If you’re interested in digital marketing, then you’ve probably come across two terms: SEM and SEO. Although the second one is better known, many people still don’t know the first one.
But, after all, what is SEM? How does it relate to SEO and how can it help you?
SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is a set of strategies aimed at promoting your business on search engines.
I.e, SEM marketing consists of strategies that have a common goal: to optimize websites to place them closer to the top of the results pages in search engines like Google, and Bing, among others.
Next, we’ll take a closer look at search marketing and how you can use this strategy.
What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
It is almost impossible to talk about marketing without thinking about the internet and, mainly, search engines. SEM means precisely the techniques focused on this need for companies to be seen in the virtual environment.
A few years ago, there were several platforms like Altavista and Cadê. However, with the rise of Google, today when we ask what SEM is, we are largely asking about Google-focused strategies. Some exceptions would be Bing and YouTube.
Thinking of Google, search marketing is one of the main strategies used by digital marketing and it involves understanding what needs to be done to get your page to the top of the search page (SEO) and how to get the most out of paid ads (Sponsored Links).
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
What is the relationship between SEM and SEO? SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SEM, and digital marketing are all connected. The fact is that SEO is part of SEM, which in turn is part of digital marketing.
SEO, which in Portuguese means optimization for search engines, is the arm of search marketing (SEM) that aims to understand the mechanisms for indexing at the top of search pages and execute them.
Practically, we can mention the work of the keywords, the loading time of the portal, the structure of the site, the relevance of the contents, and the readability, among other known and secret factors.
To give you an idea of the importance of SEO for a business, it is known that more than 50% of clicks on a search result are from the first two links on the page.
Sponsored links
On the other hand, sponsored links are part of SEM, this is the arm of Search Engine Marketing that focuses on paying the platforms – mainly Google through Google Ads – so that they convey with priority one page.
If, on the one hand, SEO seeks to understand the rules of the algorithm so that a link is organically highlighted, sponsored links take a shortcut and, through an investment, make the direct path.
But simply paying platforms to highlight a link is not enough. There are techniques for investment to generate the best possible result. It is necessary to make a coherent segmentation with the offered product, as well as a clear message and other marketing strategies.
Why is SEM important?
As we said, more than 50% of clicks on a search page happened in the first two results. In addition, the first page of Google concentrates practically 100% of the clicks of a search.
Tell the truth. When you don’t find what you’re looking for, do you change pages or change the search first? Almost everyone changes their search before insisting on other pages. See the importance of being well indexed at the top, that is, the importance of Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
SEM marketing does this in two complementary ways. For SEO strategies and sponsored links. Both techniques improve search engine indexing, which generates leads, conversions, and sales.
How to use SEM in your strategy?
We will now see how to use Search Marketing to improve the indexing of your links in search engines, mainly Google.
Let’s split this explanation between SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and sponsored links. Both strategies are complementary and therefore important.
Keep in mind, however, that SEM is all about search engine-focused strategies. Other areas of digital marketing are important to improve results, such as clear communication, understanding the sales funnel, and visual identity, among other factors that will influence your results.
Using Sponsored Links (Google Ads)
Sponsored links, such as Google Ads, are a “shortcut” for your link to be highlighted in search engines. On Google, you can identify these links by the word “Ad” in evidence.
However, this “shortcut” is not as simple as it seems. It is necessary to use some techniques so that the investment is not thrown in the trash. One of the main points is knowing how to target who your ad will appear.
As each click on the ad will cost you, so the best thing is that only potential customers enter your link. Therefore, it is important to understand who these people are, their age, income, similar interests, geographic region, etc.
In addition, it is important to work on all the communication on the page so that you do not attract the public to an ineffective message when it comes to the converter.
Using SEO
For Google to remain a relevant search engine, it needs to be useful for people. Therefore, he needs to deliver relevant pages and good content.
So Google has hard work to be able to identify the best pages and place them at the top. Within search marketing, SEO seeks to understand how Google (or other mechanisms like YouTube) does this work and implement the guidelines for better ranking on the page.
In general, we can divide SEO between On-page SEO and Off-page SEO:
SEO On Page
SEO On Page are the SEO techniques that are applied within your page.
We can highlight elements such as responsiveness and loading speed. Elements related to programming, choice of server, and general assembly of the site and page.
In addition, there are other concerns within SEO On Page such as relevant content, keyword work, meta-description, and readability, among others involving content marketing.
The most important point is to remember that within Search Engine Marketing and SEO is that Google and other search engines have an eye on the customer experience. Therefore, they will prioritize fast pages, with a pleasant logical structure, quality content and that satisfies what people expect from them.
SEO Off Page
On the other hand, Off Page SEO is related to the techniques that are outside your page. That is, the elements of the Google algorithm that are not related to your page, but that will influence your ranking.
Within search marketing and Off-Page SEO, the most important thing is building the link network. To know the relevance of a page on the internet, Google’s main criterion is the number of other pages that mention yours.
To achieve this network of links, there are numerous strategies and they will depend on a more general marketing strategy. Some famous ones are guest posts, action campaigns of marketing e o press releases.
Which is the better strategy: sponsored links or SEO?
Sponsored links and SEO are part of SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and are complementary rather than competing.
Of course, some companies will prioritize sponsored links and others will prioritize the organic way of ranking (IF THE). This will depend on a broader digital marketing strategy.
Companies that are in a new market still unknown for Google ranking may find it difficult to SEO and prioritize Google Ads, for example. Another, in an environment of fierce competition, can see SEO as a competitive advantage, a differential to be found and save costs with ads.
How to implement SEM in your business
If you made it this far, congratulations! You now know the general outline of SEM. You can now start thinking about the next steps to implement the techniques in your business.
We’ve seen what SEM is and how it relates to SEO and sponsored links. Also, did you know that the two represent important branches of Search Marketing and that their use depends on the digital marketing strategy?
We went further and talked about how to apply SEM to business. Concerns with segmentation in the case of Google Ads, the importance of user experience for SEO, and the need to build a network of links in Off Page SEO.
The joint work of these elements ensures indexing at the top of Google and other search engines. This indexing generates real results for the business, which pays off all the investments made.
Contact us to learn more about digital marketing and SEM. Get the most out of your buck by marketing it right, getting seen, and converting customers.
