Search engine marketing (SEM) is one of the most successful marketing strategies that help businesses boost their sales and gain a competitive edge by getting traction from their audience organically.

The principles of search engine marketing are quite similar to traditional marketing but make improving your website’s ranking more efficient and quick.

This paid marketing tactic also lets businesses leverage search engine platforms to show their ads at the top of the page and boost traffic and conversions.

Ready to grow your small business with SEM? Our digital marketing experts have broken it all down for you. Keep reading to learn how SEM works.

Why is SEM Important For Your Business?

According to statistical reports, e-commerce sales increased by $244.2 billion in 2020. With so many online consumers, it’s essential to find winning marketing strategies that help you increase your brand’s reach.

When you use SEM, you only pay for impressions that result in visitors. This is very efficient for businesses since they don’t have to waste any money on uninterested consumers. Each visitor also improves the website’s rankings leading to organic search results.

This is why SEM is very powerful for growing your business. It helps you appear at the top of SERPs, making it likelier for a potential customer to turn into a paying customer.

Another thing to remember is that SEM isn’t just limited to Google. You can also use SEM to promote your services and products on Amazon, eBay, YouTube, and Pinterest.

How Does SEM Work?

Let’s take a look at how SEM actually works to promote businesses.

There are two basic frameworks you need to learn about before you develop a proper understanding of how SEM works.

Search Engine Targeting

The starting point of every SEM campaign is search intent.

Search intent includes:

• What exactly potential customers or users are looking for
• How close they are to purchasing

For example, if a consumer searches for “how to start doing yoga as a beginner,” it means that they might eventually purchase a yoga mat but aren’t necessarily in the market for it at the time they look this up.

The search intent here is to start doing yoga and potentially use a yoga mat, but not to buy one at the time.

However, if the consumer searches for “the best yoga mats for beginners,” this shows that they are very close to purchasing one. This is called “high search intent.”

SEM advertisers typically create their marketing campaigns to target the highest possible search intents.

Auction-Based Advertising

The auction-based bidding system is another revolutionary advertising system created by Google that allows brands to promote their services and sell them by offering them for bidding.

There are numerous different ad spaces with their search intent and the number of users looking them up each month. This is why Google created this system where each time a user searches for something, a real-time ad auction is run, and each ad space is rewarded to an advertiser based on the results.

The ad space isn’t just awarded to the highest bidder. Instead, this depends on a variety of factors.

• Relevance: Does your ad match the intent of the user’s specific search?
• Estimated click-through rate (CTR): Does the user click on the ad when they come across it?
• Ad landing page: Does your landing page encourage the user to make a purchase?

How to Ensure Success with Search Engine Marketing

Select the Most Relevant Keywords

Identifying the right keywords is one of the most important rules of SEM.

Keywords define your targeting strategy and serve as a guideline for the search engine to make your ad appear at the top of the search result in response to a query from your target audience. They target different variations of a query since it may or may not include a specific targeted keyword.

Keywords will also help you target different prospects looking for a solution you offer through your services and products. This is an effective way to initiate the conversion process and get quality leads.

Select the Most Appropriate Platform

When creating a winning SEM strategy, you need to select a single search engine instead of running ads on multiple ones.

So, which search engine is most suited to your business? Find out which platform is most frequently used by prospective customers that represent your niche.

Explore Search Intent

Another important step to remember is to explore the search intent. Search intent can be divided into three types – transactional, informational, and navigational.

Transactional queries typically represent the users that have a buying intent and are seeking solutions for a specific concern. For example, “top sites to purchase tennis shoes.”

Informational queries represent users that are looking for information that solves their problems. For example, “strategies to grow my small business.”

Navigational queries represent users who are in the consideration phase and are looking up alternatives that are related to their concerns.

The search intent you need to explore depends mainly on your campaign’s adjectives. If you want more conversions, target transactional queries, and enhance your reach, target navigational queries.

Looking for more effective marketing tactics to grow your small business? Get in touch with our digital marketing experts at Adfully.

We provide a range of affordable digital marketing services for small businesses through our comprehensive 360 digital marketing solutions. Our team of marketing professionals will help you implement the most successful business strategies that will help you boost your sales and increase your profit efficiently and promptly.

From SEO optimization to social media marketing and reputation management, Adfully has got you covered!

So, what are you waiting for?

Reach out to us today, and let us provide you with well-rounded digital marketing solutions.