SEM Terms to Know for Local Digital Ad Sales

SEM (search engine marketing) can be an overwhelming tactic for many advertisers. They understand the basics of paid search, as they see it every day. What’s confusing is the logistics and mechanisms that build these ads. To help you explain them easily, we’ve created this handy guide to SEM terms.

A Local Media Seller’s Guide to SEM Terms

Have you ever talked to your customers about SEM terms and seen them immediately get frustrated? What may seem like an everyday concept to you may be foreign to them. You can use this glossary of simple, jargon-free explanations to turn bewilderment into clarity!

To start, let’s define all the parts of an SEM ad:

Ad: The copy that’s displayed, which includes a headline, description and URL
Keywords: The words or phrases an advertiser is bidding on that a user may search for
Ad group: The set of like keywords grouped by theme (i.e., products or services)
Campaign: The overall umbrella for managing ad groups and budgets

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SEM Terms: Keyword and Content Related

Ad Relevance
It’s a gauge of how relevant ad copy is to searching.

Ad Rotation
This setting allows for the rotation of a set of ads within the ad group. It can be even, or Google selects the best-performing ones to show.

Ad Scheduling
It’s dayparting for SEM, allowing for customization of time periods in which the ads will run.

Broad Match
The broad match is the default for matching options to ads. It allows an advertiser to display ads for search queries where keywords are in any order, as well as for synonyms, misspellings, related searches or variations.

Exact Match
In this option, advertisers can specify showing ads when the query is identical to the keyword searched.

Landing Page Experience
Landing page experience looks at post-click performance. The landing page should align with the ad copy and offer so users who land on the website find what they need and expect.

Long-Tail Keywords
These are phrases that contain at least two words. The more there are, the more specific the phrase. They may be less competitive and have a lower average CPC, although search volume could be lower.

Negative Keywords
Negative keywords represent terms you don’t want to appear for. This minimizes irrelevant clicks and ad spend waste. A common one is “free.” Here’s an example scenario: If a local transportation company uses SEM, they are seeking to attract people who want to hire their company but not job seekers, so words to exclude could be “chauffer jobs” or “how to become a chauffeur.”

Quality Score
Google calculates a quality score at the keyword level. It’s a measure of how relevant an ad is to the keyword. It factors in the expected CTR and landing page experience.

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SEM Terms: Metrics

CPC
CPC, or cost per click, is simply how much the advertiser pays for every click.

Average CPC
This metric looks back across all CPC data to infer what the advertiser spends on average for a click for any given keyword.

Average Position
Average position describes the average rank in paid search results. The lower the number, the better the position on the page.

Conversions
Conversions are set up in the Google Ads account to track conversions from ads to a landing page.

Conversion Rate
This metric is a percentage showing how many users clicked on an ad and completed the conversion action.

Expected CTR
The expected CTR (click-through rate) is Google’s estimate of an ad’s clickability. Typically, it’s based on historical data. The higher this is, the more potential an ad has to perform well.

Impressions
Impressions represent how many times a keyword search occurred that displayed the ad. Companies won’t show up for every search, typically because the budget may have been exhausted.

Impression Share
Impression share is the percentage of ad impressions versus the total number of possible impressions an ad could get.

Maximum CPC
This is the highest bid for any keyword or the most the advertiser is willing to pay for a click on an ad.

SEM Terms: Ad Copy

Ad Extensions
Ad extensions are additional copy displayed with text ads beyond the headline, description and URL.

There are many options.

Phone Extensions
The phone number would appear, but it’s not a click-to-call.

Sitelinks
This type of ad extension shows additional links on a website besides the main URL. They can be useful for targeting specific audiences.

Types of sitelinks:

Ad disclosure: Advertisers can include any disclosures about the ad as required or for transparency purposes.
App: Mobile SEM ads can include a direct link to download an app in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
CTA: This is another option to drive action with a button that has a CTA.
Click-to-call: A click-to-call differs from a phone extension and is only available on mobile. A user could click it, and they’ll be able to make a call.
Enhanced: These sitelinks are in large format with a text snippet describing each link.
Price and promotion: This extra copy allows advertisers to display a price or promotion.
Location: This sitelink is great for local businesses, as it can add a map, address or distance to the store.
Ratings: Advertisers can choose to have user-submitted ratings appear on their SEM ads. They can be beneficial since they highlight social proof.