Search Engine Marketing…. Can It Really Help Your Business?

With more than 3.5 billion Google search performed each day. It’s no wonders more and more businesses are going online to be found. 

Search Engine Marketing can be a very daunting term.  

Most business owners see search engine marketing (SEM) as a confusing landscape of technical, time consuming fluff which does not make an impact on their business. 

This article helps to debunk some of the myths of SEM and help you achieve some organic growth. See later in the article for some handy tips you can implement today! 

Why search engine marketing can help your business?

Finding information on the internet has been helping people for a number of years. When we think of something or we can’t remember a fact we automatically look online via search engine to provide us with the answer.  

In most cases we find the exact information we need. The articles or titbits are enough to get the answers.  

Business rely on being found on the internet. Having a comprehensive search engine marketing plan means these businesses can showcase their services, products or even their specialist knowledge to help searchers get the answers or ideas they need.    

SEM plays a vital role in highlighting keywords which help to highlight that businesses products or services. Keywords also play an important part in creating and producing content which is specific yet targeted to the audience they are aimed at. 

What is search engine marketing and how does it work? 

Search Engine Marketing is defined as a form of internet marketing. The aim is to publish, rank and promote website pages through search engine results pages (SERPS). This form of marketing is usually done via paid means like paid advertising. 

So what does search engine marketing enable you to do? 

With the help of paid advertising (e.g. Google Ad’s) you are able to rank higher for keywords and terms relating to your business. Combined with a good SEO strategy will help to be seen at the forefront of website search results.  

Can search engine marketing be called something else? 

Yes. Because SEM is mainly based around paid advertising it can sometimes be referred to as Pay Per Click (PPC). This term refers to bidding on keywords you want to rank for on specific search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. Each search engine provider will have their own criteria and cost for each keyword. Having a good PPC budget will allow you to figure out what keywords are worth targeting. 

When should I use search engine marketing?

We suggest opting for a two strategy approach. SEM will really help when you are using a pay per click strategy to increase page views. Having targeted traffic to a specific page will help with overall SERPS. For pages where you don’t need a quick impact then a non-paid approach would be to use Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) across your whole website. Both methods go hand in hand. SEO allows you to optimise your pages and keywords to organically rank your website. The advantage being, the effort you put in to optimise your pages will mean better reach without the need to pay for Ads.   

Remember, your end goal should be dependent on the strategy you use. For example, if your intent is to drive more sales to a specific product landing page then PPC maybe the best option. Using Ads based on the demographic of your users can help drive targeted traffic and hopefully help with higher click through rates and sales.    

What are the importance of search engines? 

Search engines are key to anyone searching for your business or any information online. Being part of search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing mean you open up to a wider audience of people who can consume your information, services or products. Having good SERPS means you are competing with other businesses in your field and is a good yardstick to help determine where and how much new business you could be getting.  

Simple tools like Google Analytics can really help show how many people are interacting with your website and your content. Using key features from tools like this can really help when seeing what pages are most important and which ones need more work.  

How is search engine marketing beneficial to companies and individual entrepreneurs? 

Marketing in general is very beneficial to all businesses looking to get traction on a new idea or business or just bring in new clients to an existing business.  

Having a structured way to setup your website and be seen by search engines will really help drive traffic.  

The key benefit to businesses is that paid marketing (PPC) offer better click through rates and also higher conversion rates compared to passive forms of marketing. Having the option to customise each aspect of you PPC campaigns allows for better keyword targeting and value for money. Not to mention, PPC reduces the time to get results rather than waiting for results to appear organically.

Conclusion – Why SEM can help your business 

Going back to my original question. Why search engine marketing can help your business?  

Search engine marketing is here to stay. If businesses want more visitors and clients they need to adopt some form of digital marketing to help them grow.  

Having a good strategy around SEM and targeting traffic using Ads can be very beneficial. It can cut the time it would take for traditional SEO methods to work.  

Having said that, the main goal should be identified on what you want to achieve. If you just want increased traffic then a PPC campaign maybe best to start out.  

Ideally a tandem approach should be taken. This gives you website the impact of increased visitors but the longevity of optimising your website to gain a higher domain authority in your industry or niche. 

Let us know your thoughts on strategies and campaigns that have worked for you? 

If you need help working on these then please get in contact. We work with many clients on website and SEO related services.  

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