In an increasingly competitive workplace, search engine marketing, also known as SEM, is one of the most useful tools that can make your business grow. With literally millions of companies all aiming for the same goal, online advertising has become crucial to the success of your company. Search engine marketing allows you to promote your products and drive the growth of your business. This guide gives you an overview of what SEM is and will provide you with a basic idea of how you can leverage specific strategies to implement search engine marketing more effectively.



Search Engine Marketing is a way of making businesses and products appear on search engine result pages. It is a paid method where advertisers bid on keywords. Search engines such as Google or Bing have a list of keywords that are words that people enter in the search box when they are trying to look for something.

These keywords give advertisers the opportunity to appear on the search results. The ads are available in a wide range of formats and are commonly known as PPC or pay-per-click ads. Some of the ads are plain text-based ads, while others contain product listing and are called PLAs or Product Listing Ads or Shopping Ads.

These are more visual and product-based advertisements that allow the users to see relevant information about the product at a glance. The most significant advantage of SEM is that it will enable advertisers to place ads in front of customers who are already motivated, right at the time when they are about to make the purchase. This is something that only Search Engine Marketing can achieve, making it a potent tool for business growth.


How Does SEM Differ from SEO?

Search Engine Marketing is a paid marketing strategy where businesses pay search service providers such as Google or Bing to show these ads in their search results. SEO is different. Search Engine Optimisation does not involve paid ads. Instead, in SEO, products or web pages earn a spot in the search engine results page by being relevant.

If the page has the most relevant content for a given keyword, then it gets to be on the search results. SEO and SEM can be used in tandem to boost online marketing efforts. SEO, in particular, is incredibly important to getting you evergreen traffic.


Keywords are Crucial

In search engine marketing, keywords play a pivotal role. The user’s search term contains specific keywords based on which Google or Bing displays the search results. This is why keywords are the first thing that you need to understand before you invest in SEM thoroughly.


SEM Keyword Research 

A keyword management strategy must be researched thoroughly. You need to identify which keywords are relevant for your business and what search terms or keywords potential customers will use when they are searching for your products and services.

There are multiple keyword research tools online. You can also enter a keyword in Google or Bing to see which other keywords are relevant. Each keyword comes with a certain degree of intent. The concept of intent indicates how likely a potential customer is to purchase having done a search using that keyword. Specific keywords have high commercial intent, implying that there is a high probability of that individual making a purchase.

Do you need help with your SEM? Get in touch with Digital Bravado today! We specialise in digital marketing in the Brisbane area. Contact us for a free consultation.