Search Engine Marketing
SEM is paid advertising for the web primarily utilizing search engine results pages. Often referred to—utilizing Google’s terminology—as “adword campaigns,” SEM is advertising directly targeted to users who have entered search terms or phrases (keywords) relevant to your business or service in a search engine. You can’t buy a spot in a search engine’s Organic Listings, but you can bid for spots in their Sponsored Listings and post ads on other websites that will drive traffic your way.
Currently the most prominent SEM service provider on the web is Google. The advantage of implementing a SEM campaign is the results are entirely measurable in ROI (Return on Investment) terms. When you create an ad campaign, you can receive reports telling you how many click-throughs your ad generated as well as what actions the user took when landing at your website (e.g., did they place an item in a shopping cart and make a purchase, did they sign-up for your company newsletter, etc.). A client can see precisely how the money they spend in a SEM campaign is generating leads or sales.
The costs associated with running an SEM campaign can be set and controlled by the advertiser. Pay-per-click rates are controlled via the bids set for relevant search terms and phrases. While the competitiveness of a given term (i.e., how many other advertisers are hoping to generate click-throughs for that term or phrase) varies widely, the advertiser is never obligated to match the highest bid or to commit to a set level of expenditure.
Also, there is enormous flexibility in terms of controlling when ad campaigns run. Ads can be run 24/7 or set to run only on certain days at certain times. Campaigns can be paused or stopped altogether at any point in time and re-started again. The advertiser is always in control of their SEM expenditures.
SEM has been shown to be highly successful for companies and organizations that work regionally, nationally, and internationally or that provide products or services people need to research. Companies that serve “local” areas can benefit from running small-scale campaigns focused on appearing on the page when a searcher is seeking a local provider.
Any SEM campaign is 2-pronged: 1) you need to run the campaign through Google; 2) you need to make sure your website pages directly support the campaign(s). For example, if you sell wines and someone searching for Rieslings clicks on your ad, they should be taken to a page that discusses or at least includes Rieslings. When your page content is directly applicable to your ad, you increase conversions.
We have run and are currently running several successful SEM campaigns for our clients.