Paid Search Engine Marketing Has Become Tougher. Here is the Solution.

With all the changes in paid search engine marketing, it has become more difficult to get a return on your investment. This does not mean that small businesses should forget about this marketing channel.

On The Small Business Radio Show this week, I tackled this subject with Andrew Warden who serves as SEMrush’s Chief Marketing Officer and leads a team of over 150 global marketing and communications professionals. Prior to SEMrush, he held CMO roles and led global marketing functions at UnitedLex, SoftServe, and Cisco.

Andrew says that with “inflation and recession on small business owners’ minds, you need to prepare right now for economic recovery since most downturns only last 10 months. The key is to be seen online through organic marketing (SEO).” He suggests that you “start understanding what keywords your customers are looking for on Google. Then you can create content for what they need. The more relevant you are to your customers the more you will be seen online. But you must be patient since this can take months for a page to rank on Google.”

To find the keywords, Andrew, of course, suggests using a tool like SEMrush to do keyword analysis to see what your customers are looking for; “we have 54 tools to help you and a network of digital marketing agencies that can assist. But, SEO is where it starts!“

Unfortunately, Google changes things; “so marketing is never really done…just like other changes in small business. But SEMrush notifies you when something does change.”

Andrew also believes paid search is a good investment now too; “marketing during a recession can make each dollar go further as demand for media declines. Some 54% of brands saw ROI improvements during the Great Recession. It’s important to understand your audience, capitalize on cheaper costs and less crowded environments, and double down on your long-term strategies.”

Listen to the entire interview with Andrew.

Image: Andrew Warden

This article, "Paid Search Engine Marketing Has Become Tougher. Here is the Solution." was first published on Small Business Trends