What is search engine marketing (SEM) and how do you use it properly?

As an entrepreneur, you want your website to be found by potential customers. You would like to be at the top of the search results, but your competitors also want this of course. Search engine marketing is a rapidly changing world. It can therefore be an overwhelming feeling when you, as a starting entrepreneur, have to work your way through all the possibilities to make your website more discoverable. How do you ensure that you are found among all that content violence? Below is an introduction to search engine advertising to kickstart your business.

What is search engine marketing?

With search engine marketing you optimize the findability of your website in search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo. There are two ways to increase your findability in these search engines. This can be done for free through search engine optimization (SEO) or paid through search engine advertising (SEA).

What is the difference between search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine advertising (SEA)? It is important to understand the difference between the two concepts and when to use them. Search engine optimization is the more complex of the two, which is why it is also free. Search engine optimization (SEO) is constantly evolving. Currently, there are 200 known ranking factors for the major search engine Google. Google’s algorithm is also constantly being adapted, which means that the ranking factors are constantly changing. Search engine optimization (SEO) is therefore seen as a long-term strategy. It can sometimes take months for a new website to be found by Google’s algorithm. For this reason, search engine advertising (SEA) offers an opportunity to still come to the top of the search engines.

How do you use search engine marketing correctly?

Search engine marketing always starts with researching keywords for the topic. There are a number of ways to get to the right keywords. Using the right tools is very important here. For example, you can use tools such as Semrush or Google keyword planner to analyze the keywords of your competitors as the basis of your research. Good content is essential to rank in search engines. Good content has a pull effect on potential customers. Also in the ranking in Google, the importance of the readability of the content is becoming increasingly important. Therefore, when creating content, keep the customer in mind and not your ranking results.