You may have seen or heard about digital marketing and some of the more popular acronyms such as SEO, SEM, and SMM. But, do you know what they mean? In this post we will explain what is SEM, how it works and how your small business can benefit using it.

What is SEM?

SEM stands for search engine marketing. This may seem very broad. But the term has actually come to mean a very specific type of marketing on search engines. That’s paid search. The most commonly known and used paid search tool is Google Ads.

But Bing or Yahoo may also be worth your time and money.

SEM leverages the power of search engines like Google to reach potential customers at the perfect time and place.

It’s also known by many other names. To answer the question, what is SEM, it’s important to make note of them. People may use them interchangeably. You may find you know more about SEM than you think you do.

It’s also called:

• Paid search ads
• Paid search advertising
• PPC (pay-per-click)
• PPC (pay-per-call)
• CPC (cost-per-click)
• CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions)

SEM encompasses SEO & Paid Advertising in which SEO is the practices of earning traffic through unpaid or free listings while Paid Advertising is buying traffic through paid search listings. Paid search ads help marketers get more web traffic via desktop or mobile web search.

SEM is vital to any Business Marketing Plan

The internet has increasingly become the first-choice tool that consumers use to research goods, services and providers before they buy. This makes search engine marketing (SEM) a vital component of any business marketing plan. The objective of (SEM) is to drive traffic to your website with the intent of converting those visitors into customers, it is important to have your business site listed near the top of the search engine rankings since very few internet users will actually look at search results beyond the first couple of pages.

How does Paid Search work?

Google PPC Ads

How does PPC work on Google Ads? In a nut shell when launching a PPC campaign, you pay Google however much you wish to have them list ads for your site at the top and right of the organic search listings. When someone clicks on your ad, you pay the current Cost Per Click (CPC) from your budget. Once your entire budget has been depleted, Google ceases to run your ads until you replenish your fund. There are several different types of Google Ads, including: Search Ads, Local Search Ads, Display Ads, and Remarketing.

Search Ads

Google Search Ads are perhaps the most commonly recognized form of pay-per-click advertisements. These ads are displayed above or beside Google search results in response to what a user searches. So, if someone searches for the product or service you offer, your ad can be the first thing they see; but, through the PPC model, you only have to pay when they click on that ad.

Other forms of paid SEM include banner ads, remarketing as well as ads on social media sites such as Facebook or YouTube.

Depending on your business goals you may incorporate one or all forms. Having a good understanding of these goals will help your SEM managing team decide on the best course of action. Also remember as your business grows so does you PPC marketing strategies, so whatever you start off with is in no way what you should stay with.

If you are unsure which Ad type to use, contact us and let us help you set-up your Paid Search Ads campaign.