Search Engine Marketing
(SEM)
In today’s fast growing digital marketing, businesses need every benefit they can get. Search Engine Marketing being the most powerful way to reach the global audience. It not only increases your online presence but provided qualified leads to your business. But you should be well-familiar with what exactly is search engine marketing and how does it work?
What Is Search Engine Marketing?
Search Engine Marketing means promoting your website or business by displaying the ads on different search engines like Bing, Google, Yahoo etc. Many times, people confuse Search Engine Optimization (SEO) with Search Engine Marketing (SEM), but both are quite different.
SEM involves paid search engine marketing strategies to get the visibility instantly, while SEO focuses on improving rankings organically over the large period of time. Paid content is usually displayed above or alongside organic results in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
How Search Engine Marketing Works?
Search Engine Marketing works on Pay-Per-Click model, where different advertisers offer their bid on keywords that their target audience is likely to search for. So, when a user searches a relevant or targeted term/keywords on search engines, search engine displays the relevant ads to user. You have to pay only when someone clicks on your ad.
Core Elements of SEM
Keyword Research
Identifying the terms that your potential audience uses. Meticulously chosen keyword is key to success.
Ad Creation
Crafting content and engaging graphics that ensure “clicks” is most crucial element of SEM.
Bidding
Devising a Price Strategy that aligns with your needs and expectations is crucial in deciding your campaign’s success.
Landing Pages
Pages on website where you want user to land to buy your services or products.
Search Engine Marketing Vs SEO
The primary difference between Search Engine Marketing and SEO is all about timing and cost. Bothe are crucial and inevitable for online success, but they serve different purposes.
Factor
Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Cost
Paid
Free
Time
Immediate Results
Takes Time for Results
Impact
Stop when budget exhausted
Continues To Rank Over Time
Control
More Maneuverable
Less Control
Visibility
Appears at the top Marked as “Ad”
Appears In Organic Results
Google
Is big brother of Search Engine, accounting for over 92% of all paid search activity worldwide.
Bing
Bing is comparatively small but steady in market presence, especially in U.S, where it accounts for around 6.5% of the market.
Other Platforms
Yahoo, Yandex and DuckDuckGo are emerging as alternatives for businesses with specific needs that we will explore next.
With insanely increasing number of internet users and relying on search engines for purchasing decisions, businesses are spending more of their budgets to Paid Search Engine Marketing.
Search Engine Market Share
Google: Google is the big brother of search engines, accounting for over 92% of all paid search activity worldwide.
Bing: Bing is comparatively small but steady in market presence, especially in the U.S, where it accounts for around 6.5% of the market.
Other Platforms: Yahoo, Yandex, and DuckDuckGo are emerging as alternatives for businesses with specific needs that we will explore next.
How Much Does Search Engine Marketing Cost?
Search engine marketing cost varies depending upon many factors like
industry, competition, audience demography, and PPC keywords. But on average you can expect to pay anywhere between $1 to $10 per click.
Some industries like legal, financial, and insurance often see costs as high as $50 to $100 owing to tough competition environment.
Industry
Average CPC Cost
Legal
$10 - $100
Finance
$5 - $20
E-Commerce
$5 - $5
Retail
$1 - $3
Search Engine Types:
Pros and Cons
Though different businesses leverage the power of different search engines but here is a breakdown giving a clear image of what makes each search engine unique.
Search Engine
Pros
Cons
Google Ads.
- Largest Market Share
- Vast Reach
- Very Targeted Ads.
- Very Competitive
- High PPC Cost
Bing Ads.
- Lower Competition
- Cheaper Ads
- Strong in U.S Market
- Smaller Audience
- Non effective for Non-USA Market
Yahoo Ads.
- Niche Specific Target
- Impactful Conversion
- Specific Demographics
- Limited Market Share
- Fewer Features
DuckDuckGo Ads.
- Affordable
- High Privacy
- Low Competition
- Niche Audience
- Limited Features
- Local businesses often find Google Ads. And Bing Ads the most effective and promising.
- For businesses with high privacy concerns consider DuckDuckGo Ads as solution to their problems.
- Business looking for best return on investment, Google Ads are the top option.
Suitable Search Engine for Your Business
Search Engine
Marketing Tools
An impactful and successful Search Engine Marketing Campaign requires way more than just a creative ad; they need the right tools to for monitoring, data collection, evaluation and optimization of ads.
Generated. Here are the some of the best search engine tools that we use at techNgraphic.
Google Keyword Planner
A free tool by google for Keyword research, search volumes and competition.
SEMrush
This tool is equally effective for both Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization. This comprehensive tools offers details insights on keywords, competitors and ad creation.
WordStream
A comprehensive tool used to optimize the SEM campaigns by leverage the power of data collection and recommendations for unmatched ROI.
MOZ
Usually, this tool is considered specific to SEO but Keyword Research ability of this tool for SEM campaigns is wonderful.
SpyFu
As name suggests, this tool enables us to spy into competitor’s PPC campaigns and uncover the gaps for better ROI.
- 93% online interactions start with search engines.
- SEM enhances the brand awareness by 80%, making it easier for audience to remember your brand.
- 65% of small businesses are benefiting from the power of PPC campaigns.
- On average, businesses earn $2 for every $1 spent on Google Ads.
In order to understand the power of SEM, you need to have a look at following facts.
Some Interesting Facts About Search Engine Marketing
Local Businesses
Using Google My Business for Local Search Engine marketing is promising to drive results. You are able to capture the local audience through geo-targeted ads.
E-commerce
If you are running an E-commerce store, Google Shopping Ads are for you. If your target market is other than U.S, you can use Bing Ads to get better ROI.
Service Based Companies
Leveraging the power of Google Ads and Yahoo Ads, you can reach your target audience and can increase your conversions remarkably.
Startups
For startups, Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo all are better choice owing to their competitive pricing and ability to reach the audience pertaining to a certain niche.
SEM: The Best Strategy for Different Businesses
All businesses are different and have unique business models. So, we can easily conceive that different businesses have different needs and expectations from SEM. Here is a simplified guide to choosing the right platform for your SEM objectives.
Conclusion
Search Engine Marketing is way for business looking for quick visibility on search engines and attract customers. With the optimum blend of Search Engine Platforms, Tools, and strategy, you can reach your audience effectively and can grow your business effectively.
Last but not least, search engine marketing doesn’t have to break the bank.
At techNgraphic, we provide exceptionally economical Search Engine Marketing Services. Your potential customers are searching for products you are selling, Let’s Make Sure They Find Your First. Contact techNgraphic Today to get started your Online Success Journey.
