SEM and SEO are digital marketing strategies that increase a website’s visibility on search engine results pages. More visibility leads to more web traffic and conversions. Therefore, SEM and SEO are essential component of a successful digital approach.
SEM and SEO Explained
SEM (Search Engine Marketing) uses paid advertising and keyword bidding to increase a website’s visibility and ranking on search engines. On the other hand, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) focuses on a range of strategies that build organic visibility and drive organic traffic. SEM achieves short-term results, while SEO helps drive and sustain long-term results.
There are many facets to SEM and SEO, making it hard to know whether they are working optimally. A digital audit can help you get answers so that you can take action on building and managing efficient and cost-effective SEM and SEO campaigns that help you reach your business goals.
How a digital audit can help and what to look for
It is vital to define your audience and goals, understand best practices and analyse your current approach. Doing so helps you create and manage successful SEO and SEM.
An Independent Digital Audit is a useful way of obtaining quality and transparent information, gain clarity, and learn the steps required to achieve your desired marketing outcomes.
Not all digital audits are equal. Therefore, it is important to select an independent and reputable auditor if you want to ensure honest and unbiased findings. There are many auditing companies that offer reviews of a specific area. However, digital success relies on a complex and interwoven network of strategies and elements working together. As such, ensure your digital audit takes a holistic approach.
Benefits of a Digital Audit for SEO
When reviewing SEO, an Independent Digital Audit determines how successful your current approach is, and provides actionable ways in which it can be improved. It takes into consideration things such as:
- Site performance
- Ensures that SEO practices are up to date, so you’re not being penalised
- Ranking keywords, and how they perform against your competitors
- The best-performing keywords and landing pages for driving traffic
- Competitor analysis
- Site speed, security and user experience
- Backlinks are relevant and are not coming from toxic sources
- Ensuring content is relevant to the audience
- Metadata is kept up to date and optimised.
Benefits of a Digital Audit for SEM
A review of your current SEM strategy examines:
- How to define the goals of your ad campaigns
- Whether the ad account is logically ordered
- Conversion tracking set up
- Target audiences
- Ad placement
- The number of ads running
- A/B testing
- When and which ads are converting
- Remarketing
- Negative keywords in use
- Whether an ‘always on’ campaign is running
- Whether you bidding on competitors’ terms
- Location targeting
- The use of ad extensions
Only once you have obtained a clear picture of how your SEM and SEO strategies are functioning can you make smarter, better-informed decisions and strides towards achieving your desired results. A digital marketing audit is an investment that pays dividends. It saves you confusion, time and money, and helps you see better return on investment in the long run.
To learn more about IDA audits or to arrange a digital audit so that you can get answers and take action, contact our friendly team today.
