What is SEM? Everything you need to know
Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2024 9:53 am
In this article we will analyze one of the concepts that you will have heard the most if you move in the Digital Marketing environment, since it is one of the practices that brands carry out the most due to the good short-term results that it usually offers.
Do you know what SEM is? Do you know the benefits that this type of action can bring to your brand or business? Pay attention because we are going to tell you everything.
What is SEM and what does it consist of?
The acronym SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing , and although in marketing jargon, SEM is used to refer to all paid advertising campaigns in search engines, the reality is totally different, since Search Engine Marketing encompasses all marketing actions carried out in different business owner database search engines, whether organic or paying in Google Ads or Bing Ads, for example. To avoid confusion, in this article we will refer to SEM whenever we talk about paid ads to appear in search engines or in Display .
what is sem
After the clarification, and to give a more specific definition of what SEM is, it should be noted that it encompasses all the techniques, strategies and tools that are responsible for optimizing the visibility of different web pages in search engines . In other words, what is intended, through this set of actions, is to appear (by paying) in the first positions of the search engines when the user performs searches by inserting different key words.
Key concepts to understand what SEM is
Since nine out of ten Spaniards use Google as their main search engine on their computers, the concepts that we are going to explain below have to do solely and exclusively with Google Ads:
Impressions : This data reflects the number of times your ad has been shown to users.
Clicks: Number of times users click on your ad.
CTR ( click through rate ): This is a formula that records the number of clicks an ad receives in relation to the number of impressions it has had.
CPC (cost per click): This is one of the bidding strategies in Google Ads, in which the advertiser only pays if the user clicks on their ad.
CPM (cost per thousand impressions): In this strategy, advertisers pay when their ad has received 1,000 impressions.
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): With this bidding strategy, advertisers look for conversions and only pay when they occur.
Text ads in search: This is one of the types of ads that we can create in Google Ads. It is based solely on text, with a title of no more than 25 characters, two descriptive lines and a linked URL.
Image ad on the Display Network: Everything related to advertising in the form of banners that appear on web pages of different scopes.
Ad Group: As the name suggests, ad groups are sets of ads and keywords that are grouped into campaigns. These campaigns will specify the maximum daily budget allocated, as well as the physical locations where you want the ads to appear.
Keyword: Any marketing strategy related to search engine advertising is based on keywords, since they are responsible for activating your ads.
Quality Score: This is a score given by Google. If your ad has a higher quality score, you will theoretically pay less for CPC.
What can I do to ensure that my paid ads appear in a good position?
sem-search engines
Now that you have a clear idea of each of the basic concepts that make up SEM, let's move on to the most important thing, the creation of paid advertising campaigns:
Before creating a campaign in Google Ads or any other search engine advertising management tool, it is best to conduct a keyword study to determine which keywords best match the products or services your business offers or which keywords are most similar to your buyer persona . To conduct the study, you can use specific tools for this purpose , such as Semrush or Google's own Keyword Planner.
Do you know what SEM is? Do you know the benefits that this type of action can bring to your brand or business? Pay attention because we are going to tell you everything.
What is SEM and what does it consist of?
The acronym SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing , and although in marketing jargon, SEM is used to refer to all paid advertising campaigns in search engines, the reality is totally different, since Search Engine Marketing encompasses all marketing actions carried out in different business owner database search engines, whether organic or paying in Google Ads or Bing Ads, for example. To avoid confusion, in this article we will refer to SEM whenever we talk about paid ads to appear in search engines or in Display .
what is sem
After the clarification, and to give a more specific definition of what SEM is, it should be noted that it encompasses all the techniques, strategies and tools that are responsible for optimizing the visibility of different web pages in search engines . In other words, what is intended, through this set of actions, is to appear (by paying) in the first positions of the search engines when the user performs searches by inserting different key words.
Key concepts to understand what SEM is
Since nine out of ten Spaniards use Google as their main search engine on their computers, the concepts that we are going to explain below have to do solely and exclusively with Google Ads:
Impressions : This data reflects the number of times your ad has been shown to users.
Clicks: Number of times users click on your ad.
CTR ( click through rate ): This is a formula that records the number of clicks an ad receives in relation to the number of impressions it has had.
CPC (cost per click): This is one of the bidding strategies in Google Ads, in which the advertiser only pays if the user clicks on their ad.
CPM (cost per thousand impressions): In this strategy, advertisers pay when their ad has received 1,000 impressions.
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): With this bidding strategy, advertisers look for conversions and only pay when they occur.
Text ads in search: This is one of the types of ads that we can create in Google Ads. It is based solely on text, with a title of no more than 25 characters, two descriptive lines and a linked URL.
Image ad on the Display Network: Everything related to advertising in the form of banners that appear on web pages of different scopes.
Ad Group: As the name suggests, ad groups are sets of ads and keywords that are grouped into campaigns. These campaigns will specify the maximum daily budget allocated, as well as the physical locations where you want the ads to appear.
Keyword: Any marketing strategy related to search engine advertising is based on keywords, since they are responsible for activating your ads.
Quality Score: This is a score given by Google. If your ad has a higher quality score, you will theoretically pay less for CPC.
What can I do to ensure that my paid ads appear in a good position?
sem-search engines
Now that you have a clear idea of each of the basic concepts that make up SEM, let's move on to the most important thing, the creation of paid advertising campaigns:
Before creating a campaign in Google Ads or any other search engine advertising management tool, it is best to conduct a keyword study to determine which keywords best match the products or services your business offers or which keywords are most similar to your buyer persona . To conduct the study, you can use specific tools for this purpose , such as Semrush or Google's own Keyword Planner.