Why Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is Crucial for Construction Companies

How SEM works for construction company
Reading time: 5 minutes

Why Construction Companies should not ignore SEM

In the year 1971, the first email was sent. The year marked the beginning of the digital era.  And from 1994, digital marketing started extending its reach. Now we are in the year 2019. And if your construction business still does not have a digital marketing strategy in place, you are probably missing out on sales and leads! Your construction marketing strategy could use a boost from search engine marketing (SEM), because Google and other search engines can bring in valuable traffic and leads for your business. Search engine marketing for construction companies is a great way achieve these two things.

What is SEM Marketing? How construction companies can benefit from it

According to research, “93% of online experiences begin with a search engine, and 97% of consumers go online to find local services.” This data is an eyeopener, because when SEM is done right, it helps construction businesses get leads. The process of promoting and marketing a website through paid advertisements on search engines like Google and others, is called search engine marketing. SEM is crucial for construction companies, and it should be an integral part of any construction marketing strategy since construction is a highly competitive industry.

In searches, there are both organic results and paid results. The organic results are charged by SEO efforts, while the inorganic results come from PPC (pay per click); both are part of SEM. While a lot can be done to improve the organic rankings of a website, it can be difficult to get to the first page of search results. PPC management or advertising can be used to gain better rankings. But, PPC is a model in which most ads work on search engines. Pay per click means the construction advertiser will only pay when a user clicks on their ad,  not for ad impressions. Along with PPC, there is another pricing model called CPM (Cost-per-thousand impressions). According to this, the advertiser pays according to the number of impressions, and not for the number of clicks on the ad. Marketing for construction companies thus should be powered by digital efforts.

What are the different types of search engine marketing (SEM)?

Construction companies should not ignore any of these types of search engine marketing. The three types of SEM are:

  • Pay-per-click (PPC),
  • Local and organic SEO
  • Organic SEO

These different types of SEM help you not only with search results, but also with branding, targeting the right audience, and gaining more business, leads, and conversions. As a construction business owner, you may be wondering why you should use search engine marketing. Well there are several reasons that we have listed below.

What Search Engine Marketing does for construction companies

A construction company can make huge profits with a well-developed SEM strategy. You will easily be able to achieve goals like increasing brand awareness and brand equity, increasing online visibility and web traffic, and attracting your target audience with local ads. Here are the key benefits of search engine marketing for a construction firm:

  • It’s specific and relevant

SEM is extremely popular to locally focus on your target audience. An advertisement that is relevant and promotes interaction from the searcher will be placed higher than an ad that is loaded with money but is not related. If a user is searching for subcontractor services and is located in Florida, an advertisement for a local agency dealing with subcontractors will appear to the user. They will not see an agency that provides all sorts workforce services.

  • Easy to budget

An SEM expert/specialist/strategist will be able to budget ads as per company requirements. Moreover, one can switch on and off the ads without a hassle. For example, let’s say that you are a new plumbing service and have just started with SEM. A large project has come your way. You can choose not to display your company’s ads for any given period.

  • Quick results

Without a doubt, SEM is a great way to get results on search engines. Don’t burn through your ad budget. With a proper search engine marketing plan, you can earn profits and save money in the process. A tip to remember is to be mindful of what you are spending on PPC. You could manage your campaigns yourself or hire an efficient agency for construction marketing services and PPC services. A good agency will provide you with valuable insights and competitive analysis too.

  • Less expensive & increased visibility

While construction firms don’t mind spending massive amounts on traditional/outbound marketing and publicity, PPC advertising is a much cheaper, customer-centric, and result-driven option. If an interior decorator wants to market her business, she doesn’t need to put out a print ad or pay for a hoarding. She can launch a website and do SEM to gain more local visibility and clients.

  • Competitive edge

By having a careful look at the keywords your competitors have used for their ads, you will gain an invaluable insight into their SEO and PPC strategy. Undoubtedly, it will give an edge to you over the others.

  • Greater ROI

Compared to other advertising and publicity techniques, paid search strategies are more competent. The return on investment is greater and better. Which means that your construction company can rest assured that your money is being well-spent.

How to use Search Engine Marketing for your construction website

Now that you know what SEM is, you should know how to use search engine marketing for your construction website.

First, you need to know what constitutes a PPC ad. There are four elements in a PPC ad:

  1. Headline
  2. Display URL
  3. Description line 1 & 2

All these elements are important to compose an Ad-words ad. Next, identify your competitors (which you might already have an idea of) and let your customers know your assets, USPs and other credentials. Write an ad copy with a smart CTA (call to action), using relevant keywords. Also do add extensions and conduct tests.

Factors related to PPC Campaign

To run a PPC campaign, one must keep track of the following:

  • Budget per month
  • Budget per day
  • Scope of geo-targeting
  • Keywords

Here is the structure of an ad copy:

Ad heading (25 characters), description line 1 (35 characters), description line 2 (35 characters), display URL (35 characters), destination URL (1024 characters), landing page URL, and image (if any).

Here is an example of an ad: If an owner is looking for contractor marketing services in his/her area, then the ad with would have a headline like “Best Contractor Services/Most Trustworthy Contractor Services.”

Here is a flow chart of the steps in SEM:

  • Research
  • Keyword research
  • Build PPC advertisements
  • Landing pages
  • Track, measure, report
  • Optimize advertisements

Tracking and optimizing your ad copy is very crucial for a successful PPC campaign. There are a few different type of ads that you can use. This includes text ads, graphic ads, mobile ads, and video ads.

Search engine marketing is all about doing the right competitive analysis, targeting the right audience and pushing out good content. If you don’t have much knowledge on how to use SEM, you can work with an SEM expert instead. They know ways to cut down on your ad costs and optimize them to earn leads. You will be able to see an increase in brand awareness and a rise in publicity with increased traffic. This is why search engine marketing is crucial for construction companies!

For the best PPC services, SEM for construction companies, bank upon us. CMGurus offers construction marketing services and has Certified Google AdWords experts to manage and accelerate your PPC campaigns.