Search Engine Marketing
Paid search puts you directly in front of people actively searching for what you offer — but only if it's managed with precision. Too often, budgets get spent chasing clicks instead of customers. We build campaigns around genuine buyer intent, sharpening targeting and messaging until every euro is working as hard as it possibly can. Done right, SEM isn't a cost — it's one of the fastest, most measurable paths to new business.
Search Engine Marketing — Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers to the questions clients ask us most about paid search.
SEM covers paid advertising on search engines — think Google Ads showing up at the top of search results, marked "Sponsored." It's different from SEO in one key way: SEM gets you visibility instantly, but only for as long as you're paying. SEO builds organic rankings over time that keep working without ongoing spend. Most successful strategies use both together — SEM for immediate visibility and data, SEO for long-term sustainability.
It really depends on your industry, competition, and goals — some sectors have far pricier clicks than others. Rather than picking a number out of the air, we start by looking at your target keywords, expected click costs, and conversion goals to build a realistic budget that gets meaningful data and results, not just a few clicks that tell you nothing. We're always transparent about where every euro goes.
Unlike SEO, SEM can generate traffic and leads almost immediately, often within days of launching. That said, the first 2–4 weeks are typically a learning phase, where we gather data, test ad variations, and refine targeting to bring your cost-per-lead down and improve performance. The campaigns that perform best long-term are the ones we keep actively optimizing, not "set and forget."
Google Ads is usually the core of SEM given its search volume, but "search engine marketing" can also extend to Bing Ads and shopping/product listing ads. We tailor the platform mix to where your customers are actually searching — for some businesses that's Google alone, for others it's worth layering in Bing or Shopping campaigns for extra reach at a lower cost-per-click.
We start with keyword research based on search volume, competition, and, most importantly, buyer intent. We're looking for the keywords that signal someone is ready to enquire or buy, not just browsing. We also keep a close eye on negative keywords (terms to exclude) so your budget isn't wasted on clicks that were never going to convert.
We track it right through to the outcomes that matter — cost-per-click is just the surface-level number. What we really watch is cost-per-lead, conversion rate, and ultimately pipeline value generated per euro spent, tied back through conversion tracking and, where possible, your CRM. That way you know exactly what your ad spend is actually returning, not just how many people clicked.
Ready to stop paying for clicks that don't convert?
Every euro of ad spend should earn its place. We build and manage campaigns that turn clicks into customers, not just traffic.
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