SEM: How To Run A Campaign On Google Ads

SEM: An Excellent Opportunity For Businesses

We have already talked about how vital advertising on Google is. On the other hand, this article will focus on the importance of advertising campaigns through Google Ads, particularly on what is called an SEM campaign. SEM is the acronym for Search Engine Marketing or search engine marketing. Unlike organic results, which can be achieved through SEO (Search Engine Optimization), sponsored results have a more strategic visual positioning, as they occupy the top positions of the SERP. Furthermore, through SEM, it is possible to obtain advantages in the short term, precisely because it is paid to advertise.

To carry out an SEM campaign, you need the Google Ads platform, which allows you to create advertising campaigns of text, video, or banner ads and decide their positioning, or where you want them to appear to users (search network, display network, Youtube, and so on). An SEM strategy must start by defining a specific target and precise objectives. Some examples of goals could be: to obtain greater online visibility, acquire traffic, increase conversions made by users, and generate an increase in sales.

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SEM: The Importance Of Keywords

Once you understand the importance of SEM, you need to focus on how it works. First, for the advertising campaign’s success, the choice of keywords is fundamental. In making your list, the best way to choose is to think about how people search for your products or services on the internet. There are several ways to search for the right keywords for your products or services. 

The simplest is to search for new ideas on Google by entering a keyword to start from and taking a cue from those proposed at the bottom of the page to expand your list. There are also various tools made available by Google itself. Of note is the Keyword Planner, where you can find new keyword ideas and learn about their search volumes. Again about keywords, Google offers you four types of correspondence :

1. Broad match: In this case, your ads will show for both keywords in your ad group and if a user uses synonyms, even if they’re not included in the list. This option allows you to show the ad to a broader audience;
2. The broad match changed: In this case, you can refine the level of relevance with which Google Ads identifies terms related to your keywords. This means that synonyms differ from a broad match and are not included in the search. To set the modifier, you need to add the + sign in front of the keyword: + keyword;
3. Phrase match: In this case, your ad appears when users search for the exact phrase, which can be preceded or followed by other words. To be activated, the keyword in phrase mode must be enclosed in quotation marks: “keywords”;
4. Exact match: in this case, the catchment area is narrowed more. In this case, you can limit ad serving only to search queries that match your chosen keywords. To enable exact matching, keywords must be included in square brackets: [keyword].

To these correspondences, another must be added, namely the reverse mail. In this case, using keywords helps limit the activation of your ads for all those searches made by users, not in line with your offer. To activate it, add the – (minus) sign in front of the word you want to exclude: -keyword.

SEM: The Pay Per Click (PPC) System

Now we need to focus on how Google Ads works. Once the campaign has been established and the keywords suitable for your offer have been chosen, you will have to decide the price you are willing to pay to Google with each click and the daily budget. The platform’s functioning lies precisely in this last statement; Google Ads works with a system called  Pay per Click  (PPC): every time a user clicks on your advertisement, Google scales the predetermined amount from your daily budget.

For this reason, it is essential to create campaigns that maximize the expense/click ratio so as not to be forced to spend astronomical amounts on keywords that are highly sought after and, therefore, very competitive. However, it must be assumed that Google not only rewards ads with a higher PPC but also evaluates the quality of the ad (through an index called Ad Rank). For this reason, the search engine rewards the consistency of the ads with a rating (with a score that varies between 1 and 10) that allows you to override the less consistent ads, even if they paid more for the exact keywords.

SEM: Advertising With A Search Network Or A Display Network?

There are two types of paid campaigns you can use:

1. The search network is the sponsored ads that appear on the SERP of the Google search engine.
2. The display network, i.e., banners or text ads displayed on websites offering advertising spaces.

The choice depends greatly on the type of users you want to reach. The search network is suitable for the user with a conscious need, while the display network is suitable for those with latent demand. By dwelling on the search network, Google offers the possibility of making sponsored ads appear when the user types a particular query. As mentioned above, sponsored results are shown to users based on the budget invested and the ad’s relevance with the user’s search. The ads are textual, and the advertiser is offered the opportunity to enter the title, description, and URL to which the ad points. Google Ads also allows adding extensions, making the ad more engaging. 

By switching to the display network, ads are shown when users browse Google’s partner websites that have joined its AdSense program. On the display network, it is possible to use, in addition to text ads, multimedia ads, such as banners and videos, and the ads will appear according to the target you want to address. A display network’s main advantages are comprehensive coverage, high user profiling, and the various banner formats made available. From these considerations, you can understand the benefits of an advertising campaign on Google and the importance of relying on real professionals. For more information, contact us or request a quote.

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