What is Search Engine Marketing?

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a part of digital marketing whereby website gain traffic by bidding on top spots in a search engine result pages(SERPs).

Digital marketers bid on keywords or phrase that users of search engines like google, yahoo or, bing type in when looking for a particular information product or service. Search Engine Marketing gives the advertisers the opportunity for their products or services to be displayed alongside the search results. Search Engine Marketing enables advertisers the opportunity for their products or services to be found on the search engine result pages.

Search Engine Marketing initially was used for both paid search and search engine optimization. Due to the broad nature of both paid search and search engine optimization, they are now distinctly separated. Now search engine marketing is used strictly for paid search or pay-per-click.

Formats of Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing is in various formats. Some of the formats search engine marketing is small, text-based, and are displayed alongside search results, mostly on the top non-paid results.
The other format is called product listing adverts ( PLAs) or sometimes shopping ads; they are more visual, picturesque, that allow consumers to see important information about the product at a glance, such as, the price, discounts, and reviews.

The Core of Search Engine Marketing

Search Engine Marketing is an effective marketing strategy for a savvy digital marketer. It offers digital marketers the priceless opportunity to put their products or services right in front of customers that are presently looking for products and are mostly willing to pay at the very instance.
They are the motivated buyer with an intent to buy almost immediately.

Keywords: The Cornerstone of Search Engine Marketing

The success of search engine marketing majorly depends on the keywords. Choosing the right keywords determines the success or failure of a search engine marketing campaign.

Keywords formulated with the users in mind get better results than the ones that are not. Whatever combination of words users input in the search engines when looking for your products should form the cornerstone keyword for your search engine marketing campaign.

The first step in having strong keywords is to make a research on the keywords that are relevant to your products or services and prospective customers are likely to input in search engines when they are looking for your products.

There are various tools to analyze various keywords related to your products and the usage of the keywords with time. Google trends is a very useful tool for keyword analysis.

The second step is targeting keywords that have lower competitions and a high conversation rate. A level of expertise is required to have some success in this arena. A digital marketing agency is recommended to help bid for keywords that have lower competition and high conversation rate.

The last step is to develop exciting but profitable offers around the keywords selected. The major aim is to ensure customers take a profitable action when in contact with your search engine marketing campaign.

You can waste resources, that is time and money if you do not have a good knowledge of search engine marketing before embarking on it. It is strongly recommended that a digital marketing agency map out the plans for the campaign