Marketers of e-commerce are constantly faced with the challenge of coming up with fresh and efficient methods of bringing people to their store online and then successfully guiding customers to the right sales channel once they become customers.
A large portion of the equation is known as the “shoulders” of the store’s ranking and its position within the results of the search engines. This is why search engine marketing is important for retail online since the money spent on marketing should be wisely spent both on impressions and the expansion of the site’s organic results in search engines.
Table of Content
- 1 What is SEM (Search Engine Marketing)?
- 2 What does SEM comprise – paid, organic, and/or both?
- 3 What do You Need to Know about SEM?
- 4 How it differs from SEO and why SEM is important for eCommerce stores
- 5 What is an SEM campaign?
- 6 Benefits of search engine marketing campaigns for your business
- 7 E-commerce search engine marketing new technology
What is SEM (Search Engine Marketing)?
Search engine marketing also called “SEM,” consists of the efforts to promote websites through organic and paid search results. SEM is the main factor in business growth and customer acquisition for various online stores.
What does SEM comprise – paid, organic, and/or both?
“SEM,” as a verb, is used in various contexts. “SEM” is used in various applications. In certain organizations, SEM refers exclusively to PPC ( pay-per-click) paid search marketing (or, more specifically, Google AdWords). Other marketers employ SEM as a broad term that covers all marketing strategies that impact the performance of search engine results and results, including organic ones. The term “search marketing,” which is akin to “search marketing,” can describe both organic and paid searches.
Although there isn’t a correct or incorrect definition, Somemarketers uses SEM to refer to both organic and paid marketing. With e-commerce becoming more channel-agnostic with more customer touchpoints, unifying marketing activities is more effective than separate campaigns.
What do You Need to Know about SEM?
Marketers generally employ an array of paid and organic marketing strategies to bring users to their websites.
Paid ads encompass:
- Search ads (Google Ads, Bing Ads)
- Listing ads or Shopping ads
- Display & Banner ads
- Mobile ads
- Social Media ads
- Remarketing ads
- In-App ads
SEO is a term used to describe:
- SEO on the web ( keyword optimization and content creation, the information structure, Internal linking, UX Social proof, integration of social media, and more.)
- Off-page SEO (link construction, XML sitemaps)
- Violations
How it differs from SEO and why SEM is important for eCommerce stores
Google provides only the results that are relevant to us on their SERP (Search Engine Results Page), with the most relevant one in the first position when we type in a search query. But, if the query is related to a competing product, many businesses pay Google to be listed at the top by simply making a payment. Naturally, these ads are marked with the word “Ad” in bolded letters. In general, 75 % of people don’t get on page two of the results. This provides a convincing argument for the use of paid-for listings.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a mix of strategies that aim to boost your search engine visibility by dispersing content in different formats across various platforms and making them simple to find for your intended users as well as your search engine. It also involves technical optimization, such as good page loading speed. However, the primary goal is to answer the question effectively to satisfy the user’s desire. Naturally, it takes enormous effort and time to establish an organic base of users; however, the outcomes last for a long time and are more affordable in the long term.
Today, I see SEM as much more appealing for websites selling e-commerce because when a user types in the long-tail search term for the product, they’ve already read enough material and are now positioned to turn leads into sales. Many people do not respond to advertisements, but this should not be a reason to worry because you pay only when a person can click on your advert. SEO requires you to focus throughout your marketing funnel.
However, using SEM, you can put your leads at the bottom of the marketing process. With the social media-based marketing method, you’ll need to interact with potential customers who are wasting their time while the person entering their query into the search engine is looking to purchase specifically. This means that SEM is much more efficient than other paid marketing types, and there’s absolutely no reason to want to put this kind of high-quality traffic to chance.
What is an SEM campaign?
An SEM campaign can be described as an internet-based advertisement campaign.
You can make an SEM campaign using Google Ads and Bing Ads and on social media sites that permit advertising, such as Facebook or Instagram. While SEM is focused on advertisements in search results, certain marketers extend SEM by including newsfeeds from social media.
Similar to other ad campaigns, SEM campaigns feature the following order:
- Account
- Campaign
- Ad groups
You must follow the best practices for campaigns and advertising groups to create your SEM campaign.
If, for instance, you’re creating your SEM campaign to advertise the spa facilities at your resort, it is recommended to create distinct ad groups to promote each spa’s amenities. So, for instance, you could have an advertising group for massage services and another for salon services, for example.
Benefits of search engine marketing campaigns for your business
SEO is an effective tool that can be used by virtually every brand. Here are its primary benefits to better determine when and where to incorporate it into your strategy.
Great segmentation. The more segmented the campaign is, the higher chances you will be able to reach your intended audience. Google Ads lets you segment your audience and create campaigns considering various characteristics like Age, gender, geographic area, and interests.
Attracting visitors to your website. The primary goal of this campaign is to rank at the top of results on search engines, thereby generating greater traffic for your site.
Monitoring. With Google Ads, you can track your advertising campaign’s success in real-time. You will be able to get precise details about the behavior of your customers as well as the number of impressions, clicks, and more.
Integrating SEO. Combining SEM and SEO gives you an all-encompassing online marketing plan. There is no way to say that SEM, as well as SEO, is superior. Instead, it’s the combination of both that make a powerful digital strategy.
Control over costs. When implementing an SEM campaign, you’ll be in complete control. You can decide on your budget and pay only when users engage with your advertisements.
Lead generation. The principal role in SEM is to provide solutions to those who have an issue you can address; that is, you are your intended market. This could lead to conversions and build your customers’ loyalty.
E-commerce search engine marketing new technology
Another issue facing the digital marketing industry is the issue of dealing with queries related to the search that makes the application of technology that is modern. For instance, this is the case with artificial intelligence-powered technologies such as digital assistants (like Siri or Alexa), voice search general, or image recognition.
Voice Search feature, AI Assistants & Search marketing of engines
With all the “helpers” and voice assistants available, it’s important to get started instructing your online store to interact with this latest technology.
The most significant difference is how people search with spoken language and perform the same thing with typing.
In general, text-based queries are typically smaller and less invasive. For example, a typical request in the conversation with Alexa might be, “Alexa, please find a set of water bottle set under 90 USD with free delivery?”. The same request in text format might be similar to “crystal wine glasses buy.” Can you tell the distinction?
Optimizing the pages on your site to be compatible with the most common patterns of search queries made by voice will increase your website’s compatibility.
Image Recognition & SEM
An excellent example of using image recognition in online shopping includes an example of the Amazon StyleSnap feature. Integrated into the online store, it lets customers upload images or photos which show an item they’d like to purchase.
This will save your customers a lot of time, and ultimately they are more content. In addition, such features could increase the number of spontaneous purchases.
The system goes through possible matches of products that appear like the one in the image. They also offer similar products to purchase. Are you able to see how exactly the results are for the example of a sweater below?
For marketers, this “image SEO” basically means that you need to assist the search engine that AI powers to locate the items that you offer in your shop.
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