What is SEM?

SEM (search engine marketing) is a digital marketing method for improving a website's presence in search engine results pages (SERPs). While the phrase used to refer to both organic and paid search operations like search engine optimization (SEO), is now nearly solely refers to paid search advertising. Paid search and pay per click are other terms for search engine marketing (PPC). 

Search engines use complex algorithms to ensure that the most relevant results, including location and other accessible information, are returned for each search. Sponsored adverts appear at the top and side of search engine results pages to obtain greater visibility and prominence than organic results in paid search advertising. Assume you're a customer looking for a product or service on the internet. You go to a search engine and enter in the terms you're looking for (also known as keywords). You may see several corporate advertising on your search results page whose keywords match the keywords in your search.

These adverts, along with the other search listings that match your terms, appear prominently on the page. Because the paid listings are highly relevant to your search, you are more likely to click on them. Let's take a look at how SEM services work from the standpoint of a marketer. SEM networks operate on a self-serve basis. Once a marketer has chosen a network, he or she may set up a campaign in a short amount of time.

When a marketer composes a campaign on an SEM platform, he or she is prompted to:

• Perform keyword research and choose a set of keywords that are relevant to their website or product.

• Choose a geographic location for the ad to appear in.

• Create a text-based advertisement that will appear in the search results.

• Bid on a price per click on their ad that they are willing to spend.

Text-only adverts are simple to create. Marketers enter a headline, body content for the ad, a call-to-action, and a hyperlink URL.

Google Ads (previously Google Adwords) and Bing Ads are the two main search networks that PPC agency target.

The Google Search Network and the Google Display Network are the two networks that makeup Google AdWords. The first network is made up entirely of Google-owned search-related websites, while the second includes YouTube, Blogger, and Gmail. Customers can buy advertisements on both Yahoo's and Bing's network of websites using Bing Ads.

While Google Ads has a much wider network (about 2x the size), Bing Ads has lower prices. Marketers may be able to rank higher for a competitive keyword phrase for less money than they would on Google.

How A/B testing can complement SEM?

Since you're already investing money on search engine marketing to get traffic to your website, it's a good idea to optimise that traffic for conversions and make your money go further.

A/B testing your landing pages is a simple method to get the most out of your money, whether you're looking to optimise for average order value or revenue per page.

With search engine marketing networks, optimising your landing page can raise your Quality Score, lowering your average CPC.

Optimizely – and similar tools – can help you create and implement A/B tests quickly, with real-time data to help you feel confident in your business decisions.