In today’s business landscape, businesses are as much digital entities as physical ones, and the path to each business is paved by both search engines and physical roads. Your Google Business Profile puts your business on the map. Your website visibility is defined by how easily search engines can find your content and how highly you rank on search engine result pages (SERP).
In this blended digital environment where search engines are at the heart of everyday life, it’s no surprise that Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the leading marketing strategy.
If you want your brand to thrive, the key lies in skillful SEM campaigns to boost visibility, attract digital traffic, and get to the top of every relevant SERP. Join us as we dive into a comprehensive guide to establish your first effective SEM campaigns, sharing useful tips and best practices along the way.
What is SEM?
SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing. It goes beyond SEO, which focuses mainly on copywriting. SEM also includes technical upgrades and advertising strategies designed to boost your search engine visibility and ranking. An SEM campaign is a set of advertising and website improvement efforts designed to boost your brand’s search engine results.
Setting Up A SEM Campaign
How do you establish an SEM campaign to achieve your digital marketing goals? You can get started in six simple steps.
1. Define Your Objectives
Every marketing campaign begins with measurable goals or objectives. For each SEM campaign, define the outcome you want to see.
Common SEM campaign objectives include:
Don’t forget to set KPIs (key performance indicators) so you can tell when you are on the right track to achieving your goals.
2. Conduct Keyword Research
Keyword research is at the core of search engine marketing and content optimization. Keywords cannot only be used to organically boost your content visibility. You will also use them to target your advertising campaigns through platforms like Google Ads.
Use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner to examine the keywords that are most relevant to our business, products, and target audience. Select keywords in both high-competition and low-competition categories, and favor long-tail, high-intent keywords.
3. Structuring Your Campaign
The structure of an SEM campaign looks like this:
1. Campaign (largest)2. Ad groups (middle)3. Ads (smallest)
You can arrange your targeted keywords individually and in ad groups, which together represent all the keywords in your campaign.
4. Targeting Key Locations
Determine specific locations where your ads may be more effective. Knowing where to target your ads can provide significantly more productive advertising results. Your target audience may be more concentrated in certain areas. For example, regions with very cold winters vs beachside communities will be more responsive to very different products.
5. Crafting Engaging Ads
Build ads by combining your products and target keywords. Use your understanding of your audience to create ads they will find both appealing and compelling. Use clear and engaging content with a direct call-to-action that drives viewers to click and convert. Remember to appeal to the searcher’s intent for each keyword and long-tail phrase for the best results.
6. Landing Page Optimization
Of course, getting a search engine click is only the first step. Be sure to hone your landing page design to delight, inform, and compel website visitors to take the next step.
Best Practices for SEM Campaigns
Set a Budget
Continually Optimize Your Keywords
Make Use of Negative Keywords
Conduct A/B Testing
Monitor Ad Performance and Adapt
Discover the Potential of SEM Campaigns with Sparklight Advertising
Master your search engine visibility and advertising results by crafting powerful SEM campaigns. Sparklight Advertising can help you build your SEM strategy and design effective SEM campaigns to boost your brand in the digital marketplace. Contact us today for a consultation on your brand’s search engine position and optimal SEM design.