What are Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Pay Per Click (PPC)?
Does Search Engine Marketing Help My Business?
Search Engine Marketing is a digital marketing term used to describe online marketing strategies used to help boost traffic to a website. SEM is also known as Pay Per Click (PPC).
The most popular form of SEM is Google AdWords. This is a digital marketing strategy where businesses can pay to have their website listing show up higher on a search engine results page (SERP). This is also a tool offered by Bing called Bing Ads.
The number one reason our clients use SEM is to increase their sales. SEM is effective for small and medium businesses because it can get your company on the first page of Google, Bing and other major search engines.
SEM is highly targeted. It allows you to choose the language, time, devices and keywords that you want to target with your ads.
SEM can immediately drive targeted traffic to your website, and you can choose to use ads in specific geographic locations by:
- Country
- State/province
- City
- Zip/postal code
This tactic makes reaching your desired audience much more attainable.
A properly optimized SEM campaign can result in a high Return on Investment (ROI) for businesses, and the investment gains compare favorability to the investment cost because you are only paying for clicks on your ads.
With a SEM campaign, you choose who you want to see your ads, when you want ads to run, and you only pay when a targeted consumer clicks on the ad (and is taken to your website). This is a sound investment because the leads your SEM campaign generates are highly targeted and relevant to your products and services.
However, your PPC campaign should be managed carefully to avoid targeting the wrong audience or spending valuable marketing dollars on non-profitable keywords.
The PPC specialists at Zigma are Google and Bing Certified to ensure your campaigns meet industry best practices, and you are investing your marketing dollars on boosting leads to your website.
How Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Boosts Leads
You have a beautifully designed website, it’s Search Engine Optimized, with the right calls to action, but you still aren’t getting the leads you are hoping for.
Most businesses don’t realize that SEO takes time to generate results. It usually takes approximately three to six months before you start seeing your website ranking rise.
Search engines, like Google and Bing, have Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) broken into two sections:
- Organic search results
- Paid search results
The organic search results are located in the centre of the SERP.
The paid search results are at the top and bottom of the page.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)Search Engine Marketing puts your website in front of consumers at the moment in time they are searching for your products and services.READ MORE
What is Our Approach to SEM?SEM can be risky (and costly) when companies use paid advertising on their own with little or no training or experience.READ MORE
How Can I Get Google Seller Ratings for Free?Are you curious about how Product Reviews and Seller Reviews can improve your credibility online and drive traffic to your website?READ MORE
SEM TipsIt’s not all keywords and fancy ads. There are best practices that come with setting up a successful PPC campaign most of which the average business owner does not know.READ MORESearch Engine Optimization focuses on helping your website rank in the organic search results section of the SERP. Again, this is highly competitive; it takes time and patience before you see your website climb on the organic results.
If you are looking to generate immediate traffic and leads to your website, consider a Search Engine Marketing (SEM) campaign.
Lead clients to your business with proven internet marketing strategies.
Why is Search Engine Marketing so Important?
Are you aware that there are trillions of webpages on the Internet, and that number continues to grow every day? How can you be sure your website not only stands out from these other sites, but can actually be found online?
Did you know that more than 75% of users never make it past the first page of Google, with more than 90% of the clicks on the links above the fold? Based on these facts, you can see how important SEM is to the livelihood of your website.
Search Engine Marketing puts your website in front of consumers at the moment they are searching for your products and services. With the right campaign set up and targeting methods, your website can be on the coveted first page of Google and above the fold!
A combination of Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization can push your business website past your competitors on the SERPs. You’ll have more opportunities to rank on the first page of Google, and take up more space on the SERP. As a result you will push your competitors’ websites down…and possibly send them to page two on the SERP.
Talk to us about how to improve your Google ranking using SEM!
Understanding Your Business & Goals
To have a successful Search Engine Marketing campaign, there are certain crucial steps when setting up a paid search campaign that must be followed. At Zigma, our first step is to understand your business, and the goals you wish to achieve through a PPC campaign. If we do not know and understand your business goals, we are unable to track and measure success. Without this knowledge, SEM is a poor investment.
A few questions we ask clients include:
- What goals do you wish to achieve through a PPC campaign?
- What type of actions would you consider a goal (e.g. subscribing to your newsletter, filling out a “contact us” form)
- How much is each goal worth to your business?
Determining your goals will also help us decide what type of campaign is best for you.
By providing us with a clear vision of your goals, we can develop a campaign that benefits your business and delivers measurable results.
If you’re interested in generating more leads to your website with a highly targeted and measurable marketing strategy, contact the PPC specialists at Zigma. We can create a campaign from scratch, or improve your existing campaign. We are here to help!