SEM Services: The Complete Guide

More than 60% of all internet traffic goes through search engines, such as Google and Bing, while some 27% goes through direct links, and approximately 6% comes from social media, most of which actually comes from Facebook and Instagram.

Google, in particular, drives the most internet traffic; globally, more than 92% of the traffic comes through Google Search, Google Images, and Google Maps. This is really important for businesses because a vast majority of consumers use Google to search and discover new brands or research and buy products they like.

For any business, regardless of its size, ranking first on Google means more visits, which translates to higher conversion rates and, ultimately, higher profits. However, the competition is tough, and getting ahead could prove challenging. Fortunately, that’s where search engine marketing (SEM) comes in.

In this guide, we’ll discuss SEM, how it differs from search engine optimization (SEO), and some of its greatest benefits.

What is SEM?

Search engine marketing is a very broad term that implies various marketing services under paid search services. This is most commonly known as pay-per-click (PPC), in which search engines return the content you own and update as organic responses to users’ inquiries.

SEM marketing puts your website at the very top of the search engine results pages (SERPs). The term “SEM” once encompassed both paid and organic advertising and search results, but it’s now mostly used to refer to paid advertisements alone.

Paid search results are basically ads paid for by businesses to rank higher than organic results achieved through SEO. Businesses will invest money into this kind of digital marketing to boost their websites and landing pages to the first page each time their target audience makes a relevant inquiry on the web.

Paid results are entirely independent of organic ranking, and they’re separated by a gray “Ad” symbol in front of the page’s name. Additionally, PPC pages are ranked by the amount of money an advertiser is willing to pay for a single visit.

SEM is mostly used by businesses that seek to position their products and services ahead of organic results and in front of potential customers who are looking for such products and services at that exact time.

SEM campaigns also allow you to target specific demographics, control your budget, and measure the effectiveness of your SEM strategy in real-time through click-through rates, conversions, and impressions. This makes it much easier to calculate your return on investment and adjust your marketing campaigns accordingly.

What Is the Difference Between SEO and SEM?

Search engine optimization and search engine marketing share several similarities despite being distinct marketing strategies. Both digital marketing strategies focus on improving search engine visibility with the goal of driving website traffic through keyword research, keyword targeting, and content marketing (ad copy), which increases conversions and enhances brand awareness.

However, that’s where their similarities end. SEO strategies focus almost exclusively (but not always) on organic search, which implies optimizing the back-end code, front-end content, and technical aspects of both to increase your website’s ranking on SERPs.

In other ways, SEO services focus on optimizing your content so that search engines return that content as a natural result of users’ inquiries. These practices don’t require any payments to search engines, but they take longer to show results; sometimes months, depending on the competition and the specific keyword difficulty.

On the other hand, SEM produces immediate results as long as your ad campaign is live and the search ads disappear once your ad campaign stops. Search engine marketing services allow you to target your audience more precisely, allowing you to choose specific keywords, demographics, locations, and even the times of day when your ad is displayed.

SEM also provides more control over positioning since you can adjust bids, budgets, and targeting based on the performance data. Lastly, SEM is more focused on mastering ad platforms, such as Google Ads and Bing Ads.

However, this underscores the importance of A/B testing, ad relevance, quality score, and effective SEM management. SEM management services ensure that your ad spend is used wisely, achieving the best possible ad placement at the lowest cost, thus maximizing returns on investment.

While you can certainly try developing and implementing SEM strategies yourself, it’s far more efficient to hire professional SEM experts who already have all the necessary expertise and experience, which would only make your SEM strategy more time- and cost-effective.

Top Benefits of SEM Services

SEM marketing offers several distinct advantages:

Highly intent-driven: SEM enables you to meet your customers as they search for the products and/or services you’re offering precisely. Appearing at the right time could nudge potential clients to engage and purchase what you’re offering.
Visible and fast results: SEM is a good way for smaller businesses to make the most of their advertising campaigns and establish an online presence fast, especially since it puts you ahead of your potential competition.
Measurable campaign performance: This marketing approach allows you to see the ratio of people who visit your website compared to those who actually buy your products/services. These metrics allow you to adjust your campaign accordingly to ensure more traffic.
They’re targeted: SEM allows you to target your demographics more effectively because your campaign can be geo-targeted, device-targeted, and shown at certain times of day or season to demographics of your choosing.

How Much Does SEM Services Cost?

Unfortunately, there’s no universal solution when it comes to the costs associated with SEM, but some estimates suggest a range between $500 and $10,000. This figure can go up and down beyond the range depending on the needs of your business and the size of your budget. It’s important to note that you should prioritize working with established SEM marketing agencies; working with freelancers isn’t bad in itself, but the results may be questionable.

Orchard Marketing offers professional digital marketing services, including Search Engine Marketing, SEO, social media advertising, programmatic display advertising, and other forms of digital advertising that aim to expose your brand to as many potential customers as possible, thus enhancing your brand recognition and turning visits into conversions.

Summary

SEM has proven to be an effective way to drive online traffic to your business, especially if you’re selling products or services. It allows you to create targeted ads catered to more specific potential customers.

However, SEM should be treated just like SEO; it’s just a tool in your marketing toolbox, and you’ll secure the best possible results by relying on both strategies when applicable. If you want to learn more about SEM, don’t hesitate to contact Orchard Marketing.