Searching is one of the most popular activities on the internet, and an integral part of the modern consumer journey.
With online advertising becoming increasingly competitive, businesses looking to grow are encouraged to leverage the frequent use of search engines in the consumer’s decision making process.
Recent figures show that only 18% of small businesses in South Australia have any online presence on advertising channels like Facebook and Google.
Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, is the process of acquiring visitors to a website by means of paid advertising on search engines like Google and Bing, in the hope that they become a paying customer. How?
A consumer may be searching for boutique wine in regional South Australia. A search engine combs through billions of websites, blogs and other listings to find the product most relevant to this search.
There could be hundreds or even thousands of search results that are relevant to this topic, and not all businesses will make it high enough in these listings to be considered by a potential customer.
Digital marketing specialists like News Xtend, a Google Premier Partner, use SEM to place a targeted ad in front of an interested customer, compelling them to take immediate action and engage with a specific business.
Mel Ottaway is the Executive Manager of Aged Care for Uniting Communities, a not-for-profit organisation providing vital services to people across South Australia.
SEM has become an integral part of how this business is evolving and refining their digital marketing strategy, ensuring they remain agile and relevant in market.
“SEM provides a solid foundation to ensure that we can be found quickly and easily by the people who need our support to continue living independently at home.”
“We have noticed a significant increase in traffic to our website since ramping up our SEM. The aged care sector has been going through huge reform and Uniting Communities has needed to keep up in terms of how and where we are promoting our Home and Community Aged Care Services. We are finding that we can now reach the right people, at the right time and in the right way.”
The power of SEM is that search engines like Google and Bing can target potential customers based on location, device, interests, trending topics in their inbox and past search history.
However, when it comes to online, an SEM campaign is only as great as the website it is linked to.
“You’re more likely to see positive return on investment from SEM advertising campaigns when a website allows for a great user experience and there are many tools you can use to identify website pain points. Try searching for ‘Test My Site – Think With Google’ on Google as a starting point,” says Jed Tallada, SEM Specialist at News Xtend.
For businesses wanting to ensure potential customers connect with them, and not their competitors, SEM is a critical part of the digital marketing puzzle.
For More Information
This digital marketing insight is provided to you by News Xtend. To find out more on how News Xtend can help your business, contact us on 1300 935 848 or newsxtend.com.au/nra-partnership.
Written by Alyce Mokrzycki, News Xtend