What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?
There are a number of different SEM strategies that you can use, including pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), and social media marketing.
PPC advertising involves bidding on keywords that you want your website to appear for. When someone searches for one of your keywords, your ad may appear at the top of the search results page. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, so you can control your costs.
SEO is the process of optimizing your website so that it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This involves improving the quality and quantity of your website’s content, as well as building links to your website from other high-quality websites. SEO can take time to see results, but it can be a very effective way to attract organic traffic to your website.
Social media marketing is the process of promoting your website on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. This involves creating and sharing content that is relevant to your target audience, as well as engaging with followers and potential customers.
However, in recent years, many have referred to SEM as PPC advertising.
If you’re looking for a way to increase your website traffic and generate more leads, SEM is a great option. With the right SEM strategy, you can reach a large audience of potential customers and grow your business.
What is Search Engines?
A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches, which means searching the Internet in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search engine returns a list of results, typically presented in a format called a search engine results page (SERP).
Together, these three search engines account for the vast majority of search queries in the United States, with Google being the clear leader. Other search engines, such as DuckDuckGo, Yandex, and AOL, have much smaller market shares.
The top three search engines in the United States as of 2024 are:
Google: Dominating the market with a substantial share of 86.9%. Google has maintained its position as the leading search engine due to its advanced algorithms, comprehensive indexing, and extensive range of services that include search, maps, and other utilities (StatCounter Global Stats).
Bing: Owned by Microsoft, Bing holds the second spot with an 8.09% market share. Bing differentiates itself with features like integration with Microsoft products and its rewards program that incentivizes users to search with Bing.
Yahoo: Despite a significant drop from the top two, Yahoo remains the third most used search engine in the US with a market share of 2.48%. Yahoo’s search engine is powered by Bing, but it retains its brand and interface (StatCounter Global Stats).
Why should you do Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising?
Because PPC can target highly intent searches for your product or service. Search engines show your product to the right person, in the right place, at the right time! What can be better than that?!
Second reason is, PPC brings you much faster results (or revenue) than SEO! If you haven’t explored SEO, it relatively requires more time, effort and technical knowledge for your website to climb the rank, what’s more to the top space of page 1! And, no one can ever guarantee you the results too. If they can, you must have been paying a really premium price, just saying. Don’t get us wrong, we support businesses to do SEO too, But, it really depends on your circumstances, such as your niche, age of business, budget, financial sustainability etc.
Benefits of Pay Per Click (PPC)
- PPC ads have a high conversion rate. According to WordStream, the average conversion rate for PPC ads is 2.35%. This means that for every 100 people who click on a PPC ad, 2.35 people will take the desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. (Good News! At The Blue Chick, our conversion rate is higher than that benchmark!)
- PPC ads are targeted. PPC ads are only shown to people who are actively searching for products or services that your business offers. This means that your ads are more likely to be relevant to the people who see them, which can lead to higher conversion rates.
- PPC ads are measurable. With PPC advertising, you can track the results of your campaigns and see exactly how much money you’re spending and how much you’re getting back. This information can help you optimize your campaigns and get the most out of your investment.
- PPC ads are scalable. You can start with a small PPC budget and then increase it as your business grows. This makes PPC advertising a great option for businesses of all sizes.
Overall, PPC advertising is a powerful tool that can help you reach your target audience, drive traffic to your website, and increase sales.
Why You'd Want Google Advertising?
Investing in Google Ads is essential for your business due to its market share in the search engine market. Your business gains access to the largest audience of potential customers. This extensive reach means that your ads can be displayed to millions of users who are actively searching for products or services like yours.
Google’s advanced targeting capabilities enable you to reach specific demographics, locations, and even target users based on their search behaviors. This precision ensures that your advertising budget is used efficiently, showing your ads to those most likely to convert into paying customers. Additionally, the robust analytics provided by Google Ads allows you to track performance, refine your campaigns, and maximize your return on investment.
Given that nearly 95.03% of all mobile search queries and 75.95% of desktop search queries are handled by Google, leveraging Google Ads means your business remains visible where it matters most—on the platform where most of your potential customers are searching. By using Google Ads, you can enhance your online presence, drive traffic, and ultimately boost sales, ensuring your business stays competitive in today’s digital landscape.
The image above is an example of a Search Engine Return Page (SERP) for the search term “home healthcare service near me”. See how the first 4 text results at the top of the page are all sponsored ads?
Recall the last time you searched something on Google. Did you scroll to the bottom of the page to click? or even go on to page 2 of the results? I guess not, so does everyone else. By knowing the behaviors of searchers, we can serve your product or service to the right person just when they want to buy! Can you see how valuable is PPC now?
Google Advertising for Highly Regulated Industry
Yes, not everyone can advertise everything. Google has strict policies of what can be targeted to the public and what’s not. Highly-regulated industries are medicine, healthcare, politics, real estate etc.
Sometimes, you might also find why your ads are not being approved despite not in the regulated industries. That’s because of the ad copies or your landing page/website containing wordings that are deemed misinformation or not true by Google. There are many other possibilities that your ads may not run.
Interested to read more about advertising for medical industry? Read this.
DO It Yourself or Outsource Ads Management?
It is always good to have some basic understanding of the ads performance metrics and platforms. If you have the time and money to learn and experiment, great, go ahead and do it yourself.
The truth is, most of business owners have limited time and there are many more important matters to attend to. Plus, you want to see the results rolling in quickly! For that, hire someone professional to do it quickly and correctly, right from the start.
If you’re thinking of hiring someone in-house? Great idea, if you have the budget for payroll. Most businesses thought they could hire someone and expect them to know all aspects of digital marketing – paid ads, SEO, web design, programming, email marketing, social media, funnel building, graphic design, video production etc. Let’s get real honest here, it is unlikely you can find someone who excels in all of those.
The most cost-effective way is to outsource it to PPC expert or agency. Because they have the expertise, experience and data from all the accounts they’re managing, which could really save you time and money.
Yes, we’re saying contact The Blue Chick Digital Marketing now. Schedule an appointment and let’s chat!
Check out our ads portfolio too!