Creating a strong search engine marketing (SEM) plan requires more than sticking a few SEO articles on a website and then waiting for visitors to start rolling in. In order to ranker higher in Google searches, there are a number of key elements that small businesses should incorporate into their digital marketing strategy.
To learn more, we asked members of 12 successful young entrepreneurs this question:
What is the most important thing to remember when developing a search engine marketing plan? Why is this so important for success?
1. Be clear on expectations and budget
Figure out an estimated budget and ROI based on your industry and target market. Understand that it's a long-term strategy and commit to that before starting. Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint—particularly search engine marketing. Many companies have outlandish expectations of overnight success, or alternately, have heard the wrong messaging from unethical marketing companies. Hire a trusted expert. —Angela Delmedico, Elev8 Consulting Group
2. Measure everything and review frequently
Businesses often approach search engine marketing with a "one and done" mentality—and this will cost a business dearly. Marketing is extremely powerful and can be the difference between a successful business and a failed one. Plan with measurable objectives, set time frames, know your numbers, and adapt when necessary. Someone needs to be coming up with ideas and aggressively pushing for results. —Ryan Meghdies, Tastic Marketing Inc.
3. Base your strategy on data, not a hunch
To develop a successful search engine marketing plan, rely on data over intuition. You may think you know what will cause your potential customers to convert, click through, and spend more time on your website, but you can’t know which strategy will be successful until you test it and back it up with data. Test, evaluate, and tweak your campaign, letting your customers tell you what works. —Kyle Wiggins, Keteka
4. Remember you are not the customer
What I mean by "Remember you are not the customer" is that the keywords and terms you would use to search for your business are not the same as the customers'. Use tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner and look at your site analytics to research what keywords and terms your customers are really using during a search. Then use the data to drive your SEM strategy and plan. —Reb Risty, REBL Marketing
5. Understand the competition
It’s easy to think your search engine marketing plan is completely unique, but you have to keep in mind that in any given market there is a lot of competition, and you have to be sure that your marketing plan sets itself apart from competitors. Know what competitors do well and find ways to do it better. Remember the quote: "If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." —Bryan Driscoll, Think Big Marketing, LLC
6. Build a coherent strategy
Define your target audience, identify their needs and what motivates them, and then point out how your products can solve those needs better than your competition. Use keywords and phrases that are relevant to your business and are searched by your target audience. For website optimization search engines, think about words and phrases your target audience might use when thinking about your product. —Jessica Baker, Aligned Signs
7. Write content for the right keywords
The biggest mistakes I see are not researching target keywords and not having specific content for each phrase. Make sure the words you are targeting are actually being searched on, and not impossible to rank for. This data on volume and competition is readily available from Google and other tools. Once you have your target words, create a piece of content for each one specifically. —Todd Giannattasio, Tresnic Media
8. Practice 80/20 content marketing
If content is the proverbial king, then 80/20 content marketing is the emperor. Create content that focuses on your top ROI products and services, and always interweave each piece with your brand's story. The more personal the story—one that tells the "why" of your brand—the better. Stories from smaller companies will always resonate more over ones from larger companies. —Ron Lieback, ContentMender
9. Use keywords that speak to your client persona
We've discovered that nailing search engine optimization marketing begins and ends with the user persona, which maps out the needs, goals, and behaviors of your ideal customer. Ask yourself these questions: Who are they? What do they need to hear? Which keywords would they search for? We've found this works really well for our clients because it's customized SEO marketing. —Uchechi Kalu, Linking Arts Web Design & Development
10. Focus on the conversion funnel
One of the biggest disadvantages faced by small business owners is the inability to benefit from performance optimizations that require a certain conversion volume. Overcome this by treating an appropriate action along the conversion funnel as a conversion. For example, if you sell something and the number of monthly orders is too small to optimize for, you could optimize for the number of people reaching the billing page. —Shan Rizvi, Just Ads
11. Try long-tail keyword mapping
Leverage a free tool like Google Keyword Planner and research the monthly search volume for the top 100 keywords in your industry. Then rank those keywords in order of volume and cost per click. Look for an imbalance with high volume and low price to uncover your opportunities for search engine marketing or SEO-based content marketing. —Jim Huffman, GrowthHit
12. Produce blog content consistently
If you know your business well and know what your customers want, then blog about it. You can use your Google Search Central account or the Keyword Planner tool to better understand the keyword phrases people are searching and then create blog topics around them. Create a blog editorial calendar with 8 to 10 topics and begin producing content. Weekly blog posting will help build your authority and traffic. —Ali Pourvasei, LAD Solutions
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