Search Engine Marketing (SEM): What It Is & How to Do It

What Is Search Engine Marketing?

Search motor trading (SEM) typically refers to moving paid ads that tin look erstwhile personification searches for position related to your business connected hunt engines for illustration Google and Bing. And those ads tin thrust targeted postulation to your website.

SEM puts your business successful beforehand of group actively searching for your products aliases services. This makes it 1 of the astir effective forms of integer advertizing for reaching highly motivated prospects.

In short, here's really hunt motor trading useful successful practice: 

• You bid connected keywords applicable to your business
• You create ads that look erstwhile group hunt for those terms
• You salary a fee—which is typically based connected erstwhile personification clicks your ad

SEM vs. SEO

SEM and hunt motor optimization (SEO) some thief you get recovered connected hunt engines, but they activity differently. Here’s a summary of the main differences:

Factor	SEM	SEO
Speed of results	Hours to days	Months to years
Traffic durability	Stops erstwhile you extremity paying	Can proceed agelong aft you people the content
Control level	Complete power complete run timing, placement, and messaging	Limited power complete rankings and erstwhile your contented will beryllium visible
Budget requirements	Ongoing monthly walk required	Upfront finance successful contented and optimization, immoderate attraction costs
Ideal for	Product launches, seasonal campaigns, and competitory industries	Long-term brand-building and businesses pinch a sizeable magnitude of content
Skills required	Campaign management, bid optimization, and advertisement copywriting	Content creation, method optimization, and nexus building (i.e., getting others to nexus to you)

SEM and SEO some person their pros and cons, but you don’t person to conscionable usage 1 aliases the other. In fact, the champion attack for galore businesses is to usage a operation of both.

Generally, SEO is champion erstwhile you person a constricted fund and your attraction is connected building authority astir your brand. SEO tin besides thrust semipermanent ROI and thief you scope users astatine each stages of the customer journey.

On the different hand, SEM is champion erstwhile you want contiguous visibility and sales. Or for time-sensitive campaigns (like erstwhile you’re launching a caller product). 

It’s besides perfect for targeting circumstantial audiences astatine circumstantial stages of the buying travel (like erstwhile they’re adjacent to making a purchase). Or for testing trading strategies aliases strategies to quickly springiness you insights and information (at slightest compared to SEO). 

How Much Does Search Engine Marketing Cost?

SEM costs tin alteration dramatically based connected your industry, competition, and strategy. 

Most marketers take to usage the pay-per-click model, which intends you only salary erstwhile personification really clicks your ad. So, 1 of the main factors that will impact your costs is the costs per click (CPC) for your target keywords—how overmuch a azygous click connected an advertisement for a fixed query costs.

In immoderate industries, this tin beryllium conscionable a fewer dollars per click. Like this illustration for the highly circumstantial keyword “best inexpensive canine nutrient for labradors”:

Industries for illustration finance, medicine, and rule will spot overmuch higher CPCs. For example, the CPC for “sacramento motorcycle wounded lawyer” is almost $140:

If you were moving ads to this keyword, it would costs astir $140 conscionable to get a click—not a conversion. 

And industries for illustration wellness, technology, and location repair autumn location successful the middle. For example, the CPC for “contractor for room remodel” is astir $12.

Other factors that impact your SEM costs include:

• Competition: High levels of competition, some astatine the manufacture and keyword level, will people thrust up SEM costs
• Geographic targeting: Bidding connected keywords successful cities often costs much than successful little densely populated areas
• Quality and relevance: Well-optimized campaigns often costs little per click than poorly managed ones
• Timing: Costs tin up and down based connected seasonality, holidays, and moreover clip of day

How to Create Your First SEM Campaign

Follow these steps to build a run that’s aligned pinch your hunt motor trading strategy:

Step 1: Set Up Your Advertising Account

Start pinch Google Ads for your first SEM campaign. Google handles around 90% of world hunt traffic, making it the astir effective level for reaching your target audience.

To group up your account, spell to the Google Ads homepage and travel the setup workflow. You'll request to supply basal business information, take your state and clip zone, and group up billing information.

You’ll besides request to take your campaign’s objective, run type, and bidding strategy. Your nonsubjective is up to you, but you’ll want to take “Search” arsenic your run type.

Here are immoderate tips for mounting your bidding strategy:

• Choose "Maximize Clicks" bidding strategy while learning your run performance, past modulation to maximizing conversions, earlier past adding a target CPA erstwhile you person much information (optional)
• Set maximum CPC limits to forestall overspending connected costly keywords
• Start pinch broader geographic targeting and constrictive it down based connected capacity information (if relevant)

Further reading: How to Run Google Ads: A 10-Step Guide

Step 2: Find Valuable Keywords to Target

For your ads to look successful hunt results and really lend to sales, you request to bid connected target keywords that are apt to thrust conversions.

It’s imaginable to tally campaigns that are much intended for marque consciousness aliases to make traffic. But we’re going to attraction connected ads meant to person users fixed that’s often a privilege for those caller to SEM.

Start your PPC keyword research by listing the nonstop products aliases services you waste and the problems you lick for customers. These shape the instauration of your keyword database because they correspond what group really hunt for erstwhile they're fresh to bargain from businesses for illustration yours.

You want to attraction connected position that correspond personification who is adjacent to making a acquisition decision. These position tin autumn nether 2 categories:

• Product/service keywords: Terms that straight picture what you offer. If you're a plumber, this includes "emergency plumber," "drain cleaning," and "water heater repair." For an online shop trading hiking boots, this includes "hiking boots," "waterproof hiking shoes," and "men's way boots."
• Problem-solving keywords: Terms group usage erstwhile they person a problem you tin solve. The plumber mightiness target "clogged drain," "no basking water," aliases "leaking pipe." The hiking footwear retailer mightiness target "best boots for hiking" aliases "comfortable hiking footwear."

Avoid purely informational keywords successful your first campaigns. Someone searching "how to unclog a drain" wants information, not a plumber. But personification searching "emergency plumber adjacent me" wants to prosecute personification immediately.

Tools to Find the Right Keywords

You tin find keyword information for free pinch Google’s Keyword Planner wrong the Google Ads interface.

But you get reasonably constricted information and filtering options.

Get much power and perchance much suggestions pinch Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool. Just participate a seed keyword (broad term) related to your business and click “Search.”

You’ll spot a database of keywords for illustration this:

You’ll want to constrictive down this list. 

First, alteration the “Intent” select to only show “Commercial” and “Transactional” keywords (these fundamentally correspond position group hunt erstwhile they’re nearing a acquisition decision). Then click “Apply.”

Next, if you person a maximum CPC you’re consenting to pay, participate that successful the “To” container nether the “CPC (USD)” select drop-down, past click “Apply.”

If you’re not judge what to expect here, you tin usage industry benchmarks for illustration this arsenic a unsmooth guide. Just cognize that moreover CPCs wrong industries tin vary. As your run runs and you commencement gathering much data, you’ll get a amended thought of the benignant of CPC you should expect for different keywords. 

If you don’t want to specify a CPC for now, you tin besides conscionable click the “CPC (USD)” file to benignant the keywords by costs per click.

Use the filtered database of keywords to find 3 to 10 applicable position to usage for your first advertisement groups. Targeting much keywords tin springiness you much information to activity with. But it besides intends you’ll astir apt extremity up pinch position that don’t perform. 

Finally, validate your keyword choices by searching for them yourself. Look astatine what ads presently look and what types of businesses are advertising. 

If you spot applicable competitors moving ads for these terms, it's a bully motion there's commercialized worth successful those keywords.

Step 3: Choose Your Campaign and Ad Group Structure

Create your run astir a azygous business goal, merchandise category, aliases work type to support yourself organized and make it easier to study from your results. 

Keep your first run building elemental pinch 1 run and 2 to 5 advertisement groups astatine astir to debar creating excessively overmuch activity that mightiness not salary disconnected erstwhile you're conscionable starting out. 

Ad groups are clusters of ads pinch akin targeting. They fto you shape your ads astir a communal theme, for illustration circumstantial products aliases services you offer. 

You’ll besides want to lucifer your advertisement groups to your website structure. So, create abstracted advertisement groups for each merchandise class if you person abstracted pages for different categories. This makes it easier to nonstop group to the astir applicable landing page.

Here’s an illustration of really a section plumber could building an advertisement campaign:

• Campaign: Emergency Plumbing Services
• Ad Group 1: Emergency Plumber (keywords: “emergency plumber,” “24 hr plumber,” “plumber adjacent me”)
• Ad Group 2: Drain Cleaning (keywords: “drain cleaning,” “clogged drain,” “blocked drain”)
• Ad Group 3: Water Heater Repair (keywords: “water heater repair,” “no basking water,” “broken h2o heater”)

Once you’ve started moving your run and gaining data, you tin ever determine to grow later. 

Step 4: Create Conversion-Oriented Landing Pages

Your landing page—the page users onshore connected erstwhile they click your ad—should beryllium designed to person visitors into leads aliases sales.

In astir cases, you should nonstop group to dedicated landing pages—not your homepage. 

When personification clicks an advertisement for "emergency plumber," they should onshore connected a page specifically astir emergency plumbing services, not a wide plumbing website homepage. This relevance tin amended conversion rates and your ROI from your SEM campaign.

To optimize your landing page, see the pursuing elements:

• Clear headline that matches your advertisement copy
• Keywords visible connected the page
• Prominent telephone to action pinch words for illustration "Call Now" aliases "GetQuote"
• Trust signals for illustration reviews, certifications, aliases guarantees
• Contact information displayed prominently and successful a mobile-friendly measurement (e.g., tappable call/email buttons)
• Focused messaging connected 1 work aliases product
• Benefit-focused copy that explains what the imaginable customer will get

Start pinch 1 well-optimized landing page per advertisement group alternatively than trying to create the cleanable page for each keyword. You tin amended and refine your pages based connected existent capacity information erstwhile your campaigns are running.

Step 5: Write Your Ads

Your ads should straight reside what group are searching for, springiness searchers a clear logic to take your business, and align pinch what your landing page says. 

Every hunt advertisement has 3 main components: 

• Headlines
• Descriptions 
• Display URL

Of these three, your header and explanation are astir important.

Before you commencement writing, get immoderate inspiration from your competitors.

How to Get Ad Copy Inspiration

Use Semrush’s Advertising Research instrumentality to spot which ads your competitors are moving and really good they’ve performed complete time.

This lets you spot winning combinations of headlines and descriptions that you tin usage arsenic inspiration for your ain advertisement copy. This lets you attraction connected what works—wasting little clip and advertisement budget.

Start by entering a competitor’s domain into the instrumentality and clicking “Search.”

You’ll spot an overview of their paid hunt trends and apical positions. But we’re willing successful the “Ads Copies” tab.

Here, you’ll spot the nonstop transcript they’re utilizing for their ads. 

And if you click the “Keywords” drop-down nether an ad, you’ll spot the hunt queries that trigger that advertisement successful hunt results.

Use these ideas to thief you travel up pinch your ain advertisement headlines and descriptions. 

How to Write Strong Ad Headlines

Headlines are the astir important because they're what group usually announcement first, which influences whether searchers will publication the remainder of your ad.

Start your headlines pinch a main keyword erstwhile imaginable to show searchers that your advertisement matches what they’re looking for. So, your header mightiness beryllium "Emergency Plumber Available" aliases "Emergency Plumbing successful [Location]" for the keyword “emergency plumber.”

Consider adding your unsocial trading proposition successful your headline. What makes you different from competitors advertizing for the aforesaid keywords? 

Maybe you connection same-day service, person 20 years of experience, supply free estimates, aliases guarantee your work. (You tin effort these sorts of variations successful the explanation if it’s difficult to fresh into the title.)

Just statement that Google will effort different header combinations based connected the ones you adhd to spot which ones execute best. So you mightiness spot your advertisement pinch a somewhat different header to the ones you specify. 

Finally, make judge your individual headlines are nary longer than 30 characters.

How to Write Compelling Descriptions

Use your descriptions to supply further specifications that support your headlines and compel searchers to click. 

Include specifics for illustration work areas, hours of operation, typical offers, aliases credentials.

As pinch headlines, Google tin trial combinations of the descriptions you set. The characteristic limit for descriptions is 90 characters.

Here are 2 illustration ads for a plumber's drain cleaning advertisement group that person descriptions designed to build disconnected the headlines:

Ad 1:

• Headline: Professional Drain Cleaning Service
• Description: Fast drain cleaning for clogged sinks, tubs & toilets. Call now for free estimate.

Ad 2:

• Headline: 24/7 Clogged Drain Repair
• Description: Professional drain cleaning. Advanced instrumentality clears immoderate blockage. Call for free quote.

Step 6: Finalize Your Ad Setup

The adjacent measurement is to group up your advertisement targeting, adhd your keywords, and finalize the transcript for each ad. You’ll besides group your fund present too.

First, group up basal settings for illustration your target location and language. Also take your target assemblage segments.

Next, adhd your keywords that you recovered successful Step 2. You’ll adhd these astatine the advertisement group level (revisit Step 3 for much connected creating advertisement groups).

Group your keywords by theme, aliases by the merchandise aliases work they’re targeting. 

(You tin create caller advertisement groups for the aforesaid run arsenic you do much keyword research.)

You tin past adhd your headlines and descriptions you created earlier.

Finally, take your budget. Google will propose immoderate options for you here, but what you take will dangle connected your business’s existent SEM fund and what you’re trying to execute pinch your ads.

For your first SEM campaigns, commencement pinch a blimpish regular fund that you're comfortable spending while you study what works. It should springiness you capable information to optimize without risking ample losses if campaigns don't execute immediately.

Step 7: Launch, Gather Data, & Optimize

Launch your run and defy the impulse to make changes for astatine slightest a week aliases two. Google's algorithms request clip to optimize your campaigns, and you request capable information to make smart decisions. 

The metrics you’ll want to support an oculus connected arsenic your run runs include:

• Impressions: Shows really often your ads are shown to users successful hunt results
• Cost per click (CPC): Tells you really overmuch you're paying for traffic 
• Conversions: Shows whether the group clicking your ads are really buying from you (you’ll request to set up conversion tracking to spot this)
• Click-through complaint (CTR): Measures really often group click your ads erstwhile they spot them
• Return connected advertisement walk (ROAS): Shows you really overmuch gross you make for each dollar you spend connected advertising (you’ll request to way this yourself)

Which Optimizations to Make First

Once you’ve gathered capable data, present are the first optimizations to make:

• Add antagonistic keywords: Avoid bidding connected irrelevant hunt position by marking them arsenic negative keywords (i.e., position you don’t want your ads to show for)
• Pause underperforming keywords: A keyword that gets clicks but nary further results is conscionable wasting your advertisement budget
• Improve debased CTR ads: Rewrite headlines aliases descriptions for poorly performing ads and show the effect connected CTR
• Give successful campaigns much budget: It's amended to maximize what's already moving than to dispersed your fund crossed excessively galore campaigns

Most successful SEM campaigns require ongoing refinement based connected existent capacity data. 

How Do AI Overviews Affect Search Engine Marketing?

Google's AI Overviews (AIOs) are improbable to massively effect hunt motor trading campaigns—at slightest for now. 

AIOs and akin features from different hunt engines are reducing click-through rates for integrated results. 

But a Semrush study shows astir 88% of queries that trigger AI Overviews are informational. These are typically queries wherever a personification is seeking information—they’re not trying to acquisition something.

In different words, these queries are not wherever you’d beryllium focusing your SEM efforts. So the effect of AI Overviews successful their existent shape is apt to beryllium little for SEM campaigns than for SEO.

Set Up Your Winning SEM Campaign Today

A successful hunt motor trading run takes time, effort, and investment. Following the steps supra will thief you laic the foundations. 

But you tin streamline things moreover further pinch the Semrush Advertising Toolkit. It lets you do everything from competitory investigation to run planning.

Try it today.