Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
What is SEM
Search Engine Marketing in very simple terms is the process of acquiring traffic through the search engines by either paid or organic traffic methods. The quickest method of course is through paid advertisements, commonly referred to as pay per click traffic (ppc). The remaining method is through search engine optimization or SEO.
Pay Per Click
When using pay per click traffic, it can take some time to figure out which demographic resonates with your ads the most, so you know where to focus with your marketing efforts. There are typically 3 phases or setting up any paid traffic campaign. The first phase is called the "Testing" phase. In the testing phase we will be testing all aspects of the ad copy, and demographics to see which ad set is the true winner and brings in the most amount of traffic and conversions. Discarding all the losing ad placements and swapping out bad sales copy with a more refined phrase. After we have established a winning ad copy, and found the perfect demographic, we can then proceed to phase 2. The second phase is called "Scaling". During this phase we will be continually testing the ad budget and monitoring the point of where we are spending too much money and not getting an equal traffic boost in return. You are looking to find the best combination of ad budget versus clicks, because sometimes we can spend more but our click thru rate can actually decline. We want to maintain a high click thru rate because we will be rewarded for doing so. Now that we have found an equilibrium of ad costs vs clicks, we can now move to phase 3. This last phase is the "Conversion" phase. In this phase we are now again focusing back on your websites or landing pages to see what can be done to increase our conversion ratio. Sometimes it is as simple as changing the color on an action button. Other times, we need to dig a little deeper and spend some more time on the landing page ad copy, or adjust the price on your product or service. All of this to achieve an optimal campaign. Yes, it's a lengthy process but once it's completed you can reap the fruits of your labor.
Search Engine Optimization
If you're looking to build a sustainable business in which traffic flows to your business on autopilot and for free, then you need to focus on search engine optimization. Commonly referred to as SEO. This process takes a bit longer to get results, but once those results start to build you can contribute a minimal effort for the same amount of traffic as paid ads. When working with onsite optimization it takes a while for search engines to rank your pages or changes before you will see the effects, unlike with paid traffic you can see those adjustments almost instantly. If you are in a niche that cannot be promoted via paid traffic, then SEO is the way to go. There is no market that cannot be marketed with search engine optimization. If you want to read more about SEO click here.
Let us Manage your Campaigns
If all of this sounds like too much work for you or your company to take on, we can take over this task while you focus on your day to day. We can establish a marketing plan that will fit your company and budget, and get it up and running fast. If you're interested in hiring a gladiator to manage your search engine marketing campaigns. Please feel free to give us a call or send us a request.