Use search to drive more sales and conversions
Companies all over the world spend billions of dollars every year investing in search engine optimisation (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) tactics. Why is that? Well, the short answer is – because they work.
You know that search is an effective form of marketing, but with a limited budget, do you put your money into Google Ads or optimising your webpages? You might be tempted to spend your budget across the board and over different search engines, but with King Google sitting mighty high, your budget would be almost be wasted.
Focus on Google – then use the points below to decide whether search engine optimisation or search engine marketing is the right strategy for your business.
Search engine optimisation (SEO)
“Rome wasn’t built in a day” is an accurate statement when describing search engine optimisation.
SEO is all about optimising your website to increase organic traffic from search engine results. It can take time to build up your SEO by using carefully constructed techniques, but the higher your search engine ranking, the better your competitive advantage.
Here are the benefits of search engine optimisation:
Some users don’t like clicking on ads
Not all users notice that in most cases, the first three listings on any Google search are ads – but some do. If they choose not to click on an ad, they’ll continue to scroll down and click on the top organic listings instead.
A better user experience
Good SEO needs to meet certain Google standards, and it’s these standards that will mean users will have a better experience on your website.
It’s a good source of leads
Being at the top of Google means users are more likely to click on your listing and visit your website. The more website visitors you have, the more chances you have of converting sales.
Higher close rates
Again, good SEO equals a better user experience. With this comes the opportunity for you to increase your sales close rates – but only if your website is well-constructed.
Search engine marketing (SEM)
Unlike SEO, search engine marketing is a fast-burning solution that will get you instant results. SEM means advertising your business on a search engine through search, display or shopping ads. These ads appear at the top of Google search results, and with the click of a button, potential customers are redirected to your website.
There can be a lot of competition for main keywords, but there are still some benefits to marketing this way.
Let’s look at those benefits:
Reach your clients instantly
Quickly get out in front of those customers searching for your products and services. Once your campaign is ready to go, your ads are instantly shown to people searching for your keywords.
Options of targeting
With SEM, you have the option of those potential customers who you know are likely to purchase or enquire on your website. You can target by location, search keywords, demographic and even retarget those people who have previously visited your page.
Increase brand awareness
Get your business name out there in front of customers who you know are already specifically searching for your product or service. If they don’t know who you are and what you sell, they won’t want to buy anything from you.
Easy campaign management
You can engage a digital marketing company or manage your own Google Ads through your Dashboard. With the right knowledge, you can change budgets, targeting locations and so much more.
The right strategy for your business
Some professionals might say you should use either SEO or SEM – but the best results come from using a complementary mix of the two. A good SEM campaign needs good SEO. That means if your website has good SEO, it’s more likely to be favoured when it comes to paid search. If you have a limited budget, look at doing on-page SEO and then run Google Ads. This will give you a competitive edge – without costing you too much.
Need help with search engine optimisation or running a search engine marketing campaign? Talk to the team at Unleashing Potential now.
