What do You Need to Know about Search Marketing?

Search marketing is a form of Internet marketing. It uses search engines to increase traffic and visibility through paid and unpaid efforts.

These paid efforts are referred to as search engine marketing (SEM) and unpaid efforts are referred to as search engine optimization (SEO).

In this post we’re going to specifically address SEM marketing. (Worried about SEO too? Don’t fret. We’ll be addressing it specifically in a later post.)

How Does Search Engine Marketing Work?

With SEM marketing, you pay for online visibility. Typically, this means you’re using pay-per-click advertising.

PPC advertising is particularly popular because it allows you to pay when your ad is clicked. As the top dog in the search engine world, Google is the biggest PPC ad provider.

Do I Have to Advertise with Google?

No. Other search engines, such as Bing and Yahoo, offer PPC ads. However, nearly 70 percent of all search queries are performed through Google. Chances are pretty good that’s where a substantial portion of your audience spends their time searching. And, it’s why we strongly recommend Google’s PPC ad options to clients.

With Google there are a variety of tools are available for creating and managing your PPC ads. The two most popular are AdWords and AdWords Express.

Both tools allow you to spend as little or as much as you want by setting a maximum budget for the cost of each click and a maximum spend on your entire campaign. Within Google’s tools, you can control what triggers the display of your ad with a variety of filters. These include:

Keywords – The keywords or phrases your target audience is likely to use.
Location – Geo-targeting a specific area. The area could be small (such as a 20-mile radius around your store) or large (such as a specific country).
Time – Set specific hours when you ad will and won’t be displayed.
Device – Control what devices will receive your ads. You can be as specific as you want, allowing your ad to only be displayed to iPhone users.

Do You Have to Bid High to Get Big Results?

Not necessarily. A savvy PPC professional will be able to help you gain a substantial Quality Score. Google has made the quality of their search results a top priority. They are constantly updating their search engine algorithms to help users find the best information as quickly as possible.

Your Quality Score is important because it’s one of Google’s key factors for determining where your ad appears. Even if you aren’t bidding big, if Google believes the information you are sharing will be particularly helpful to a user, you could get a prime spot.

That being said, your Quality Score will only take you so far. If an equally relevant site bids higher, they’ll win out. Ultimately, the higher your bid, the better your ad’s position will be within Google’s search results.

AdWords vs. AdWords Express

There are three primary differences between AdWords and AdWords Express:

Control – AdWords gives you the most amount of control over your PPC campaign possible. As your business grows and evolves, your ad campaign will need to follow suit. With AdWords, it can. You get to determine the targeting triggers for each of your campaigns. With AdWords Express, Google determines these triggers for you.
Expertise – Effectively navigating AdWords that just happens overnight. You need to have an in-depth understanding of how search works and a comprehensive grasp of your target audience. AdWords Express was developed to cut out this learning curve. You are effectively handing the reigns of your PPC campaign over the Google.
Time – Not only does it take time to develop the necessary expertise to implement an effective PPC campaign with AdWords, it takes time to manage it. To ensure you’re not wasting your marketing budget, you’ll need to regularly re-evaluate what’s working and what isn’t so you can make changes.

With AdWords Express, there are very few changes available to you. Your main decision is typically just setting a budget.

Mobile vs. Desktop

In 2015, Google announced that more searches in the US were taking place on mobile devices than on desktop computers. Because such is the case, optimizing your ads for mobile display is more important than ever.

Users are demanding a richer, handheld experience. They want the right answers, they want them immediately, and they want them in a format that’s easy to use. This means ads need to be optimized with helpful details and engaging images. And, it means landing pages need to be mobile friendly.

How Does Search Marketing Benefit Me?

In the early days of marketing, the philosophy was simple – shout your message as loud as possible. All that shouting as created so much noise that today’s customers are exceptionally talented at tuning out.

Additionally, today’s customers are more informed than ever. They aren’t simply buying from the business that shouts the loudest. They are researching their options.

This means, if you can provide the answers they are looking for, you’ll have a huge leg up. By consistently providing relevant and valuable information, you’ll be able to grow your leads and increase your conversion rate.

Search Engine Marketing Best Practices

Quality is the lifeblood of any marketing campaign. SEM is no different.

Sure, the ultimate goal is more sales and a better bottom line. But, that happens when you identify a customer’s problem and provide a product or service as their solution. This is why your PPC campaign should always be comprised of helpful content corresponding to your target audience’s needs.