Search engine marketing

Search engine marketing is the combination of paid search engine advertising (SEA) and organic search visibility (SEO) to attract visitors to your website. You pay per click for adverts at the top of Google, whilst simultaneously working on your ranking in the unpaid search results. For small and medium-sized companies, this means you can both generate immediate traffic and build a stable flow of visitors in the longer term without ongoing advertising costs.

How search engine marketing works in practice

You start by identifying the keywords your target audience is searching for. For paid adverts, you set a budget and bid on relevant search terms via Google Ads. As soon as someone searches for that term, your advert appears at the top of the results page. You only pay when someone clicks. At the same time, you optimise your website content, technical structure and external links to rank higher in the organic results. In practice, we often see SME clients starting with adverts to achieve quick results, whilst simultaneously developing their SEO strategy. Both channels reinforce each other: advert data helps you understand which keywords convert, and you can apply that knowledge directly to your content marketing.

Why search engine marketing came about and why it still matters today

Search engines are the main source of new customers for most companies. Research by Google shows that over 90 per cent of online experiences begin with a search query. Search engine marketing emerged when companies realised they did not want to rely solely on organic rankings, which take months to achieve. Paid adverts offer speed, whilst organic visibility provides stability and credibility. This is particularly relevant for Dutch SMEs because your competitors are often already active on both fronts. If you rely solely on organic search, you’ll miss out on direct leads. If you only advertise, you’ll pay for every click whilst your competitors get visitors for free.

What search engine marketing delivers for small and medium-sized companies

A well-thought-out search engine marketing approach delivers measurable results. You can immediately see which adverts generate clicks and which keywords lead to conversions. In the longer term, you build authority in your field, which boosts your organic rankings and reduces your reliance on advertising budgets. In practice, we often find that SME clients generate their first leads from adverts within two weeks, whilst their organic traffic increases significantly after four to six months. The advantage of this combined approach is that it spreads the risk: if you need to temporarily reduce your advertising budget, your organic traffic will continue. A strong SEO foundation ensures that your marketing costs per lead will fall over time, as you aren’t paying for every visitor.

You use search engine marketing when you want to attract visitors who are actively searching for your product or service. It works best for companies with a clear offering and measurable conversions. Below you will find the most common applications in Dutch SME practice.

Quickly putting a new online shop or service on the map

If you’ve just launched an online shop or introduced a new service, you often lack organic visibility. Paid adverts via Google Ads drive immediate traffic to your site whilst you work on your SEO in parallel. An online shop with 200 products can generate visitors within a week by advertising on product-specific keywords such as “running shoes size 42” or “buy ergonomic office chair”. You pay per click, so your investment is directly linked to user interest. Meanwhile, you optimise your product pages and categories for organic visibility. Our experience shows that online shops that combine both approaches achieve a stable balance between paid and organic traffic within three months, which reduces their reliance on advertising.

Capitalising on seasonal peaks and promotions

For companies with seasonal peaks, search engine marketing is a powerful tool. Think of a garden centre advertising ‘order vegetable garden plants’ in March, or a catering company capitalising on ‘corporate Christmas dinner’ in November. You can flexibly increase your advertising budget during busy months and reduce it during quieter periods. At the same time, ensure your organic content is ready: a blog article on “vegetable garden plants for beginners” attracts visitors without any advertising costs. In practice, we often see SME clients allocating 60 per cent of their advertising budget to the three busiest months, whilst their organic traffic remains stable throughout the year. This combination prevents you from being entirely dependent on paid channels.

Local services and regional visibility

For local service providers such as painters, physiotherapists or accountants, search engine marketing is a direct way to reach customers in the local area. You advertise using keywords such as “painter London” or “physiotherapy Rotterdam South” and only pay for clicks from people in your catchment area. At the same time, you optimise your Google Business Profile and local listings for organic visibility. A B2B service provider with 12 employees can use this approach to generate their first appointments within two weeks, whilst their organic ranking in the region improves. The advantage of this approach is that you’re competing on a smaller scale than national players, which reduces your cost per click. A well-designed website with clear contact details significantly increases the conversion rate from this traffic.

When search engine marketing is the right choice and when it isn’t

Search engine marketing works when people are actively searching for your solution. It is less suitable for entirely new concepts for which there is as yet no search volume, or for products that are impulse buys without a prior search query. A start-up with an innovative app concept is better served by social media or content marketing to build awareness. Companies without clear conversion goals or measurable results also struggle to get a return on their advertising spend. Search engine marketing requires a clear approach: do you know which keywords are relevant, can you measure conversions, and do you have the budget to carry out testing for at least three months? If so, it is a powerful channel.