SEM Checklist for Peak PPC Performance Focus

Search engine marketing SEM is no longer about developing great content with some strategic keywords, hitting publish, and hoping for the best. Here’s how to get the most bang for your ad budget with PPC!

Paid digital advertising isn’t cheap these days – especially for small to medium-sized businesses. If you’re looking to maximize spending on your PPC ad campaigns then an SEM checklist is a must. Understanding the basics of marketing strategy to boost your long-term results will only benefit your business in the future.

The below SEM checklist is your ultimate guide to succeeding in PPC ads!

What is the difference between SEM and PPC?

SEM and PPC are sometimes used interchangeably, but there is a clear distinction in the digital marketing world between the terms.

SEM = Search Engine Marketing
PPC = Pay-per-Click (advertising)

So, SEM encompasses all PPC but is not limited to only PPC… if that makes sense. Your SEM strategy can include keywords on your website or unpaid content which leads to organic traffic.
PPC advertising is always paid content on a search engine or social media platform. The most common form of PPC advertising is via Google Ads, Facebook/Instagram ads, and YouTube advertising as of 2022.

Add more content

When you upload a video onto YouTube, you’ve created more content (text, tags, and so on) for Google and other search engines to crawl. This means they’ll have more opportunities to rank your content in search results.

Plus, since Google owns YouTube, there are many benefits to creating a video for your brand’s YouTube channel. You can link back to your domain from your YouTube channel, which helps build authority and trust in your website.

Your Ultimate SEM Checklist for PPC Performance

Complete Stellar Keyword Research: The first step to standing out in the SEM world is ranking high (or at the top) in the search algorithm. Keywords are the ultimate key to unlocking this powerful position. There are dozens of keyword tools and platforms available that can help you rank and rate your ideas and phrases before the campaign launch.

– Research low competition keywords

– Use a free online tool to learn more

– Do your research for high-volume traffic

– Consider bidding on branded keywords

– If your budget allows, consider high competition keywords

– Google your term and view “related searches” on the platform to get some additional insights into your target audience’s thought process

Check out the Competition: Your product and business strategy are unique but there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Take notes from competitors who have already found success in the realm you’re looking to break into. Don’t COPY their ads but learn to analyze their keywords and consider how you can make similar ads work for you and your business. Find ways to stand out from your competition (where possible) by using branded storytelling in subtle ways.

– See what keywords your competitors are using by googling your target audience’s keyphrases and viewing their PPC ads

– Check out your competitor’s ad copy (and keywords) for inspiration

– Define your key selling point and storytelling matrix to stand out

Integrate Keywords with your Funnel: Your website content and sales funnel should incorporate some of these keywords as well. That way you can drive organic traffic and ensure that your SEM makes sense with your overall business model. The last thing that you want is an ad to have a successful click-through onto a page that confuses them or does not sell the service/product that they were interested in when they clicked. The average user has a low attention span so be sure to communicate quickly and clearly.

– Organize keyword groups in your ad sets

– Generate a list of negative keywords

– Link your campaigns to landing pages and test the funnel end-to-end

– Ensure that your funnel messaging and keywords are consistent with ads

– Align organic traffic content (blog posts, social media content) with your PPC ad keywords to truly maximize your lead generation efforts

Analyze During Campaign: PPC ads are not a “set it and forget it” strategy. While you don’t need to be changing your ads every day – you should be monitoring performance and spending closely. Be sure to pause advertisements that aren’t working and double down on those that are converting. Too often, PPC ad campaigns are analyzed after the spend is completed which is when no changes can be made to optimize performance for the client or business.

– Adjust your spending at set points in the campaign (based on spend or time)

– Double down on ads that are converting

– Reduce or pause ads that are not performing (use automation tools for ultimate efficiency here)

– If you have one extremely successful ad – consider adding to the ad set a similar advertisement with similar keywords but new phrasing

Conclusion

Use this SEM checklist to take your next PPC campaign to new heights! We recommend doing consistent and continuous research in this space when running paid campaigns because algorithms change all the time. Staying on top of this area of your business can lead to some amazing long-term results in terms of traffic and profitability.

To read more about the difference between SEO and SEM, check out The Difference Between SEO vs SEM article.