You may know what SEO is (Search Engine Optimization), but do you know what SEM is? SEM stands for search engine marketing. It’s an effective way to increase revenue and reach new customers for your contractor business.
The team here at Contractor Charlie put together a short guide to help you understand SEM and how to use it in your business strategy. We make sure you understand how our services work and other marketing avenues you can take.
What is SEM?
SEM is paid marketing for your business. This could be through Google ads, Bing, Yahoo, and any search engine where you can pay for ads. Other words for this type of marketing include:
- PPC- this stands for pay-per-click
- Paid advertising
- Paid search ads
You are probably more familiar with SEM then you realize. However, you might be surprised at the number of businesses that are not paying for online ads.
Is Paid Social Media Ads The Same?
Actually, paid social media ads are not quite the same as search engine marketing. The biggest difference is when the ads display. Typically, social media ads display solely based off of the user’s behavior.
For example, when you build a Facebook campaign, you will select your target demographic. You can input the area, buying trends, gender, age range and more. While you can target with Google ads, the ads themselves are shown to people who are not particularly searching for them.
How SEM Works
When you put together a Google ads campaign, it is found solely by keywords searched by a user. Google will show your ads if they are targeting the same keywords. For example, if you run an ad for “roofer in Dallas”, then people that are searching for that term will be shown ads that are targeting those words.
Search engine ads are shown to a user based off a few factors, such as:
- Ad spend- ads are bid on and go to the highest bidder. This is why it is a good idea to figure out which keywords you have a better chance of ranking for. You can type in the keyword to Ubersuggest put out by Neil Patel to see an estimation of a keywords CPC (cost-per-click).
- Location- when you set up your ad campaign, you want to refine it to the location that is within your service area. This way, the ad is only shown to people that are inside of that range.
- Demographics- you can refine your target market by age group, gender, profession, and interests. Your ads will be shown to those that fall inside of those demographics.
How Does SEO and SEM Compare?
These two types of marketing are in no way shape or form the same thing. SEO is a strategy that you use on your website to increase organic traffic. Organic traffic is the users that find your website through a Google search and do not click on your ad.
SEM is when a user finds your site because they clicked an ad. When you have ads running, it will put you ahead of other websites on the search results page.
Why Bother With SEO?
If ads can get you on the first page, then why bother with SEO? There are many reasons that you need to invest in SEO even if you have ads running.
Here is why you need to put search engine optimization in place:
- Better website- the entire point of SEO is to provide your user with a great experience. When you invest in these strategies on your website, you’ll give readers the value they are looking for.
- Greater chances of ranking- the more content you put on your site and the more keywords you target, the greater chances you have of being found. There are hundreds of phrases that no one is targeting in their ads. You want to be on the first page of as many keyword searches as possible.
- Marketing budget- paying for ads is not cheap. Depending on your industry, you could spend anywhere from $2-$100 per click. Since you can only target one keyword and a few variations on a single ad, you would rack up a large bill if you rely on ads 100%. When you invest in SEO, that will bring you long-term results, whereas ads are a quick fix.
Contact us Today For SEO
If you are ready to get started on SEO for your contractor website, get in touch with the team at Contractor Charlie. Our professionals would be happy to sit down with you and go over a strategy that will work best for you.
Fill out our submission form and someone will get in touch with you right away.
