Fundamentally, both SEO and SEM share common ground. Both these marketing techniques are aimed at improving the presence of certain websites on popular search engines such as Google, Bing, and so on.
The key point of difference, besides operational dissimilarities, is the nature of the traffic generated through each. While SEO draws the relevant audience organically, SEM is tuned towards sending inorganic paid traffic to the website. It is for this reason many small companies tend to prefer SEO over SEM.
However, this perception tends to make many small businesses miss out on a great opportunity. Despite being a paid technique, SEM can drive highly relevant traffic to a website. It is very efficient too and has an optimal ROI.
In any given digital marketing course, there is always a spotlight on SEM. After SEO, it is the only practice with the ability to reach highly specific demographics. From a free online tutorial to a more comprehensive digital marketing course, SEM is a common fixture in any course related to online marketing.
In this article, we will discuss a few SEM basics all beginners should know about.
Keyword Analysis
Keywords form an important part of paid search marketing. In SEM, advertisers cannot simply post an ad on the search engine. They have to select specific keywords on which they want their website to appear.
The selection of keywords is objectively the key part of an SEM process. Marketers have to identify which keywords are most suited for their business to appear on.
The decision to invest in a particular keyword is one in the hands of SEM professionals. After carefully analyzing their own audience, marketers have to find the keywords most likely to be searched by their target audience. These keywords are then bid on.
Managing Campaign Budget
In any given search ad network, marketers are required to set an overall budget. The budget and the bid made by the marketers predicate the number of ads displayed. For example, of a marketer sets a bid of INR 2/- for a given keyword and sets the campaign budget at INR 50/-, the search ad will run 25 times before the budget exhausts. Depending on the level of engagement they want to generate on the search engine, marketers have to set a campaign budget that meets their expectations.
Optimize Search Ad Content
Ad content is vital in making a user actually click on an ad and visit a website. To improve factors such as ad ranking and CTR, marketers have to make sure their ad content is optimal. Besides containing the right mix of primary and related keywords, the framing of the content should be based upon the nature of the audience.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, this article covers three SEM basics beginners should be aware of. Learning paid search marketing is crucial for a digital marketer looking to establish a career in the field.
