SEM involves paying Google to make your company appear first in certain search results.

In the previous topic, we talked about the importance of SEM for getting on page when a company starts a presence online and before search engine optimisation (SEO) can start to work. We also commented that SEM remains important even when you’re on top, because one thing that’s better than being number 1 is to be number 1 and number 2. And with active social media accounts, you can be number 3 also. If people don’t look further than the top few choices in a search result, then the only company they see may be yours.

The concept of SEM is simple but the execution is less so. SEM campaigns involve careful study of keywords and combinations of words most pertinent to your business, and weigh this against the cost of those words. The more competition there is for a word or phrase, the more expensive it becomes, based on some arcane formula by Google. There are tools to help you setup campaigns, and they are pretty easy to use once you understand the concepts. There are a lot of little details you need to know to be effective however, and if you setup your budgets wrong then you may end up paying an awful lot. SEM is one field where a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous, so if you’re planning a campaign, then please do a lot of reading before you proceed!

If you’d like to speak with one of our online marketing specialists about setting up an SEO or SEM campaign for your business then please call our Perth office on 1300 DAPPER from within Australia, or submit an online request for a meeting or consultation via our Contact page.

Our next topics in this series address the importance of presenting your company and product well in the areas of app optimisation and ratings reviews downloads.

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