When you want to 'search' for something, you research it on the internet, say if you are looking for the nearest fine dining restaurant and to read some reviews on your best options. These days, we would just whip out our mobile phones and search for it on Google. Gone were the days of scanning Sunday papers for recommendations in the Food sections, and cutting it out for the time to come, or having to ask around the room who would know, and who to call to ask for recommendations. So how can a Search Engine Marketing Consultant help you?
A Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Consultant is a professional who specializes in the planning, execution, and optimization of paid search advertising campaigns. SEM, often referred to as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, involves promoting websites and businesses by placing ads on search engine results pages (e.g., Google, Bing) and other online platforms.
Here are the key responsibilities and roles of an SEM Consultant:
Keyword Research: SEM Consultants conduct in-depth keyword research to identify the most relevant and effective keywords for a client's advertising campaigns. They aim to target keywords that align with the client's goals and have a reasonable level of search volume.
Ad Campaign Setup: They create and set up ad campaigns on search engine advertising platforms, such as Google Ads. This involves defining campaign objectives, ad groups, budget allocation, ad creatives, and bidding strategies.
Ad Copywriting: SEM Consultants write compelling ad copy that encourages users to click on the ads. They strive to create engaging and relevant ad text that reflects the client's products or services.
Bid Management: They manage bids for keywords to ensure the client's ads appear in relevant search results while optimizing the cost per click (CPC) to achieve the best return on investment (ROI).
A/B Testing: SEM Consultants frequently perform A/B testing to refine ad copy, landing pages, and other campaign elements to determine what works best for achieving the client's goals.
Landing Page Optimization: They work to ensure that the landing pages to which ads direct users are well-optimized for conversions. This involves improving page load times, content relevance, and user experience.
Performance Analysis: Consultants use analytics tools to track the performance of ad campaigns. They monitor key metrics like click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, quality score, and ROI.
Budget Management: SEM Consultants help clients allocate their advertising budget effectively, making sure that they get the most value for their investment.
Ad Extensions: They use ad extensions to enhance the visibility and relevance of ads, including site link extensions, callout extensions, and structured snippet extensions.
Competition Analysis: SEM Consultants keep a close eye on competitors' strategies, keyword targeting, and ad copy to identify opportunities for gaining a competitive advantage.
Geotargeting: They may use geotargeting to ensure that ads are shown to users in specific geographic regions, which can be essential for local businesses.
Negative Keywords: Identifying and incorporating negative keywords into campaigns helps prevent ads from appearing in irrelevant searches, saving advertising budget.
Report Generation: Consultants create regular reports to update clients on campaign performance, highlighting key metrics and areas for improvement.
SEM Consultants play a crucial role in helping businesses maximize their online visibility and achieve their marketing goals through paid advertising. Their expertise in keyword research, bid management, ad copywriting, and campaign optimization is essential for delivering effective SEM campaigns.
And with the high internet penetration of the global population these days on smartphones and tablets, we can search almost anywhere we are these days, especially with the success in widespread internet coverage. And people are searching all day, everyday, about 2 trillion searches per year according to research by Search Engine Land, a big digital marketplace for sure. And they are there in Google search marketplace for all sorts of things that they are looking for. But the question is, when they search, will they find you?
Search Engine Marketing is the discipline of promoting your search results in search engines, by means of:
Unpaid initiatives - utilizing SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Paid ad initiatives - buying traffic through paid listings PPC (Pay per Click)
A lot of money and effort can be spent on both sides of the Search Engine Marketing initiatives to help you improve your position on relevant search results pages, whether it is due to organic factors that you appear on top, or whether it is because you paid for it. Business is business, but each tactic has its own pros and cons to take into consideration.
For startup entrepreneurs, PPC is an easy option for even independent business people or those not very computer savvy can subscribe for. And it can also be expensive to get SEO experts to work on improving your search results. But if you know how to do some SEO yourself, it will be well worth it.
What shows up on the Google Search Results Page & What is a Search Engine Marketing Consultant
So you suddenly feel you need a facial and search for 'facial near me' on Google. Take a look at the three primary types of searches that appear on the first page.
1. Paid Search Ads
for facial spas that have paid for PPC
2. Local Listings
These have been aggregated according to geographical proximity to you
3. Organic Listings
These are the searches that Google has pulled up naturally, and where those competitors have likely applied SEO to their websites.
So now you have an idea of what goes where. But stay tuned in future articles to find out how to get it there.