LETS TALK ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS! SYDNEY: (02) 9053 3383, NEWCASTLE: (02) 4005 1616
SEM combines two primary tactics: PPC and SEO. Both are focused on getting your business in front of people using search engines to find what they need.
Depending on your marketing budget and business goals, you can also leverage social media marketing (SMM) as an alternative and complementary approach to SEM. This adds another layer by targeting people through platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
SEM handles the search side of things through Google Ads and Microsoft Ads. SMM takes care of social media. When combined, these approaches provide coverage across all key digital spaces.
Search engine marketers help businesses appear at the top of results pages using either paid ads, SEO, or both.
Paid ads include Google, Bing, and other search platforms. The goal is simple: get your business in front of the right people at the right time.
What sets a good SEM agency apart is how it handles that task. Throwing money at ads and hoping for the best is easy; making those ads work hard for your business is another thing altogether.
At Digital Spotlight, we’ve managed over 2,000 successful campaigns. That gives us a unique pool of performance data.
We use this trove to tailor strategies that align with your targets, whether you’re leaning more towards paid ads or SEO.
We work with real data, tested strategies, and platforms we understand inside out. That lets us make the most of your spend and get your business seen by people already looking for what you offer.
There’s no hard sell. Just a clear approach, backed by numbers. If it’s not grounded in reality, we don’t pitch it.
Running Google Ads is far more than just writing the headlines and turning the campaign on. You need an agency that understands how to make the platform work for your business; an agency like Digital Spotlight.
We’re a Google Premier Partner. That’s not a label that firms can easily earn. It’s given to agencies that consistently manage large ad spends and get strong outcomes.
This status gives us a few practical advantages you can benefit from:
These aren’t nice-to-haves. They directly impact how well your campaigns perform.
While we’re based in Australia, we’ve worked with clients in Europe and elsewhere. As long as you’re able to communicate in English, we can work with you regardless of your location.
Here’s where our SEM services usually make the biggest difference:
Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is a PPC platform that helps advertisers display their ads on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs).
On this platform, we can build ad campaigns that target users who are actively searching and ready to take action.
Some of these people might be close to making a purchase, while others are still weighing their options. We’ll target both by understanding how they search and what they respond to.
The process we follow for building a campaign looks like this:
Before your campaign goes live, we’ll test everything. That way, you’re not wasting money on guesswork.
Bing is often overlooked, but it’s a reliable option. If you want extra reach without the same level of competition, it’s worth considering.
Even if you’re not using Bing, many others are. And because fewer advertisers use it, the cost per click is usually lower. That helps stretch your budget.
Bing Ads works similarly to Google. You place bids for ad spots, and if yours wins, your ad shows up in top positions. You also appear on Bing’s partner networks, Yahoo! and America Online (AOL).
While the search volume isn’t as high, the audience can still convert just as well.
We don’t recycle your Google Ads campaign and slap it onto Bing. We treat Bing as its own channel. That means building a separate strategy that fits how users behave on that platform.
You’ll end up with a more focused Bing campaign that delivers better results.
YouTube isn’t just for watching videos; it’s a search engine in its own right. And with the right setup, it’s a space where your ads can stand out.
This can lead to significant outcomes, as an estimated 43% of people who see a product in a YouTube ad ultimately make a purchase.
We can place ads that appear during or before a video, targeting your audience using keywords that match their interests. Done correctly, you’ll cut through whatever they’re watching just long enough to make them pay attention.
If you’re trying to drive interest or awareness through video, YouTube provides a potent channel to do so.
At Digital Spotlight, we won’t just slap together a campaign and hope for the best. Our strategies will be grounded in real data, not guesswork.
We look at the numbers the way platforms like Google do. That means using proper statistical models to understand what’s really going on. It helps us find the signals in the noise and avoid leaning on mere gut feeling.
We also won’t push SEM if it’s not a good fit. If it doesn’t suit your business or goals, we’ll be upfront about it.
That’s why we always begin with a free technical audit. It gives both sides a clear picture of where things stand before anything else happens.
Once that’s done, we can talk about what an actual SEM plan could look like for your business.
If you want to understand how SEM could work for you, we offer a consultation that’s free of pitches or pressure.
We only work with businesses where we can make a real difference. So before we suggest anything, we’ll talk things through and look at what’s actually doable.
We’ll handle the setup and day-to-day running of your ads on Google or Bing.
Along the way, we’ll keep a close eye on how the campaigns are performing and make continuous adjustments to optimise the results your budget is bringing.
Campaigns aren’t set-and-forget. We’ll actively manage them and make changes as needed. If something’s not working, we’ll sort it out straight away.
When it comes to content marketing, we focus on human-made, well-researched work that’s built for real people.
Everything we produce is written from scratch by a person, not an algorithm. Once it’s done, we run it through Originality.ai to check for plagiarism and AI (artificial intelligence) detection issues.
It’s all part of ensuring the content is desirable, relatable, and valuable, originating from a real human’s lived experience.
Our SEO copywriting strikes a balance between what search engines need and what your audience actually wants to read.
Each month, you’ll receive a performance report that breaks everything down.
We’ll also give you access to a live, customisable dashboard through Looker Studio, where you can check your SEM progress anytime. It’s all in one place and easy to follow.
We’ve built our own data models and segmentation tools to help you get better results from SEM.
Through our advanced techniques, we can improve your conversion rates and cut down the cost of acquiring new customers.
You’ll always know where your money’s going. No hidden extras. No vague promises.
We don’t dress things up or keep you guessing. You’ll receive clear reporting, honest feedback, and measurable results.
We work only for clients we know we can get a serious ROI for. That's why we don't sell, we listen, and we talk about what's realistic.
If you want to talk to an expert about Google platforms, book in for a free no-pitch consultation.
Sydney
1B, Level 16/56 Pitt St,
Sydney NSW 2000,
Australia
Newcastle
1/28 Donald St,
Hamilton NSW 2303,
Australia
Sydney: (02) 9053 3383
Newcastle: (02) 4005 1616
There’s no fixed price for SEM. What you’ll pay really depends on the size of your business, how aggressive your goals are, and the type of campaign you want to run.
On average, monthly costs can fall anywhere between $770 and $15,400. That figure can move in either direction depending on your needs.
Some agencies will happily slap a price tag on their services upfront. But this often gives the wrong impression that paying a set amount will automatically sort out your marketing. It doesn’t work that way.
We prefer to hold off on quoting you anything until we know what we’re working with and what you’re aiming for. When we provide you with a figure, it’s a single, flat fee.
If your campaign starts performing well, we won’t suddenly change the price.
If you’re selling something, offering a service, or trying to grow your brand, SEM can help accelerate your efforts. It combines paid search and SEO to increase online visibility for your business.
You don’t need to pick one over the other. If your budget has some room in it, using both can increase your visibility and help you achieve better results.
We offer a no-pressure consultation if you’d like to learn how SEM might work for you. There’s no pitch; just a proper conversation to figure out what’s possible.
We only take on clients when we’re confident we can deliver real value. If you’d like to discuss what’s realistic and what we can achieve, just call us at, Sydney:(02) 9053 3383 and Newcastle:(02) 4005 1616 or email us at [email protected].
SEM is the broader category that covers both SEO and paid search. It’s a combined approach that helps your business stay visible now and into the future.
Paid search places your business at the top of results when people are actively looking. SEO helps your website rise in organic search, which usually takes a bit longer but builds a solid foundation.
When both strategies are working together, you can show up at the right time, whether someone’s ready to buy now or just doing early research.
Start by reaching out to us. We’ll create ads that connect with the right people and direct them to the right part of your site.
You’ll be charged only when someone clicks on your ad. The actual amount depends on your bid, the relevance of the ad, and the platform’s overall scoring.
When we run your campaign, our job is to:
Search engine optimization is one part of SEM, but it can also be used independently. We offer both options, depending on which one suits you.
Here’s why SEO can be a smart long-term move:
The click-through rate (CTR) indicates the frequency at which people click after viewing your result or ad.
Generally, SEO tends to have a higher click-through rate than SEM, especially once trust has been established.
SEO CTR often depends on your ranking in search results and how well your content connects with users. On the other hand, SEM CTR is usually steadier since ads are shown in prominent spots on SERPs.
You’ll want to keep a close eye on the following metrics that can help you see what’s working and where you might need to make adjustments:
Getting people to your site is only the first part. You also need them to take action once they’re there.
That’s where conversion rate optimisation (CRO) comes in. It’s about adjusting your content, layout, and flow to make things as smooth as possible for your visitors.
Good CRO involves:
If more of your traffic starts converting, you’re getting more value without needing to spend extra on ads.
They’re connected, but not the same.
PPC is the strategy (pay-per-click), while CPC is the pricing model (what you’re charged per click). PPC campaigns could work on a CPC basis.
PPC stands for pay-per-click. It’s a marketing method where you pay a platform, like Google or Meta, to show your ad, but you only get charged when someone actually clicks on it.
It’s often used to gain rapid exposure or to target a highly specific group of users based on their search queries or interests.
No, PPC ads don’t affect how your site ranks in organic search.
They can work together in a broader digital strategy, but buying ads won’t boost your unpaid rankings on Google or any other search engine.
Bing has its place. It doesn’t have as significant a market share as Google, but that doesn’t mean it’s off the table.
There are several areas where Bing Ads gives you a bit more control:
Bing’s also less crowded, which usually means you’ll pay less per click. While it doesn’t have the same scale as Google, many advertisers find the returns from the Microsoft platform more than make up for that.
Still, Google’s dominance is hard to ignore: It accounts for approximately 81.95% of the search market, and that reach keeps it central to most ad strategies.
You can. The tools are available to anyone, and plenty of people give them a go.
That said, Google Ads isn’t a “fire and forget” kind of system. Google’s algorithms change often, and you’ll be competing against people who work with this platform every day.
Without a good grasp of how bidding, targeting, and testing work, there’s a chance you’ll burn through your budget and fail to get the results you’re hoping for.
A marketing specialist who runs these campaigns all the time can usually stretch your budget further and adjust things quickly if performance drops.
Working with professionals like Digital Spotlight ensures the kind of efficiency that pays off in the long run.
Most businesses start by spending somewhere between $30 and $77 per day.
Monthly, this typically works out to around $1,540 to $15,400, depending on the competitiveness of your industry and the desired reach.
Absolutely. You’ll get regular updates and full access to your performance data. Each month, we’ll send over a summary that highlights what’s going well, areas that could use improvement, and current trends.
You’ll also get a live dashboard through Looker Studio, where you can see everything in one place.
It’s all there when you need it, whether you’re after a quick snapshot or a deep dive into the data.
It can be, but it doesn’t have to. Google Ads lets you choose when your ads show.
You might want them running all day, or only during times when someone’s around to take calls or respond to leads.
You have three options:
This makes it easier to match your ads with your availability, so you’re not wasting budget when no one’s there to follow up.