The increasing digitalization requires new marketing measures, as marketing is increasingly shifting to the internet. Search engines play a significant role in this, as they provide extensive opportunities and tools for customer acquisition. This presents a unique opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses to explore new avenues. Search engine marketing allows a company to position itself optimally and expand its reach.

Search engine marketing consists of two areas

The term SEA marketing stands for "Search Engine Advertising" and refers to search engine advertising. This encompasses all measures to direct website visitors to your site via paid ads. Every search engine offers paid advertising spaces that can appear in the context of search results, usually above the organic results. When you enter a search term, you get two types of search results: organic results and paid results, which include SEA marketing.

Search engine optimization for long-term positioning on the web

Search engine marketing is closely related to search engine optimization. Both aim to make the website or online store visible on the web. Search engine optimization involves adapting the site to the needs of search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo. The homepage must be well-adjusted in terms of design, technology, and content according to these guidelines.

High-quality content ensures that a page is classified as relevant to the search query. This does not happen overnight, but requires a lot of patience and hard work. It can take up to six months for a website to appear at the top of the search results. If your website is still relatively new, you will have to put in a lot of effort, which will only pay off after a certain amount of time.

A good ranking is not guaranteed, and SEO does not deliver quick results. Additionally, the time investment is very high and requires extensive knowledge of search engine optimization.

Search engine marketing for targeted customer acquisition

In many cases, a company wants to reach the top spots quickly because visibility leads to sales. Especially for product launches, online shops, or newly launched websites, a website should appear right at the top from the start. This is possible with text ads. Here, you purchase a prominent position in the search results for your online shop or homepage. The advantage is that you appear at the top right away, sometimes even at the first spot in the search results.

However, this paid search result is then marked as an advertisement. This is usually not a problem, as many people tend to overlook the word “advertisement.” The interested party is looking for a solution and clicks on the search result. The solution may also come in the form of advertising. These top positions are highly competitive, so the relevance of the websites is decisive.

Find the right keywords

Whether your ad appears in the top four search results depends on the keywords you use to promote your page. Therefore, you need to find out what people are searching for. There are various tools and resources available to help you with this. Your ad should appear whenever the user searches for your product. SEA is only suitable for short-term advertising because once the campaign ends, visibility fades. However, it is a good approach to quickly raise awareness for a new website or product.

The advantages of search engine marketing are:

• precise user targeting
• high online visibility
• targeted approach
• brand awareness increases
• rapid results in product launches

It is always a good strategy to combine search engine advertising and search engine optimization. This ensures sustainability and long-term visibility.

Place SEA ads

To ensure that your advertising is successful, you need to define exactly who you want to target. What problems can you solve for your target group? Keyword research helps you identify the terms your target group uses to search for your products or services. Only then can your offering be found by the right people.

Search engines operate on a pay-per-click model, meaning you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Each keyword has a click price, for which you place a bid. In the background, an auction takes place where the highest bidder wins. The higher the bid, the more likely your ad will appear. To avoid exceeding your budget, you can set a maximum limit. Once this is exhausted, the search engine will stop displaying ads. The most well-known platforms are Google Ads and Bing Ads. There are also other advertising networks and opportunities through social media.

Quality factors that influence the ranking

In addition to bidding on keywords, there are other quality factors to consider. Paying for ads alone is not enough to get a good ranking in SEA results. It is also about the quality of the destination where the interested party lands. As a rule, this is a clearly designed landing page and the relevance of the keywords. The quality and content of your offer must be convincing.

The following quality factors are important for a good ranking in search results:

• An outstanding landing page
• Relevance of text ads to search queries
• Click rates and dwell time on landing pages

If users leave the website immediately after clicking, the content is not relevant. With the help of keyword tools, you can find out which words interested users enter and which questions they ask. Search engines offer ad users the appropriate tools. These include Google Search Console, Google Keyword Planner, and Google Suggest. There are also other tools from third-party providers, which are usually subject to a fee. Tools such as “Ubersuggest” offer various analysis methods to see which keywords your competitors are using. There are also many other tools you can use to refine your offering. For example, you can find out what questions users ask to get information. There is a tool called “Answer the Public” that lists almost every user question.

Use SEA regionally

With SEA, you reach many prospects in your area. Instead of relying on print advertising, your offer appears on customers' mobile devices. The advantage of online marketing lies in the precise measurability of ad performance. You can make adjustments at any time, something not possible with print advertising. This allows targeting to be specifically tailored to the audience and the local environment. A company must continuously manage its ads. If ads are suboptimal, it leads to high costs and wastage. This cannot be done on the side. Our online marketing specialists in Munich can help you optimize your search engine marketing, ensuring you gain many new customers.

SEA is not limited to text and images

YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world and can also be used for marketing. It allows you to target potential customers precisely. It's even possible to display ads and banners before a competitor's videos. If the user isn't interested in your video, they can skip it within the first 30 seconds. You then don't pay a penny, making your branding cost-free. Videos can be produced at low cost and don't even need to be perfect. With video ads and banner ads, you can build a large reach.

Use SEM on multiple channels

The development of search engine marketing continues to progress. It is well known that online shoppers require multiple touches across various online channels before making a purchase. Search engine providers are increasingly responding to this. In 2021, Google introduced its new format, "Performance Max". With this, you can access the entire advertising inventory of the provider with just one campaign, without putting in too much effort.

SEA marketing remains an important online marketing channel to quickly and precisely reach new customers.