Often called the “paid cousin” of SEO, SEM allows you to pay for your content to show up in top search results.
SEM (or Search Engine Marketing) is the process of winning new website traffic by purchasing ads on search engines. Unlike SEO, where you need to promote your content quite a lot to gain traction, here the results of your efforts show up instantly.
The Cost of Keywords
Based on which keyword you want your page to show up, you’ll have to pay different prices in AdWords. For example, in Pay Per Click, certain keywords can cost hundreds of dollars for a single click.
Though you’ll come up first in results for certain keywords, you’ll have to pay a price for every click. In fact, you might have to pay more than $600 for one click!
Thus, you need a solid strategy to recover your advertising costs and gain maximum ROI from your SEM efforts.
One great example of ROI is Jerry Banfield. He was a full-time DYI SEM instructor on Udemy, then on Skillshare and makes over $30,000 per month! All thanks to search advertising. He gained an ROI of almost 4700%!
Trends to Watch Out For
Audiences and automation will play a major role in the SEM strategies in the future. Artificial intelligence is taking over many industries, and digital marketing is no exception.
Voice Assistance
Another trend that will take over SEM is voice search. As Siri, Alexa and other voice assistance technologies are increasingly becoming popular, companies are integrating voice search in their SEM strategies. Research shows that by 2020, nearly 50% of searches will be voice.
As of now, nearly 20% of mobile searches on Google are in the form of voice. Compared to the hundreds of pages shown as results in search engines during a text search, a voice search by Siri might show fewer results. To harness the power of voice search and draw traffic to your website, you’ll need to make some changes in your Google Ads.
These include:
- Incorporating keywords that will match and align with respective voice searches
- Try to opt for sentences and phrases that have only five to six words
- Identify the existing keywords for your campaign for which you can add near me
When you’re searching for keywords for PPC, try to brainstorm for words with a higher intent. For example, instead of choosing advertising agency Manhattan, opt for a keyword like ‘advertising agency specializing in strategy and design’. The latter keyword communicates that the user is looking for a specific service and communicates a sense of urgency, thus ensuring that it performs well.
Audience Targeting
This is gaining popularity over keyword targeting. In the future, Google plans to target customers based on their behavior.
So you can specifically reach out to someone who visits restaurants frequently or likes ice-cream over yogurt.
This targeting will change the way marketers reach out to their customers. Personalization is now becoming the buzzword in search engine marketing.
Some Useful Tips for your SEM Strategy:
Have clear goals before you start with search advertising. These can be to drive a certain amount of traffic on your website, reduce your cost per conversion rate after 3 months, or to get more traffic from people searching for specifics like web design, logo design, etc.
Take your time with determining keywords. You can experiment, get creative and decide whether you want exact match, broad match or phrase match for your SEM.
Ad Copy is Important. Since you have limited space for your ad, remember that ad copy plays a vital role in SEM. Try to look at competitor ads and then find a point of differentiation to get more conversions.
Always test your ad copy and replace the copy that isn’t effective on search engines. You can create variations and test them for better results.
Landing pages are important. After your customer clicks on the ad, the landing page is the first thing he will see. Pay attention to bounce rates and make your landing page as engaging and informative as possible.
Don’t ignore analytics, as they can help you make necessary changes and get maximum ROI from your PPC.
Trying to stay ahead of the search engine marketing’s fast-changing world can seem overwhelming for digital marketers and brands. Remember to update your knowledge from time to time and focus on your customers’ needs to derive the best results from your investment.
Get Started with Your SEM Marketing with EWR Digital!
Use SEM Marketing tools to specifically create demand among the customers of your brand. Contact our experts at EWR Digital to set up a 20-minute call. We can help you get the results you want to get customers through your door. Contact Us Today!
SEM: Search Engine Marketing | EWR Digital – Houston, TX