Search Marketing: Everything you need to know

Navigating the world of online marketing can feel a bit overwhelming, especially when new terms like “search marketing” keep popping up.

You’ve probably spent a lot of time learning how to optimise your website for search engines (hello, SEO!), and now it seems like there’s a whole new layer to understand. It’s completely normal to wonder if you’re using the best strategies to get your website ranking higher.

But don’t worry, you’re not alone, and there are simple ways to make sure you’re on the right track!

Let’s clear up any confusion and jump straight into the key question:

What is search marketing?

It’s everything to do with making sure your website shows up on search results.

In simple terms, search marketing (also known as SEM) is all about reaching your audience through search engines. For many, this involves creating content and optimising it with SEO.

But search marketing goes beyond just SEO. It now includes both paid and organic strategies to drive traffic, helping your website’s links appear at the top of search results.

BUT, the search marketing landscape is evolving all the time

Google has introduced Local Service ads, image results, paid results like pay-per-click advertising (PPC), and even localised map results. These all contribute to a website’s position on the results page according to the keywords they’re targeting.

We also need to mention the most recent addition to the top of the search page: AI results. 

You’ve probably seen an ‘AI Overview’ at the top of multiple search results pages when using Google recently. They’re part of Google’s desire to prioritise factors like user intent within search. 

These have made a big change to the current search marketing landscape and it’s important to keep up with these changes. 

What your business should focus on in search marketing

Let’s break search marketing down into something simple and easy to understand, so you can focus on what really matters for your business.

There are two key strategies you’ll want to focus on to get your website noticed on search engines:

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

SEO is all about improving your website so that it ranks higher in search engine results. It’s a natural, “organic” way to attract traffic by focusing on creating high-quality, original content that’s valuable to your audience. 

When done right, SEO helps you get noticed without having to pay for clicks.

Search Marketing vs SEO

The main difference between SEO and search marketing is the types of traffic they bring. SEO specifically targets organic traffic; people who find your website through unpaid search results.

On the other hand, search marketing is a broader term that includes both organic (SEO) and paid strategies to drive traffic to your site. 

So, while SEO plays a key role, search marketing also involves other methods, like paid ads, to boost your visibility.

Paid Ads (PPC – Pay-Per-Click)

Paid ads are an important part of search marketing, allowing you to “bid” for top spots in search engine results pages. With PPC, you’re paying for ads when they’re clicked on. This helps drive targeted traffic to your website right away.

By focusing on these two strategies – SEO for organic traffic and paid ads for quicker results – you can create a solid foundation for boosting your website’s visibility and attracting more potential customers.

Why your business needs search marketing

There’s nearly 100,000 search terms entered into Google every single second. 

With so many daily searches, your business has a good chance of being found – but only if you’re in the right place. That’s what search marketing makes sure of. 

With search marketing methods, you can get your link into a prime position AND ensure people can’t help but choose to click on your website result over any other. 

If I invest in SEO, does that mean I need to invest in search marketing as well? 

By investing in SEO, you are investing in your search marketing. 

But every business will have a different search marketing landscape to manage. For some it may be that only SEO is needed. For others, both SEO and PPC combined will be more effective. 

Some businesses may need to use SEO in the form of blogs, product pages, and image optimisations. 

There’s a lot SEO can do under the umbrella of search marketing. 

How to get started with search marketing and make it successful for your business

Understand what SEO and PPC can do 

SEO and PPC, when done right, will both help to grow the amount of people coming to your website from search engines. The mechanics of them are very different though. 

SEO is organic traffic source, it relies on steady growth through quality content.

You won’t be paying to reach the top – you’ll have to do so by focusing on ranking factors and creating quality content that the user is genuinely interested in and is helpful to them. 

It’s slower than PPC but it brings in a lot more traffic over time. It also means you won’t be paying for inorganic placements that tend to be short-lived and dependent on your budget. 

Alternatively, PPC brings in fast via a pay-per-click system.

With PPC, you only pay for the ad space when someone clicks on your link. Choose the keywords you want your ad to show for, set your bidding budget, and if you ‘win’ the placement your link will be shown right at the top of the page. 

That means it’ll be the first thing a user sees. If the product inside is just the thing they’re looking for, they’re going to click it. Many businesses choose this method if they need sales ASAP. 

However, winning placements is more than just bidding as high as possible. The ad you’ve created needs to be relevant to the user, and the page you link back to needs to be optimised for the keyword you’ve won on.

These factors are why it’s usually best to combine the use of both in your search marketing, alongside content.

There’s much more detail to SEO vs PPC and which you should do. You can choose one or the other based on budget and your goals, or a mix of the two to really soak up organic traffic to your website!

Understand what customers are looking for 

We mentioned above that the search marketing landscape will be different for every business. This is why it’s crucial to understand what your customers are looking for. 

When you do, you’ll be able to invest in the right search marketing methods to target them. 

Audiences that respond to PPC won’t necessarily be at the same place in the buying journey as someone who wants to read one of your blog posts. These two searches won’t be looking for the same content or clicking on the same links. 

To understand what your customers are looking for, you need to understand why they’re using the keywords you’re targeting. 

Research your keywords – and understand the intent of the searches your customers are making

Researching your keywords ensures two things:

1. You’re targeting relevant keywords that have a worthy search volume
2. You’re accounting for the search intent behind these keywords

The latter is incredibly important for search marketing. 

Not all keywords are used in the same way. Search intent tells you what a user really wants from the search results they get. Matching this will get your links ranking higher and clicked on more often. 

Search intent will also differ between SEO and PPC, making it one of the best indicators of where it’s worth investing in either method.  

Create quality content

Whatever search marketing you do, content plays the biggest part in all of it. 

Both SEO and PPC rely on killer content that stands out to the user. If you want someone to click on a link – whether it’s a paid placement or not – this is how you’ll appeal to them. 

Low quality content is seen as ‘spammy’ and can get any search marketing you invest in penalised. 

You can never skimp on creating good content. 

Track results from both SEO and PPC

SEO and PPC will bring in different search marketing results. However, they can both impact each other. 

You can track your SEO via the Google Search Console and your PPC effectiveness via your Google Ads account. You can also link the two together – Google has a guide for doing so right here. 

Tracking them both will allow you to spot new opportunities that can improve your overall search marketing. 

For example, tracking your organic traffic can help you find additional keywords to rank for. You’ll be able to see the most common keywords users are finding you through, some of which you may not be targeting. 

You can then use these keywords in your paid ads to get to the top of these other relevant search results pages.  

This also allows you to test your content.

With the search engine landscape changing all the time, it’s important to routinely update your content and follow both SEO and PPC best practices. 

Over time, tracking the results will show you what’s working and what isn’t. 

Refine your website for a better customer experience

Customer experience is a big ranking factor. It’s calculated through elements like your website’s technical make up, mobile-friendliness, ease of navigation, and content.

Google uses customer experience to highlight sites that have been most useful to previous customers. These websites are then more likely to reach the top of the search engine rankings. 

If these factors have been optimised, you’ll have a greater customer engagement, which showcases a good customer experience. 

That makes it one of the best SEO methods to focus on, but even your paid ads are going to be valued by customer experience. 

Google assigns a metric known as a ‘quality score’ to paid ads that partly depends on how useful a customer finds your website. The higher the quality score, the lower the cost of each click.

Get advice on search marketing

We’re search marketing specialists and we pride ourselves on knowing the ins and outs of SEO and PPC. 

If you’ve got questions about using either effectively, we’ll be happy to help. 

Feel free to send us a message.