Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing technique used to increase brand exposure through the use of purely paid marketing strategies to increase user traffic to a particular website.
Difference between SEO and SEM
Now this may sound similar to something that you know of called search engine optimisation (SEO). However, there is a slight difference in that SEM includes solely paid search whereas, through SEO, websites appear at the top of the search results organically as their content is most relevant to the users search. Make sure to use both SEM and SEO simultaneously as this will enable your brand name to appear twice as much, ultimately increasing brand visibility, exposure and user traffic.
5 Tips To Create the most Successful SEM Campaign
1. Bid for less keywords, but more specific ones
Instead of using broad keywords that will result in your ad appearing when users are not looking for your product, choose less common keywords that are more specific to your product / service which will generate higher quality user traffic as they are more interested and this will optimise conversions at a lower cost.
2. Diversify Search Engines
Ensure that your SEM campaign takes place on more than just one search engine. Just because google is the most popular, other search engines could still be more suited towards your target audience. Moreover, other search engines have less competition and will result in a cheaper cost.
3. Remove negative keywords
Negative keywords are those words which you don't want your advert to appear on when searched. It is important to include these in your google ads campaign as now your ad won't appear when searches irrelevant to your product is made and you will now not lose money to clicks that are not bringing any conversions.
4. Use specific numbers instead of general terms
If your advertisement is highlighting the benefit of something don't just say it, use a statistic as this will act as a tool to convince your reader as it provides a sense of validity. This is proven to result in a greater number of CTR's (click through rates) which illustrates the viewers who are interested.
E.g instead of saying a broad statement such as:
'action gaming improves your ability to make the right decision quicker'
You should say:
'Players of action games make real life decisions 25% quicker than the average person'
5. The landing page must provide a structured user experience
Make sure your landing page is of similar nature to your ad in terms of layout, tone and structure as a simple and easy to follow design will likely be most effective in achieving conversions. Furthermore, ensure your landing page is specifically related to the ad and enables the user to either find out more or even purchase the product/service you are selling.
These are just a few tips and if you would like to know more about SEM or want to develop your SEM campaign, get in contact with us at info@4hk.com.hk.