SEM Consultant

What it is, what it is for and how it works

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What an SEM Consultant is

An SEM specialist or SEM Consultant is a person specialized in attracting web traffic from search engines through the application of SEO and PPC tools, tactics and strategies. That is to say, they know how to combine all the techniques and tools that allow getting both organic and paid traffic as long as this comes from the search engine results lists.

That said, it is true that most recruiters or companies looking for this type of professional profile focus mainly on their skills in order to optimize budgets for paid search engines and social ads.

Why it is important to

Any company whose customer base comes from searches performed by users on Google or other search engines knows that capturing this type of traffic is vital to the profitability of their business.

Doing so at the lowest possible cost and in the shortest possible time is vital for success.

Therefore, a good SEM consultant is the ideal professional to get to stand out in search engine results in a short time.

SEM Consultant salary

The average salary of an SEM specialist is around 27,687 € gross per year in Spain.

Of course, this figure depends largely on your geographical location, degree of experience and type of company that hires the services.

It is not surprising that those responsible for this area in large companies or agencies can reach up to 49,000 € per year.

While an SEM consultant with one year of experience starts with a gross annual salary of 21,000 €/year.

Duties of an SEM Consultant

The tasks of an SEM consultant or specialist can be divided into two areas.
  • Strategic
  • Operational
The strategic ones are those that will allow establishing a course of action or route to optimize the results-oriented to the capture of traffic in search engines. Meanwhile, the operational tasks will be focused on applying and implementing the strategy. The following is a summary of the most relevant tasks:
  • Establish the most appropriate strategy to optimize search engine traffic acquisition.
  • Be able to carry out account audits in Google Ads, Bing Ads and similar.
  • Establish a roadmap and KPIs for control and monitoring.
  • Run tests, collect and analyze data for campaign monitoring.
  • Identify user search trends.
  • Optimize CTA of ad creatives.
  • Maximize the overall ROAS of the different campaigns.
  • Track, report and analyze website analytics and PPC initiatives and campaigns.
  • Manage campaign spending, maintain the budget, estimate monthly costs and reconcile discrepancies.
  • Optimize copy and landing pages for paid search marketing campaigns.
  • Discover, expand and continuously optimize paid keywords.
  • Research and analyze competitor advertising links.
The functions and tasks of an SEM consultant are extensive and varied, so these profiles also require knowledge of project management.

How to choose a good SEM Consultant

The truth is that this type of professional must be able to demonstrate that they possess:

  • Successful experience managing PPC campaigns on Google, Yahoo and Bing.
  • Proficient in sales funnel, conversions and online customer acquisition.
  • Strong knowledge of the latest trends and best practices in search engine marketing.
  • Proficient with tools such as Google ads, Semrush, Google Keyword Planner, etc.
  • Experience with website analytics tools (e.g. Google Analytics, NetInsight, Omniture, WebTrends).
  • Strong analytical skills and experience with SEM reporting.
  • Ability to read or understand languages such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
  • Ability to read or understand languages such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Apart from this, it is very positive if a consultant candidate can demonstrate successful results in the management of Social Ads campaigns by mastering the suites of Facebook Ads, Instagram or Linkedin ads.

Undoubtedly, this increases the versatility of the position and allows you to reach other sources of acquisition for your company.

In conclusion:

A search engine marketing (SEM) specialist manages all paid search campaigns on Google, Yahoo and Bing, as well as other search engines and display platforms.

He can even master paid social media channels: Social Ads.

You have good basic knowledge of SEO, Copywriting, analytics and CRO, which allows you to optimize campaigns and test in real-time.

Important: a good SEM specialist, in addition to managing the paid search budget effectively, is able to work together with the SEO and digital marketing team to maximize ROI, drive traffic and customers.

Links and recommended reading:

Preguntas Frecuentes

El Consultor SEM es un perfil profesional encargado de la adquisición de tráfico web procedente de motores de búsqueda. Contar con un buen profesional dedicado al SEM es una inversión que ayudará a tu empresa a destacar en los resultados de los buscadores.

Esto depende mucho de la experiencia y capacidad de demostrar resultados exitosos. El rango de salario para los especialistas SEM oscila entre los 49.000 euros de una posición de responsable con gran experiencia a los 21.000 € de profesionales sin experiencia. Siendo la media de alrededor de 27.000€ para los profesionales con al menos 3 años de experiencia.