic structure of the ad text.
- Not mentioning your features.
They may seem like simple mistakes, but our marketing experts, at shibly Marketing, pay great attention to these details to achieve the required performance.
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Not considering keyword match types into account:
If you think for a while, you will find that it is not a shoot in the dark. Google is striving to take any opportunity that brings you closer to what the audience is searching for and the keywords they use. And here, the idea of keyword match become so important.
The diversity of keyword match types helps your ad spread more widely and reach the right audience.
Choose “exact match“, and it will attract those who type your exact target phrase. Try to focus broad, and you’re more likely to target those who have no interest in what you have to offer.
Is “exact match” the only type in this context?
Are there other types?
Of course there are other types!
Let’s talk about the three types of keyword matching:
- “Broad match”: This is used to show your ads, including other similar, related phrases. For example, if you target the keyword “fabric softener,” your ad will also appear when customers search for the term “fabric softener”.
- “Exact match”: Nothing but the exact target phrase will be displayed, in this case those who are searching for “fabric softener” will be specifically targeted.
- “Auto matching”: This will allow Google to target other keywords with a surplus budget. This works similarly to broad match, but only allows it if you haven’t exhausted your daily budget.
“Everyone knows what search engines are, but relatively few know how to use them effectively.”
Marc Ostrovsky
An interesting quote that mirrors the reality of most companies today, right?
Under the supervision of our distinguished team at Shibly Marketing, Let us take care of your business and conduct the performance of your website in order to build a good relationship with Google, what are you waiting for?
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