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Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

(Semester – I)

What Is Search Engine Marketing & How Does It Work?

NAME – Manisha Gupta

REGISTRATION NUMBER – 202104939

PGCM (DM)-2021

SYMBIOSIS CENTRE FOR DISTANCE LEARNING (SCDL)

 Search Engine Marketing

SEM (search engine marketing) is a digital marketing strategy that aims to increase the online
visibility of websites on the search engine results page (SERP).

This usually comes in the form of search ads that you see above non-paid, or organic, results.

Here’s what it looks like:

 In this article, we’ll cover:

 How search engine marketing works

 How ad auctions work

 SEM best practices 

Let’s get started.

SEM vs. SEO

SEM is a digital marketing strategy used to increase your site's visibility in search results. This
can include both paid and organic (SEO) efforts. 

While SEM broadly covers more than just paid marketing, it’s often also referred to as pay-per-
click (PPC) marketing. This is a business model where marketers pay each time someone clicks
their ad.

SEO, on the other hand, refers to organic results—i.e., “free” traffic as a result of providing
relevant, useful content that ranks well on Google.

An effective SEO strategy can help you earn long-term traffic, while search engine ads can help
improve your visibility and earn clicks from people ready to buy your product.

While SEM is a nuanced term, we’ll focus on using it to reference a paid search strategy from
here on out.

How Does Search Engine Marketing Work?

SEM can be a powerful way to reach new customers and drive revenue because it ranks your
site above organic results on the search engine results page (SERP).
Just look at the SERP for “meditation apps.” Headspace ranks first organically, but also holds

the top Google ad spot:

You may be wondering why they’re bidding on the keyword if they already rank organically.

The reason is simple: they take up more real estate on the SERP this way. And even if their
organic rankings fluctuate, they still have a chance to appear at the top of the page.

It’s especially important to hook users from the top of the SERP if they’re ready to buy.
Otherwise, they may choose the easiest, most visible option (which may be your competitor’s
ad).

But for your site to appear at the top of the SERP, you’ll need to win an ad auction. 
 How Ad Auctions Work

To secure coveted paid ad spots at the top of the SERP, advertisers bid on keywords. Whoever
wins the auction gets the top spot.
For our purposes, let’s cover how bids work in Google Ads.

To enter an ad auction, you’ll need to identify two important things:

1. The keywords you want to bid on

2. How much you’re willing to spend per click for each keyword 

The right price will depend on your industry—for example, the average CPC for insurance and
legal is higher than less competitive niches like home and garden.

Learn more about some of the expensive industries here.

Once Google determines that the keywords you bid on appear in users’ search queries, your ads
will be entered into the auction.

Ads will only appear on searches with enough commercial intent (i.e., users are ready to buy).
Like the ad for Headspace above—people are ready to buy a subscription. 

Whereas informational searches like “what is copywriting” only display organic results:
 There are also several factors that influence whether or not your ad will win the bidding, even if
it’s a good fit for the keyword.

Here’s how Google decides which ad will win.

How to Win an Ad Auction

According to Google Ads guidelines, there are five main factors that they consider during an ad
auction:
1. Maximum bid: The maximum amount you're willing to pay for a click on your ad 

2. Quality Score: The formula that Google Ads uses to determine the relevance of your ad, or
how useful it will be for the user
3. Impact of ad extensions: The additional information you provided in your ad (phone
number, links to specific pages, etc.) 
4. Ad rank: Ad rank is a combination of your bid and the quality of your ad and landing page.
Google requires ads to meet a minimum quality threshold in order to be shown in a higher
position.
5. Ad context: When calculating ad rank, Google takes context into account. This includes the
search term used, the user’s location, the time of search, the device used, and more.

The maximum bid refers to Google’s automated bidding strategies, which you have full control
over. The same is true for ad extensions that might impact your ad performance.

The Quality Score, however, is a number between 1-10 assigned to you by Google. And it’s the
reason why your ad only wins auctions for relevant queries.
The Quality Score is the gatekeeper of PPC advertising—it ensures that the ads users see are
helpful and relevant.

If your ad matches too many irrelevant or generic queries, the costs of your paid search will rise
exponentially.

This can damage your return on investment (ROI), and likely won’t yield the results you hoped
for.

SEM Best Practices & Helpful Tips

To craft a successful ad campaign, you’ll need to structure your campaign correctly, choose the
right keywords, write solid ad copy, and analyze competitors’ ads.
 Here’s how to get started:

Set Up Google Ads Account & Campaign Structure

Follow these steps from Google to set up your Ads account. But don’t just jump into your first
campaign.

Make the most out of your paid search budget by structuring your campaigns strategically. Here
are the four parts of an ad that you need to familiarize yourself with:

 Campaign: Set of ad groups that share a budget, target location, and other settings
 Ad group: Sets of keywords divided by theme
 Keyword: Terms you are bidding on
 Ad: Copy that users will see when your ad is triggered

Set up your ad groups so that they target specific keyword clusters that will resonate with your
audience. Bidding on keywords randomly will waste a lot of your budget. 

Here’s what a well-structured Google Ads account looks like:

 Choose the Right Keywords

Good keyword research is the first step to a successful SEM campaign because it allows you to
target the right audience.

And getting your links in front of the right audience—i.e., people who are ready to buy—means
more clicks and purchases.

The “right” keywords for your campaign depend on many factors, including search intent,
volume, competition, and cost per click.

If you’re starting paid keyword research from scratch, head over to our Keyword Magic Tool.
Enter a keyword that’s relevant to your business and scroll through the results to start
brainstorming ad groups.

Take advantage of the filters available and choose keywords to exclude (this is an
easy way to add negative keywords, which we’ll cover later).
 Here are the main things to consider when picking which keywords to target:

Target Keywords with Commercial & Transactional Intent

Google’s algorithm takes search intent and wording into account and serves the results it thinks
are the best matches.

Search intent has four main categories:

 Navigational (looking for something specific)

 Informational (learning about a topic)

 Commercial (investigating products, services, or brands)

 Transactional (intending to make a purchase)

Here are some examples in action:

Those looking for commercial or transactional keywords are more likely to make a purchase by
the end of their search. So it’s best to focus on these types of keywords for your ads.
 Review Keyword Volume & Competition
Aim for a mixture of broader, more competitive keywords as well as less competitive keywords
that are highly specific to your audience.

It’s a balancing act—you want your brand to show up for competitive keywords and also attract
qualified leads.

If you see a keyword you’re interested in, first check the Volume column:

There’s no perfect search volume because it varies by industry. So do preliminary research to

see how expensive keywords are in your niche.

If you’re happy with the keyword volume, check the Competitive Density. This refers to the
level of competition between advertisers bidding on a particular keyword.
Competitive Density is shown on a scale between 0.00 to 1.00, with 1.00 being the most
competitive.

It can be found here:

Once you find keywords with acceptable volume and competition, consider their cost per click
—i.e., how much you need to bid to win the auction.

Look at Cost Per Click

In a Google Ads auction, the ad with the best Quality Score and the highest bid will win the ad
placement.

This means that competitive keywords are more expensive.

It can be worthwhile to go after competitive keywords if you have the budget but do your
research first to get an idea of what the CPC will be.
You can use the Keyword Magic Tool or do so directly in Google Ads.

Once you find your keyword in the Keyword Magic Tool, check the “CPC” column:

If you plan to bid on a more competitive keyword, make sure not to bid too low or your ad may
not get picked.

This is generally true for all keywords, but you can get away with bidding less on niche
keywords with lower competition.