Search advertising is a method of attracting more customers to your website via specific adverts that will appear in the search results when potential customers search for related terms or on other websites that they are using. More often than not this is in the form of Pay Per Click advertising (PPC) such as Google Ads whereby you only pay when a potential customer clicks on your advert to go through to your website. Search advertising can be expensive and so there are some factors to take into account to ensure you are maximizing this tool and ultimately adding value to your bottom line.
1. Set a goal for your search advertising campaign
Are you looking to drive more traffic to your website or increase your conversions? Knowing what you’re aiming for will help focus your campaign, informing what you need to measure and then where you need to implement any changes to help you get the results you desire.
2. Set a budget
What are your profit margins? Set your conversion budget (how much you would be willing to spend on advertising to get a sale) comfortably within this to ensure that the cost of your advertising does not eat too far into this or worse still disappear completely! Depending on how big a campaign you’re going for, an AdWords Agency can really assist in managing this efficiently to ensure a profit. To give you an idea, if you’re looking to budget over £600 per month on your advertising it might be worth getting help to set up your account.
3. Research
Who is your audience? Which websites do they use? What keywords do they search for? You can find this out using search marketing data via tools like Google’s Keyword Planner and SEM Rush. This is time consuming and so here you’ll need to weigh up whether it is more cost effective for you to do this or pay an AdWords Agency to do this for you.
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4. Write your adverts to target your audience
Following on from your research, use this information to target your ads. Include relevant keywords to make sure your adverts appear in your audiences search results. You’ll need to make sure that you use Ad Groups to link your keywords (which will show your adverts) to ads that include them.
5. Decide which products will really work for your search advertising
Do you stock brands people search for? If so you might want to appear in Google Shopping search results. Otherwise, you can go for Google Search Ads or the Google Display Network (more visual adverts that appear on other sites across the Internet, often with a lower cost per click). Ensuring adverts appear on sites where your audience is looking will optimize your budget to get you the best results.
6. Set up relevant and effective ecommerce tracking
This is important in order to check that your campaign is working for you. Google Analytics’ Enhanced Ecommerce tracking allows you to monitor the results you are getting from your campaign. This can be set up by a WordPress Support Company. It is also worth monitoring the performance of your website (is it quick? It should be!) as if this is not working optimally this can actually increase your cost per click.
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7. Tweak – Track – Repeat
Use your tracking data to inform your next steps for your search advertising campaign. Are there some searches or websites that aren’t getting any returns you could get rid of? Are the results from certain searches or websites through the roof? Where could you invest more of your budget to make it go a little further? Remember; the ads are only the first part of the buyer’s journey. Make any necessary changes to your website to increase your conversion rate and ensure you’re not spending additional money out unnecessarily per click.
Bottom Line
Following these 7 steps – goal, budget, research, adverts, products, tracking & tweaking – should help you to make the most of your search advertising campaign, use your budget most efficiently and effectively and increase your return on investment. Use your tracking to make sure you remain at the top of your game.
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