Search engine marketing
The term (SEM) unites the two online marketing disciplines of search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine advertising (SEA). With both methods, the goal for one's own site is to achieve the greatest possible visibility on the internet. The difference lies only in the fact that SEO aims to improve positions in the organic, free search engine results, while in the SEA area (ads above and to the right of the organic search results), the focus is on optimizing ads and campaigns for conversions, a good click rate, or even low click prices. Since both methods are based on a strategic orientation, they can also be assigned to the marketing area or to their own discipline, search engine marketing.
Search engine marketing definition - brief and concise:
Search engine marketing includes all measures in SEO and SEA that serve to attract visitors to one's own website via the search engine results.
Search engine marketing: THE pull marketing instrument
The probably biggest differentiation between other online marketing topics, or marketing in general, is that SEM is not a push-marketing measure, but a pull-marketing measure. This means that there is no attempt to interrupt the recipient in their current activity, as is the case with TV commercials, for example. The customer, for instance, approaches the shop operator. This results from having a specific problem and searching for a solution to it. This is where the pull factor and thus the search engine marketing comes into play. It is the provider's task to find out what "problems" and intentions the consumer might have (in other words: how to search for what) and, if my offer provides an appropriate solution, to position myself in such a way that the potential customer becomes aware of my problem-solving offer.
Why is search engine marketing important?
More and more people are searching for information and products on an internet search engine. In 2022, more than 85% of Germans shopped online more than once a month. The trend is rising - not least because the lockdowns during the Corona pandemic contributed to the flourishing of online shops and people shopping on the internet.
Therefore, shop operators must absolutely adapt their websites to the users' behavior through marketing measures. The most important thing: They must be found among a variety of different providers. Search engine marketing helps with this. Through organic search results and paid ads, as well as relevant content, they gain more and more visibility. Anyone who doesn't take care of the topic of SEM nowadays shouldn't be surprised if sales are lacking.
But information is also important for seekers. Even those who don't operate a shop but, for example, want to promote their blog would do well to strategically use SEM so that posts are read, on which further cooperation depends.
With well-coordinated search engine marketing, several goals are achieved: If a good ad or a well-optimized page is created and optimized for the most important primary and secondary keywords, it will ideally appear high up in the search engine results when a user makes a search query.
If the user clicks on it and spends some time on the website after their search, it signals to a search engine like Google that it is relevant for the entered keyword. If an additional step follows, such as a conversion (for example, purchasing a product, registering for a newsletter, utilizing a service), then that's even better. The shop generates revenue, and consequently, the conversion rate rises, which in turn helps the website to appear high in the search results.
Search engine marketing reaches people who are searching at exactly the right time: when they enter a keyword in the search engines and come across your brand. SEM is thus a marketing tool that offers the fastest way to bring people closer to your brand and your website.
The contribution of search engine marketing to business success
Whether the focus is on SEO or SEA is evaluated differently from a strategic perspective from company to company. However, exploiting both possibilities, that is, utilizing the entire search engine marketing potential, can make an essential contribution to business success. Both approaches should be tested to collect empirical data on which method brings the higher performance contribution. Conclusions can then be drawn for further optimization in the area of search engine marketing.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization is known as SEO. Here, several measures can be taken to ensure that one's own website appears high up in the top ten of the search engine's organic search results. Appearing in the organic results is free, but of course costs, especially time, must still be invested to optimize a website accordingly. In SEO, a distinction is made between off-page and on-page measures to optimize a site.
On-page optimizations, as the name suggests, are applied directly on the page. The most important thing is that the page is optimized for the correct keyword, which should be researched beforehand.
Off-page optimizations in SEO include measures outside the page. This can be the representation in social media or external link building, which helps to increase a page's trust and relevance.
What is SEA?
In search engine advertising, or SEA, ads are placed via a search engine. Since most internet users in Germany use Google as a search engine, the Google Ads platform is the go-to place to start campaigns. In SEA, you can specify the products or pages to be advertised. Specifying a budget and the advertising period helps in controlling the costs of the ads. Keyword research is also important in SEA to truly engage searchers.
Search engine marketing is indispensable
We see that search engine marketing is an indispensable tool on the internet. With SEO and SEA, searchers are reached through search engines, the ranking in search result lists increases, and the sales of shop operators generally rise.
Both with SEO and SEA, it is particularly important to conduct thorough keyword research to understand which terms are being searched for. Only after optimizing pages and ads can they bear fruit. If search engine marketing is strategically used correctly, the first successes will surely soon follow.