Don’t Let Your Business Make These SEM Mistakes!

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After interviewing Brent Curry, search engine marketing (SEM) specialist and founder of Lodestone Generation, about the basics of SEM, Google’s new rules and must-know SEM lingo, we decided to get to the bottom of things. We asked him about the biggest mistakes business owners make with search engines!

Common Search Engine Marketing Mistakes:

  1. Believing that all search engine marketing is the same. In fact, as we discussed in the first part of this blog series, there are two types of SEM. As Brent explains, many of his clients are not initially aware that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Paid Search are two different paths. He predominantly specializes in paid search strategies.

To begin understanding how to utilize SEM strategy for your business, learning about these two parts is essential, so you can decide what plan is better for your business. Every industry is unique when it comes to SEM.

  1. Thinking that creating a website is enough to help you show up on search engines. To show up where you want to on the search engines you need to have a good quality score and incorporate keyword phrases that attract your desired audience. When people go to a search engine, does your site hold the keywords they might be seeking? Once they arrive at your site, is it a close match to what they are truly looking for? These factors play into how search engines will rank your site.

If you’re building a website now or in the near future, consult a SEM specialist and be clear about what you need your website to do for your business. With that information, they can help you determine the keywords to use or the strategies that will encourage a higher quality score. Remember: Search Engine Marketing is an active, ongoing process. Creating a website is a good first step, but the site needs to be active and appropriately strategized in order to achieve SEM success.

  1. Deciding that if you have a small marketing budget, you shouldn’t bother with SEM. Even small businesses can greatly benefit from a specific, targeted paid search plan. SEM is not limited to larger businesses or budgets. You can advertise your priorities, which lowers the cost of doing SEM for your business. Brent explained to us that an SEM specialist has the ability to see what’s working at each point in the process. As you gather information, you can determine where you are receiving a good return on investment, investing more in that area and continuing to expand. Done right, over the long term, SEM should be a non-risky investment with positive return.
  1. Worrying that you can’t control how much you spend for paid search. Don’t worry, Google will not take over your credit card! You control the limits of what you are willing to spend, and can completely control this aspect of your marketing budget.
  1. Giving up too fast. When you decide to incorporate SEM into your business strategy be aware that it will take a little time to be off and running. SEM is about consistency and online presence, so results do not immediately appear. For any SEM plan to generate quality results, you’ll need approximately 6 months to allow your SEM specialist to fully analyze your data and make the appropriate campaign adjustments.

*This article is written with great thanks to Brent Curry, CEO of Lodestone Generation, a search engine marketing firm based in San Diego. Have a question about Search Engine Marketing? You can find him here: www.lodegen.com.

Christine Buckley, Lucky 13 Strategies’ summer intern, studies Economics and Scandinavian literature at UCLA. A San Diego native, she enjoys exploring funky cafes to write and satisfy her coffee addiction. She spent the summer happily blogging for Lucky 13 Strategies, combining her two loves, business and writing. We will miss her as she starts a new semester!