The act of purchasing space at the top of a SERP (Search Engine Results Page) by bidding on keywords relevant to your business
Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing aka Pay-Per-Click advertising is the act of purchasing space at the top of a SERP (Search Engine Results Page) by bidding on keywords relevant to your business.
In contrast to Search Engine Optimization, SEM places you at the top of the page where ‘Ads’ appear. If you no longer pay, your ad will not appear at the top of the page.
Campaign Structure & Best Practices
Campaign structure is the first step in setting up a successful campaign. The right structure produces better results and offers greater ability to track what is working and what isn’t.
Tightly themed ad groups
Tightly themed ad groups can improve results. Each campaign has multiple ad groups focused around a theme.
Three text ads per ad group
Each ad group has 3 ads. This allows our team to optimize between better performing ads that are highly relevant to their ad group and campaign.
1-30 targeted keywords in each ad group
There are up to 30 targeted keywords in each ad group. Having more keywords in an ad group will not necessarily increase performance. The focus should be on the relevance of keywords, not volume.
Competitor Analysis & Conquesting
Because Google Ads is a highly competitive space in many industries, it’s important that your Google Ads team does a thorough competitor analysis. These text ads often show up right next to a competitor, so having a specific claim or offer can be a compelling way to stand out, or a reason for someone to click – or not click – on your ad. Conquesting campaigns can be useful in high-competition industries. These clicks can increase your overall CPC.
Example: If someone searches for Ford Fiesta, it might be relevant for a competitor ad like a Chevy Malibu ad to appear. However, this does NOT mean that you can use your competitor’s name in your ad.
Keyword Analysis
Our team conducts a thorough keyword analysis to recommend your keyword list. Google will spit out a lot information from their planner tool – some relevant, but some non-relevant as well. Remember, Google is a machine. Google sometimes also might suggest geographic areas that don’t make sense.
Quality keywords are the foundation of a good search campaign.
Quality campaign architecture includes tightly themed ad groups and custom ads over endless lists of keywords.
Our team looks at multiple sources to form the right keyword list:
Your website
Competitor’s websites
Google Searches
Google Ads Keyword Planner Tool
Google Trends
Process & Strategy
A sound strategy is important for a Google Ads campaign. These strategies are meant to increase clicks and ultimately conversions to your website or landing page. Spend some time thinking about answers to these in order to assist with campaign set up.
Customer focused
Differentiate the product or service
Display URL
Adisplay URL containing keyword.
Unique ads
Custom, creative ads.
Product benefit
Demonstrate why consumers should choose you.
Prequalify
Differentiate luxury buyers from discount buyers.
Dynamic keyword insertion
Use the specific keyword triggered by the user’s search query in your ad.
Call to action
Guide visitors to achieve desired results.
Landing page selection
Deep link to most relevant landing page.
Headlines and descriptions
Keywords in headlines and descriptions.
Implementation
Implement ALL applicable ad extensions.
Anatomy of Search Ad
There are more than 6 opportunities to engage with your customer in this one text ad shown above. Google can change the look and makeup of the ad. It also chooses when extensions are shown. It’s critical to make sure your campaign has these features and extensions enable for best performance.
Features & Examples
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Google now allows up to 3 headlines (all three might not be shown)
A car dealership might want to show their name in first headline to stand out from competitors. - Google now allows up to 2 descriptions (both might not be shown)
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Callouts to highlight your differentiators
Callouts could be “#1 Car Dealership.” -
Call extensions to allow direct calls
Call extensions will allow potential buyers to call them directly.
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Link Google My Business to show address, hours, and phone number
Linking to Google My Business will allow visitors to see when they are open or get driving directions. -
Structured snippets to show multiple offerings such as services, courses, amenities
Structured snippets to show available models -
Sitelink extensions to link to other relevant pages of your website
Sitelinks to available inventory and financing pages for easy navigation.
Campaign Optimization
Our campaign managers monitor budgets closely to bring consistent traffic. By continuously A/B testing ads, we retire the low-performing ads. Low-performing keywords are paused and more relevant keywords are added. All changes are documented and communicated.
Check bids and budget
Optimize text ads
Pause low-performing keywords
Optimize campaign structure
Add new keywords
Document campaign changes
Accountability & Results
We are a Google Premier partner. Premier partners are among the Top 3% of all Google Partners. That status is given based on historical performance, campaign volume, the number of Google certified experts and by a proven track record of following best practices.
We are a Google Premier partner
The operations team is paid, like a salesperson, to achieve your goals
Every campaign is different, and every campaign is treated with a white glove
Our reporting dashboard gives you transparency into progress & results
What Our Clients Say
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3100 N. Triphammer Road, Suite 100, Lansing, NY 14882