Introduction
SEO is short for search engine optimization. SEM is short for search engine marketing. Both are methods of driving traffic to your website by improving your visibility in search engine results pages, or SERPs.
SEO is a long-term strategy that focuses on improving your website to make it more visible to search engines. SEM is a short-term strategy that concentrates on paid advertising to improve your visibility in SERPs immediately.
Both SEO and SEM are important for small businesses. But, in this article, we’ll focus on SEM since it can be more effective in the short term and doesn’t require as much time or effort to implement.
Types of SEM
There are two main types of SEM: paid search advertising and organic search optimization.
Paid search advertising is when you pay to have your ad appear in SERPs. Organic search optimization is when you improve your website to make it more visible in SERPs.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to do both.
Paid Search Advertising
Paid search advertising is the most common type of SEM. With paid search advertising, you pay to have your ad appear in SERPs when someone searches for a keyword that’s related to your business.
You can pay for your ad to appear in SERPs in two ways: cost-per-click (CPC) and cost-per-impression (CPM).
CPC Paid Advertising
With CPC, you pay a certain amount every time someone clicks on your ad. With CPM, you pay a certain amount every time your ad is shown 1000 times.
CPC is the more common pricing model because it’s more effective. CPM can be effective, but it’s often less so because people might see your ad but not click on it.
When you create a paid search ad, you need to choose keywords that you want your ad to appear. These keywords should be related to your business and what you’re selling.
For example, if you’re a plumber, you might want your ad to appear when someone searches for “plumbing services” or “emergency plumber.”
You also need to write your ad copy. This is the text of your ad that appears in SERPs. Your ad copy should be clear and concise, and it should include a call to action.
Your ad copy should also be relevant to the keywords you’ve chosen. If your ad isn’t relevant to the keywords, people might click on your ad but then leave your website immediately. This will increase your CPC because you’re paying for those clicks, but you’re not getting any conversions.
CPC: Measuring Ad Spend
Once you’ve chosen your keywords and written your ad copy, you need to decide how much you want to spend on your ad campaign. You can set a daily budget or a total budget for your campaign.
It’s important to track your ad campaign so you can see how well it’s performing. You need to track your CPC, CPM, and conversion rate.
Your CPC is the amount you’re paying per click. Your CPM is the amount you’re paying per 1000 impressions. Your conversion rate is the percentage of people who click on your ad and then take an action that you want them to take, such as buying a product or signing up for a newsletter.
If your CPC is too high and your conversion rate is low, you need to adjust your campaign. You can do this by changing your keywords, ad copy, or budget.
CPM Paid Advertising
With CPM, you pay a certain amount every time your ad is shown 1000 times. CPM can be effective, but it’s often less so because people might see your ad but not click on it.
When you create a CPM paid search ad, you also need to choose keywords and write your ad copy. But, since you’re not paying per click, you don’t need to worry about your CPC.
You do need to track your CPM, though. If your CPM is too high and your conversion rate is low, you need to adjust your campaign. You can do this by changing your keywords, ad copy, or budget.
Organic Search Optimization
Organic search optimization is the process of improving your website to make it more visible in SERPs.
There are a few different ways to do this:
- Choose the right keywords
- Optimize your website for those keywords
- Build backlinks to your website
When you choose keywords, you need to think about what words or phrases people would use to find your website. For example, if you’re a plumber, people might search for “plumbing services” or “emergency plumber.”
Once you’ve chosen your keywords, you need to optimize your website for those keywords. This means using the keywords in your website’s title, meta tags, header tags, and content.
It’s also important to build backlinks to your website. Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. The more backlinks you have, the more visible your website will be in SERPs.
You can build backlinks by guest blogging, writing articles for other websites, or listing your website in directories.
Check out our other blogs on SEO and SEM, to know more about how to choose the relevant keywords, how to build backlinks, or even optimization tips. You will be an expert in no time!
SEM for Entrepreneurs
Several brands benefited from paid advertising in no time! Some of these brands are new in the market while some of them have been around for a while. But all of them have one thing in common- They used SEM to grow their business.
SEM can be a great way for entrepreneurs to get their brand out there and attract new customers. With the right kind of guidance and motivation, any business can be successful in online marketing.
Here are some tips on how entrepreneurs can use SEM to grow their business:
#1 Budgeting
The first thing you need to do when using SEM is to set a budget. You can’t just spend whatever you want and expect to get results. You need to be strategic about your spending.
Think about how much you can afford to spend on your campaign and what kind of ROI you expect to see. Once you have a budget, you can start planning your campaign.
#2 Finding the right agency
If you’re not well-versed in online marketing, it might be a good idea to hire an agency to help you with your SEM campaign.
An agency will be able to help you with things like choosing the right keywords, setting up your ad campaigns, and tracking your progress.
They will also be able to give you advice on how to improve your campaign so you can get the most out of it.
#3 Well-versed with Google Ranking Process
When you’re running an SEM campaign, it’s important to be well-versed with the Google ranking process. This way, you’ll know how your ads are being ranked and what you can do to improve your position.
You can learn more about the Google ranking process by reading our blog article “A Complete Guide to How Google Ranks a Website Using Search Engine Optimization”, Check it out here.
#4 Tracking your progress
Once you’ve launched your SEM campaign, it’s important to track your progress. This way, you can see what’s working and what’s not.
You can track your progress by looking at things like your CPC, CTR, and conversion rate. If you see that your CPC is high and your conversion rate is low, then you might need to adjust your campaign.
SEM can be a great way to grow your business. These tips will help you get started so you can see the results you want. But remember, SEM takes time and effort. You need to be patient and consistent with your campaigns if you want to see results.
What is the maximum price you can spend on ads as an entrepreneur?
This is the question that every entrepreneur faces when they want to use SEM as a tool to grow their business. The answer is that it depends on your business model, your target audience, and how much you’re willing to spend on your SEM campaign.
For example, if you’re a small business that’s just starting, you might not have the budget to spend $10,000 on your SEM campaign. But if you’re a big company with a lot of resources, you could easily spend that much and more.
It all comes down to your business model and your goals for your SEM campaign. If you’re not sure how much you should be spending, we suggest talking to our subject matter experts; who can help you with the process and options of getting the right help.
Bonus tip
If you are looking for more growth tips, keep an eye out for our next blog post where we will be discussing how to use SEO and blogging to grow your business.
Conclusion
SEO and SEM can be confusing for small business owners, especially when you’re just starting. But with a little knowledge and understanding of how these marketing methods work, you can increase traffic to your website and bring in more customers. In this guide, we’ve walked you through the basics of SEO and SEM, and shown you how to apply them to your small business. If you have any questions, feel free to ask us in the comments section below or contact us at 12channels.
We hope you enjoyed this guide on SEM for small businesses. And if you found this guide helpful, please share it with your friends and followers!
