SEA: definition, benefits and best practices for your search engine optimization
You've heard of SEA (Search Engine Advertising), but don't know exactly how to define this marketing strategy? Also known as paid search, SEA aims to give your website visibility by creating ads that link back to your site. Each campaign corresponds to a keyword related to your business.
This article gives you a complete definition of SEA, explains the difference with SEO and SEM, and advises you on how to implement a SEA strategy that will pay off, so that sponsored results in search engines, and Google in particular, are transformed into commercial results.
SEA: full definition
What is Search Engine Advertising (SEA)?
SEA, or Search Engine Advertising, literally translates as search engine advertising. This marketing channel refers to search engine advertising aimed at making a website appear in the top results of a given search.
➡️ These advertisements are indicated by the word "Ad".
Example:
- results framed in red are SEA results: advertisers have paid to appear in the first results for this keyword;
- the following results are SEO results: they have been positioned " naturally ", as they have been optimized to appear in the first results. We'll go into more detail on what SEO is and how it differs from SEA later in this article.
So, by ensuring that your website is positioned on the first page, you give yourself every chance of improving your visibility and generating qualified traffic to your site. Let's take a closer look at how it works and what its objectives are.
SEA: how does it work?
The most widely used search engine in France is Google. In 2018, 94% of French Internet users used Google to search; followed by Bing 3%, Yahoo 1.5%, then other search engines < 1% (source: Webrankinfo, March 2019).
That's why SEA strategies and campaigns are essentially based on the use of the American giant's advertising network tool: Google Ads (formerly Google Adwords).
ℹ️ The model is similar for other search engines, such as Bing's Bing Ads.
In concrete terms, when an advertiser creates an ad in Google Ads :
- they choose the keywords on which they wish to be visible (Google Ads Keyword Planner tool) ;
- they enter various criteria to target their audience: geographic zone, delivery schedule, type of device, etc;
- track your campaign's return on investment (ROI) via dashboards in Google Analytics and Google Ads.
How much does it cost?
The Google Ads model is based on CPC (cost-per-click) campaigns. In other words, you pay every time someone clicks on your ad for a given query.
Keyword prices are defined by bid : the more competitive a keyword is, the more you'll have to pay to position yourself on it.
💡 For your SEA campaign to work, positioning yourself on a single keyword is not good practice. Launch several campaigns simultaneously on different keywords and groups of related keywords, to maximize your chances of being visible on queries inherent to your business.
What are the objectives of SEA?
The primary objective of SEA is the visibility of your ads and your brand. Thanks to precise targeting to reach the heart of your audience, you appear at the right time, in a defined geographical area and on all chosen types of device (computer, tablet, smartphone).
Secondly, SEA allows you to maximize your conversion rate. How does it work? Internet users see your ad positioned at the top of the page, click on it, are redirected to your site's landing page, and can leave their contact details or even buy your product or service.
In short, you generate quality leads through targeting and keyword selection, if these are relevant and specific enough to your business. You don't simply acquire traffic to your site: this traffic is qualified and a source of growth for your company.
SEA, SEO, SEM: what's the difference?
SEO: definition
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is search engine optimization. More precisely, it's the optimization of your website's pages, both technically and in terms of content. The aim is to rank among the top natural or organic results in a search engine.
It's an SEO strategy that complements SEA to bring visibility and brand awareness to your website.
What do you need to pay attention to in order to have high-performance SEO content?
- quality content: long enough to provide the response expected by the surfer, optimized in terms of the semantics used;
- a Google-friendly technical framework: your site's tree structure, the language in which it is coded, meta tags (titles, description, etc.), URLs, etc. ;
- quality links : netlinking, buying inbound links (or backlinks) from powerful sites to "push" your site, etc.
SEM: definition
SEM, or Search Engine Marketing, encompasses SEO and SEA. It refers to all actions aimed at increasing the visibility of your website, whether through targeted advertising (SEA) or organic actions (SEO).
SEM = SEO + SEA
SMO: definition
In addition to SEO and SEA, there's a new acronym to consider in your digital marketing strategy: SMO, or Social Media Optimization.
Here again, the aim is to increase your online visibility, but by focusing your actions on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, etc.). Creating and maintaining a qualified community on the various social networks is also a growth lever for your website and, ultimately, for your company.
SEA vs SEO: the infographic summary
The e-alchimie agency has summarized the differences between SEA and SEO in the following infographic:
©️ e-alchimie.fr
Advantages and disadvantages of paid search
Advantages of SEA
➕ Visibility : your website appears particularly on very popular queries for which simple SEO positioning has its limits. More visibility means more incoming traffic to your site.
➕ S peed : Google can take up to 6 months to position your site in the natural results (SEO) for a given query. Using SEA allows you to rank faster (provided you have high-performing ads and well-executed campaigns!).
➕ Flexibility : you can choose to stop or resume a campaign whenever you like. You choose the period over which you want to be more visible, which is relevant especially if your business depends largely on seasonality.
Disadvantages of SEA
➖ Any stoppage or suspension of a campaign means the immediate interruption of traffic to your website. Similarly, if you decide to allocate a budget capped at a certain amount per day: as soon as the number of clicks is exhausted, the campaign is suspended and the ad no longer appears on the results pages.
➖ The undeniable disadvantage of SEA is its budget : controlling the ROI of your campaigns is no easy task, especially if your marketing skills are limited and/or you haven't mastered the necessary tools.
Google Ads budgets can quickly explode if you don't monitor your paid ads rigorously.
💡 Would you like to outsource your SEA campaigns and leave it to the professionals to maximize your ROI? Put your trust in an AdWords agency.
Why adopt a SEA strategy?
The importance of SEA is best understood when compared to SEO. SEA can help you position yourself on certain strategic keywords very quickly in search engine results (SERPs).
What's in it for your company?
SEA significantly increases traffic to your website and, if your campaigns are well designed, encourages web users to click on your sponsored link before scrolling down the results page.
💡 You don't need your page to be indexed in Google (present in the results) to benefit from this visibility, unlike SEO.
Generating traffic and clicks on your website is good. Attracting a qualified audience that you can more easily convert into leads or customers is better. That's what Search Engine Advertising is all about: positioning sponsored links that are relevant to your target audience.
Multiply your results by targeting hundreds or even thousands of relevant keywords simultaneously, per ad group.
How can you make the most of SEA for your business?
It's all very interesting theory, but how do you integrate it into your digital strategy?
Keep abreast of the latest trends
Good practice in campaign management starts with analysis and knowledge of the major trends in this rapidly evolving sector. In 2020, you'll need to reinforce your strategy on several fronts:
- audience segmentation to refine the personalization of your ads on Google Ads ;
- automation (setting up alerts, bidding rules, performance reports, etc.) and the integration of machine learning for intelligent campaigns;
- the growing importance of voice search (and its UX and SEO specificities) for the keyword strategy to be developed;
- the quality of content, with great care given to message writing and a strategic sales pitch, as well as well-crafted visuals highlighting your offer, in a world where customers are increasingly seduced by images;
- the unavoidable niche of video: YouTube remains the leading platform to use to develop your brand, inform about your offers, and target new audiences.
Use the right tools
Your online presence and, above all, your visibility are inextricably linked to Google AdWords SEA campaigns. And for that, you need a number of tools. We've put together a list of tools for you to choose from, depending on your needs and the tools you're already using:
- Keyword Suggest, to find relevant keywords on which to position your website;
- Ranxplorer, to analyze paid results (keywords, positioned URLs, competitors, missed keywords and duplicates);
- Seiso, to analyze your Google Ads account free of charge in 3 clicks and improve your campaigns, without your data being recorded;
- SEMrush, to analyze your content and that of your competitors internationally and in different languages, with a large database of sites, backlinks and keywords.
Another avenue to explore is to take advantage of SEA and/or SEO support from an SEO agency or expert consultant.
SEA or SEO?
That's the question! What if the answer was "both"?
As we've seen, these two types of SEO are complementary. While SEA offers the advantage of rapid positioning, SEO is a strategy to be adopted over the long term.
What's more, Search Engine Advertising can't be improvised: if you want results, you'll need time and rigor to create high-performance campaigns.
What are your tools and methods for a successful SEA strategy?
Updated article, originally published in April 2019.
Article translated from French