Have you ever wondered how do your internet surfing somethings just show you the things you want to see?
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
It is where marketers utilise the Search Engine Algorithm to generate awareness of the product or even generation of leads or even sales through this wonderful creation.
The idea of utilising such tools is where the “virtual machine” will allow marketers to have the opportunity to reach out to viewers who are ready or looking for information to reach out to them.
So how does SEM works? The fundamental concept is that the end user will enter a keyword, which will then allow businesses related to the keyword to display in their search results for that query.
Search Engine Marketing is classified into two types: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) / Search Advertising.
Search Engine Optimization(SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) works in a way where you don’t pay for keywords but instead your brand’s content or information relevant enough to be visible to your audiences. Thus, a constant update or improving your website where it can be visible or relevant enough to appear more often on searches.
It is given that when your brand or business is more visible, the more likely your businesses will generate more leads and sales.
For example, Google will use bots to have an overview of all the sites where they go to each and every site and collect information. They will then collate them into a huge resources centre where then you are able to seek these resources from.
For an optimal SEO to occur for your business, you need to meet the criteria for that particular search engine. Like Google has a requirement of over 200 which consist of frequency, occurrence in headings and the density of your content.
Below are some examples of SEO scores for each site while using Seobilty.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) or Search Advertising
Adwords and paid keywords are components of Search Advertising, also known as Pay-Per-Click. It is an internet marketing approach in which advertisers pay a price whenever their ads are clicked, therefore pay-per-click.
One grand example of a PPC model is Google Ads where it is a platform that allows you to reach to the right people at the right time. Similar to how SEO concept works, it reaches to the right individuals in the google search.
However, getting these keywords on ads isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Most platforms like these usually require a bidding to take place. Google ads will allow marketers, advertisers or businesses to bid for keywords where on Google Ads Platform.
Guido Bartolacci from New Breed Revenue shares that bidding for keywords is like virtual version of an auction taking place.
Here’s a tutorial by Google Ads on how the Search ad Auction works.
So you must be wondering, how do I optimize my keyword ranking?
It is slightly similar to SEO but yet different.
Firstly Ad relevance, where your keyword ad relevance score to your message in the ads.
Secondly is the Landing Page Experience. Your landing page content has to be relevant to the keyword you bid for.
Lastly Expected click-through rate. An estimation given by the Google Ads system for your keyword. The most complex out of the three where how likely your keyword will be clicked on.
Well with all these knowledge I’ve shared with you, you are ready to embark on this journey of utilising Search Engine Marketing.
Let me know what you think about this by commenting below!
References
Bartolacci, G., 2022. New Breed Blog | Guido Bartolacci. [online] Newbreedrevenue.com. Available at: <https://www.newbreedrevenue.com/blog/author/guido-bartolacci> [Accessed 12 February 2022].
Clyde, W., 2022. Understanding Keyword Bidding in Google Ads. [online] Newbreedrevenue.com. Available at: <https://www.newbreedrevenue.com/blog/understanding-keyword-bidding> [Accessed 12 February 2022].
Desranleau, I., 2022. How To Measure the Performance of Your Paid Ad Campaigns. [online] Newbreedrevenue.com. Available at: <https://www.newbreedrevenue.com/blog/how-to-measure-the-performance-of-your-paid-ad-campaigns> [Accessed 12 February 2022].
Forsey, C., 2022. The Ultimate Guide to SEM (Search Engine Marketing). [online] Blog.hubspot.com. Available at: <https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/search-engine-marketing> [Accessed 12 February 2022].
Kanner, Q., 2022. 7 B2B Landing Page Best Practices to Increase Conversion Rates. [online] Newbreedrevenue.com. Available at: <https://www.newbreedrevenue.com/blog/b2b-landing-page-best-practices> [Accessed 12 February 2022].
Optimizely. 2022. Search engine marketing. [online] Available at: <https://www.optimizely.com/optimization-glossary/search-engine-marketing/> [Accessed 12 February 2022].
Search Engine Land. 2022. What Is SEO / Search Engine Optimization?. [online] Available at: <https://searchengineland.com/guide/what-is-seo> [Accessed 12 February 2022].
Seobility. 2022. SEO Checker | Test your website for free with Seobility. [online] Available at: <https://www.seobility.net/en/seocheck/> [Accessed 12 February 2022].
WordStream. 2022. Search Engine Marketing (SEM): How to Do It Right | WordStream. [online] Available at: <https://www.wordstream.com/search-engine-marketing> [Accessed 12 February 2022].
WordStream. 2022. What Is PPC? Learn the Basics of Pay-Per-Click Marketing. [online] Available at: <https://www.wordstream.com/ppc> [Accessed 12 February 2022].
Daryl Goh LF03 
A very informative blog showing the different types of SEM available, and how SEO and PPC are conducted differently between the businesses! As shown in your sample companies under SEO marketing (Shoppee/tesla/Twitter) , I do wonder what are some of the considerations that often push bigger brands to the top of SERP through organic means? Could it be the reputable image of the brand, , larger funding to develop their websites, or a more experienced team that can identify essential keywords?
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Hello WenYi,
Thanks for the comment and for giving it a good read through.
I believe in this case where the organic data was done so in their landing page or rather their main content which consists of a lot of keywords done by their writing department etc.
Another thing to consider of their brand, if we were to search their brand specifically such as Tesla, back in 2005 people would have thought that Nikola Tesla would appear at the top of the searches. Now the keyword Tesla has become a household name, Google’s library would have classified the word “Tesla” as Tesla Motors instead of the scientist.
Thank you for the comment and I enjoyed the Eureka moment as I was writing this.
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Hello Daryl, I’m impressed by the SEO audit tools you’ve presented and the scores of major companies from sectors like retail, technology, and media – the content captures readers of varying interests/from various sectors alike and gives immediate takeaways such as how they benchmark against the listed companies.
It’d be great if you could also highlight the use of negative keywords in PPC too as it can save businesses’ campaign budgets since they nulled out irrelevant search terms which can otherwise trigger the ads. It has three categories businesses can work with: broad, phase, and exact. For example, under broad, a business ad on running shoes could be triggered by a broad search term of tennis shoes.
It’s definitely a useful tool for businesses to avoid wasted ad impressions.
All in all, your post is very well-researched and written! I appreciate the embedded video for the audio-visual explanations of Google Ad, it offers greater context without being redirected to another page.
Well done and I’ll keep a lookout for your next post!
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Hello JiaMin,
Thank you for the comment! Yes, I agree and definitely brings some insights to the use of keywords in PPC. I appreciate the in-depth knowledge you have shared and that is something I should look into before embarking on a career in Digital marketing.
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Hi Daryl! Have to say this blog is really well written! With ample amount of examples given to each pointer, giving readers like me more understanding to what this entire SEM is about! I want to know what are your thoughts given the advancement in technology and how Adblockers are being used widely to block out ads especially on YouTube at the moment , do you thing there might be a chance that people in the future might be able to filter out ads even on google search and website ad panels?
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Hello Jonathan,
I do agree that adblockers would be an issue or obstacle that businesses would face in getting their right audiences. Perhaps this is an opportunity for businesses to utilise SEO more compared to PPC. I am a firm believer in Organic data which can be very beneficial in the long run.
Thank you for the comment, Jonathan!
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Hello Daryl, thank you for this wonderful blog post. Love how in-dept the each of the contents are for each different pointers!
This post is really beneficial for everyone with the amount of examples that were included in the different pointers.
However, it would be great if you could include some tips and tricks for new businesses to learn from as they embark onto this new journey.
Overall, I must agree that this post give people a really clear viewpoint towards the SEM and SEO! Good job and thank you so much! ^^
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Hello JingWen,
Thank you for the comment! Yes definitely, perhaps new businesses should spend more effort in content and strategize to have a higher SEO ranking by churning out enough data for it to happen.
As for PPC, new businesses perhaps can look into bidding for keywords that is affordable and more relevant to their businesses.
Once again, thank you for the comment!
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