A Digital Marketing Strategy is vital to growing business these days. When was the last time you took a hard look at your plan for driving traffic to your website?

To build the best digital marketing strategy for your business, you have to consider several factors. Business goals, target demographics, and market conditions all play a role in your digital approach. There’s a lot of buzz around Search Engine Marketing (SEM), but is it right for your brand?

Here’s the lowdown on SEM.

What is SEM?

Search Engine Marketing is an umbrella term that includes Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC). Both tactics have the same goal: To drive traffic from a search engine results page to your website.

SEO grows your web traffic by organically pushing your website closer to the top of the search engine results page. For example, when users type targeted keywords into Google, your business site appears higher on the results list. The closer you get to the top, the more web traffic you’ll likely attract.

As the name implies, PPC is a paid approach that rockets your brand to the top of that results list. With PPC, your business pays advertising dollars to ensure your website appears at the top of the results page when targeted keywords are entered.

Why Consider SEM?

Studies consistently show the majority of consumers research online before making a purchase. Those statistics make SEM a unique form of advertising. It’s the only advertising platform that consistently reaches consumers at exactly the time and place when they’re ready to buy. For that reason alone, SEM is valuable.

Investing in SEM also increases brand visibility and builds brand trust. When interested users see your robust online presence, they recognize your brand as legitimate.

Which Should I Use: SEO or PPC?

While SEO and PPC are powerful on their own, they’re most effective when used together.

It’s important to understand that SEO is a long-game approach. SEO is typically more affordable out of the gate, but it should be viewed as a long-term investment. With patience, your organic presence will grow and result in more consistent traffic.

PPC, on the other hand, can provide the quick sales bump your business may be looking for. With PPC, you have more control over your messaging and how it appears, and your site dominates the top of the search results page. The downside is that once you stop paying, the benefits stop too.

Let’s Perfect Your SEM Strategy

When you use PPC & SEO together, you can reach a wider audience across more keywords. It’s important to get the mix right, and Ohlmann Group’s Digital Marketing experts use data to determine the best approach, with considerations for your goals and budget. With testing, we can further fine-tune your strategy to get the most out of your investment.

Send us a note if you’re ready to take your SEM game to the next level. We’ll help you build a plan to reach your goals and then monitor its progress – so you can focus on doing more business!