Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Part 3 of 4

Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing (SEM) is a paid form of internet marketing that aims to promote and increase the visibility of a website on search engine result pages (SERPs) such as Google and Bing. With search engines generally being the first step someone will take when looking for a product or service, SEM can help a business stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace and goes hand-in-hand with search engine optimisation (SEO) which can be found in our previous blog from last week.

SEM is seen as a very effective marketing tool, with the ability to create an immediate impact as it appears on SERPs straight after the campaign is launched. SEM also gives a business the significant luxury of being able to define its target audience further, create filters based on locations, age, interests, habits and more, as well as an easy-to-track ROI. 

Here are is an example of seven steps that can be used to create a successful SEM campaign:

1. Define an effective strategy

2. Choose the best keyword phrases

3. Optimise your site for organic search through SEO

4. Begin link building from other websites used by your target audience

5. Manage an ROI-driven paid search campaign

6. Check your ranking on search engines’ business pages e.g. Google My Business 

7. Review and measure the impact of your campaign

With search engine usage now a part of everyone's daily lives, SEM has become one of the most important marketing strategies a business can undertake. With Digital Marketing Directory, you are able to search through a list of Australian agencies specialising in SEM to help you with any of your needs.