Here we’ll discuss Search Engine Marketing, or SEM. We’ll then explore pay-per-click advertising (PPC) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies. Let’s begin.
So, what is SEM?
Search Engine marketing (SEM) is the art of utilizing a search engine to reach potential customers. These potential customers are people searching for products, services, or other related information online.
The idea is to show relevant content or ads to these search engine users based on the keywords they enter. This can be done through paid ads called Pay-Per-Click (or PPC) advertising. Or organically through Search Engine Optimization (or SEO).
Now the question is, how do these strategies help?
SEO and PPC help increase the visibility of your website on the search engine results page or SERP. The better your strategy, the greater the chances of your website or ads showing up on the top of the results page.
Let’s talk about SEO first.
Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the process of getting your website to rank high in search results organically. That is without spending on ads.
This is a long-term strategy and requires patience. SEO can be very effective if done right. The idea is to create content such as blog posts around the product, or service, or around topics that would be relevant to people looking for that product or service.
For example, a person looking for a video editing tool might type in keywords such as “best video editing software” or “free video editing software”. If you are a business that sells video editing software, it makes sense for you to publish a blog that lists say the “top 10 video editing software” or a list of the “Best free video editing tools” to cater to this audience.
Over a period of time, based on factors like content quality and relevance, the blog post is likely to show up for users looking for video editing software. There are tools that can help you identify these keywords and topics such as SEMRush, Ahrefs, and Google Keyword Planner among others.
Benefits of SEO:
Search engines like Google support high-quality and relevant content that is of value to their users. Some benefits of SEO are:
Long-term traffic: When done right, SEO can drive long-term traffic to your website and help build a pipeline of leads.
Cost-effective: Unlike paid ads, you are not charged for clicks to your website, making SEO cost-effective.
Credibility: When your website ranks at the top of the search engine results page, it builds credibility with your audience.
Now, let’s talk about PPC, or Pay-Per-Click advertising.
As the name suggests, PPC is a form of advertising where you pay each time a user clicks on your ad. This advertising model is used in search engines, social media, and display advertising. In the case of search engines, these ads appear on the search results page when the search keywords typed by the user align with the keywords of the ads.
The beauty of PPC lies in the ability to target users based on their location, demographic, and other factors.
For example, if you are a hairstylist your ads would be more relevant to those living in and a few miles around your shop and therefore you can target your ads to those who live in and around that location.
Benefits of PPC:
Immediate visibility: PPC is the way to go if you want your product or service to be visible to your target audience, almost immediately. All you need to do is create and run your ads on a tool like Google Ads.
Budget control: PPC also allows a great degree of control over your budget. You can set a budget, monitor your ad spend, and make changes to it at any time.
Optimization: You can optimize your strategy on-the-fly based on how users respond to your ads. You can modify your ads or update your keywords based on their performance.
So, which is better? PPC or SEO?
Well, there is no better or worse. It all depends on your objective, budget, and time. For a holistic approach, some businesses may integrate the two strategies. This takes care of both: attracting immediate traffic and conversion through PPC as well as building a solid foundation for sustainable long-term growth through SEO.
So that’s a quick overview of search engine marketing with a peek into SEO and PPC. If this post was helpful do like, share, and subscribe to the blog. If you’d like to learn more about digital marketing, tell us in the comments what you’d like to learn next.