What is Search Engine Marketing? – Great Insights on SEM

SEM, an acronym of Search Engine Marketing is a form of internet marketing that includes branding of websites online to increase the visibility across users on search results page. With Search Engine Marketing, websites can gain traffic and visibility through paid and unpaid efforts.

SEM can be divided into two different categories, Organic and Paid. The Search Engine Marketing encompasses of SEO, earning traffic through free listings (unpaid). SEM incorporate SEO that optimizes website content and the architecture of website that helps in achieving high rank position in SERP to increase PPC listings.

Organic SEM helps you enhance your website ranking in search engines and hence drive more traffic to your website. Paid SEM or paid search refers to paid listings for purchasing ads on search engines to gain more traffic for your website and achieve your targeted goals.

There are several paid search platforms available for promotion of websites on different search engines like Google Ads, Bing Ads, Yahoo Ads, etc. By many measures, the most popular paid search platform used by search marketers is Google AdWords.

Search Advertising system allows the search marketers to bid on certain keywords for their clickable ads to appear on Search Result Page of Google’s Search Engine or advertise on a partner site by paying either when your ad is displayed or each time your ad is clicked.

The paid advertisements will appear at the top and bottom of the Search Engine Results Page. SEM, referred to as a paid search, is also known to be PPC, CPC, CPM and Paid Search Advertising. Search engine marketing is effective as it provides advertisers get an opportunity to place their Ads to the customers who are ready to purchase.

The foundation of search engine marketing is “Keywords”. As end user enter keywords as a part of their search query into search box to find what they are looking for. These keywords form the basis of SEM as an advertising strategy.

The most common paid listings types are:

• Paid placement
• Paid inclusion
• Shopping search
• Video search ads
• Local search ads
• Product listing ads

For the success of a SEM campaign is account structure of keywords. Account Structure and Logical Keyword Grouping helps in achieving higher CTRs, lower CPC, keyword research, and enhanced performance, helping you best structure your Ads account.

Structure your AdWords and Bing Ads accounts in the following way for better results:

1. AdWords Account
2. Ad Campaigns
3. Ad Groups
4. Keywords
5. Ad Text
6. Landing Pages

SEM helps you target the users of search engines via paid links in search results that sends targeted traffic to your website.

Always evaluate the performance of your paid search campaign in the key areas that includes Quality Score, Text Ad Optimization, Impression Share, Click-Through Rate and Use of Negative Keywords.

Opting SEM as a marketing approach will be better for companies which needs immediate visibility. PPC advertising helps the companies to generate customers while enhancing their website ranking in search engines.

The more efficient marketing strategies to attract business is Search Engine Marketing, which is scalable form connecting your advertisements with searchers who are actively seeking what you offer. For appearing your ads in the sponsored listing, you require to enter   an auction and competing with other bidders for advertising space.

Paid search advertising gives you the quick traffic for a fixed cost.