Search Engine Marketing Courses

The online marketplace has never been more competitive. With the rapidly increasing number of digital buyers and an unprecedented boost in global retail e-commerce sales, it is more important than ever to make your business visible online.

So, how can businesses make their marketing more effective amidst the competition? Is there a way to get value from digital advertising investments while having a competitive advantage?

The answer is: search engine marketing.

Search engine marketing (abbreviated to SEM) is a digital marketing strategy aimed at increasing the visibility of websites on search engine results pages (SERPs). When done right, SEM is an effective way to grow and establish your online business presence, which is a powerful alternative to organic strategies.

Search engine marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing practice of using paid advertisements to promote a business online. The advertisements appear on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Unlike search engine optimisation (SEO), which focuses on organic search activities, SEM refers to paid search advertising. In simpler terms, advertisers pay money for their ads to appear alongside organic search results of search engines such as Google and Bing.

Also known as paid search or pay-per-click (PPC), these ads appear in various formats, from text-based advertisements to visual product listings.

For instance, what happens when you search “running shoes” on Google? While websites with a solid SEO strategy typically rank first organically, you will also find search results with a tiny “Ad” written next to them. These are paid searches.

With search engines like Google being the primary source for online searches, your products or services must rank first in SERPs when a user is searching for them.

With countless businesses like yours vying for attention and recognition from the same target audience, the last thing you want is to get invisible among the millions of searches on SERPs. While organic marketing efforts through SEO are great, they may not be enough to give your business the limelight it needs to stand out from competitors.

Search engine marketing is one of the fastest and most effective ways to directly reach your target audience by displaying paid ads among search engine results. It takes advantage of the psychology of online shoppers, who are more likely to make a purchase the moment they see relevant ads with at-a-glance information like price and product details. As soon as consumers search for a product like yours, they directly see your ad at a prominent location on SERPs without having to scroll further down.

Let’s look at the objectives search engine marketing seeks to fulfill:

1. Generating and reinforcing brand recognition

2. Reaching consumers at the right place and time

3. Tapping the target audience

4. Offering a competitive advantage

5. Scaling with business growth

1. Generating brand awareness and recognition

Since SEM puts ads at the top of search engine results pages, it’s easier for consumers to become aware of your brand. With more awareness comes greater recognition and, eventually, a boost in sales. Repeatedly and consistently presenting your brand increases the chances of a prospect becoming a paying customer. Recognition increases familiarity, and people are more likely to engage with brands they are familiar with than brands with a meek online presence.

2. Reaching consumers at the right place and time

A significant chunk of global online search experiences starts with a search engine like Google. Thus, making yourself prominent on search engine results pages is an effective way to reach prospects precisely when searching for something you offer. However, every click on your paid ads may not turn into a sale. Yet, it serves as a crucial touchpoint and takes the prospect further down the sales funnel towards becoming a loyal customer.

3. Tapping the target audience

Unlike traditional marketing strategies, search engine advertising brings you several steps closer to your target audience. Traditional advertising avenues are expensive, and even after spending a fortune on advertising campaigns, you may never be able to focus on your target customers. On the contrary, the users have selected CTR as the bidding strategy but it can be costly if the users are paying for views/ impressions. Moreover, SEM is a sure-shot way to feature on top of SERPs and be noticeable to your audience.

4. Offering a competitive advantage

When done right, search engine marketing can reinforce your SEO strategies. If you already have exceptional SEO strategies with a coveted spot on SERPs, SEM allows you to appear above organic search results with paid ads. With a solid and compelling SEM strategy, you can easily stay ahead of your competitors and establish your market presence.

5. Scaling with business growth

Since SEM is scalable, you can gradually increase your search engine marketing efforts as your business grows. In addition, SEM is flexible, letting you refine your paid advertising campaigns depending on your marketing goals and objectives. You can keep your budget limited and see what works best for your business. Once you identify the best strategies, you can scale your efforts to match your marketing expectations.

Although modern interpretations define SEM as paid online advertising, search engine marketing is of the following three types:

1. Pay-per-click (PPC)

2. Organic SEO

3. Local SEO

Let’s explore each type of search engine marketing.

1. Pay-per-click (PPC)

In the pay-per-click or PPC model, the advertiser must pay a fee every time a user clicks on their online advertisement on SERPs. Also known as Sponsored Search or Sponsored Ads, PPC search results are easily visible to online searchers due to their prominent position at the top of SERPs. Google labels paid search results as “Ad” or “Sponsored.”

2. Organic SEO

Unlike the PPC model of online advertising, organic SEO aims to increase online visibility and drive traffic through organic search results. A search engine optimisation method helps businesses gain organic traffic and increased visibility through unpaid and non-local results. Hence, advertisers need not pay a fee for every click-through to their site.

3. Local SEO

Local SEO aims to get your business to appear in Google Map results. Like organic SEO, there is no charge involved in implementing a local SEO strategy. Unlike organic SEO with a global reach, local SEO focuses on increasing the business’ visibility within a specific geographical area. Thus, it mainly caters to the local audience and helps them discover companies online.