Best Practices for Search Engine Marketing

 

Search Engine Marketing Campaigns and Avoiding the Mistakes 

Search Engine Marketing Campaigns are a must for businesses wishing to boost their sales. Online marketing has become more and more a distinctive and important aspect in the development and evolution of any company, big or small, which aims at reaching a specific range of potential customers and increasing sales.

At the core of any Pay Per Click campaign lays the commercial links (the ads) associated to keywords, displayed sometimes at the top of the left side and on the right side of the result page when search is performed.

Don't assume that this is an easy task. It's not. Remember that Google, Yahoo and MSN are tough nuts to crack, but with the right set of tools and a lot of hard work and dedication, it can be done. Therefore, it is good that before creating a pay per click campaign, you have a clearly established goal. According to this goal, a Search Engine Marketing campaign is developed.

As with Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Campaign Management is a must and must be established properly. There are many aspects that can be overlooked. Some of the most common campaign mistakes come from neophytes thinking they can easily implement Search Engine Marketing Campaigns.

Among the worst mistakes being made by our competition are:

1.  Bidding too much in order to be placed on the top position:
Even if this seems like the best choice, being "Number One" is not necessarily the best. Keep in mind that Web users are accustomed to searching, and they usually don't stop at the first ad. And, since they are first prospecting the market, it is highly possible that you only get an unqualified click. It seems that being no. 3 in paid search is one of the best (i.e. profitable) positions.  Keeping a campaign in the #3 position requires daily management and is usually accomplished by software.

2.  Geo-targeting:
Geo Targeting is sophisticated and requires a great deal of study in order to get it correct.  This is definitely not for the beginner.

3.  Bidding on broad keywords:
Broad keywords are very likely to take your CPC (cost-per-click) to a very high level. Therefore, campaign managers must have a clear understanding of the different types of keywords to use in Google, Yahoo and MSN.  For those that are not aware of the differences, Google, Yahoo and MSN will easily vacuum budgets.

4.  Boring content:
Don't say what others have already said. Be creative. Be fresh.

5.   Non-relevant landing pages:
Make sure that when the Web user clicks on the Search Engine Ad, it will take him/her to a relevant page.

6. Directing users only to the home page:
Unless you have a really cool Web site that captivates users and makes them browse through it for endless minutes, they will get frustrated if they have to search throughout the site for what they need. You should send them directly to where they will find what was advertised.

7.  No keywords in the ad text:
Insert keywords in the title and description of the ad. Nevertheless, remember to keep an eye on the clarity and relevance of the ad. Visitors must understand exactly what they will get when clicking on it.

8.  Not tracking the results:
Campaign managers should monitor the keywords that are used in campaigns.

9.  Suggesting that what you offer is free:
Ads that are false, tricky or confuse visitors should not be used. 

10.  Not identifying the uniqueness of your product/service:
Identify what makes the business and product/service unique.  Identify what makes the business stand out from the large crowd of competitors. Find the keyword(s) that supports this uniqueness.

11.  Failure to create organized campaigns:
There is a right way and a wrong way to set up campaigns in Google, Yahoo and MSN.  The campaigns is not properly set up will fail to produce the expected results.

12.  Failure to test with more that one ad:
Don't limit your advertising campaign to just one ad. It may not contain the best keywords. Create more ads and see which one works best.

13.  Not using targeting options for keywords:
Broad matches may or may not improve your conversion rate. But if you use the keyword targeting options, you may notice significant improvements. Also, negative keywords should be used.

14.  Not using company/brand name keywords:
Don't leave out the name of your company or of a brand you've created. You wouldn't want the competition to make profitable use of it, would you?

15.  Thinking that daily management of the campaign is not necessary:

Software must be purchased to adequately manage the campaigns on a 24 hour basis and produce online reporting that includes phone call and form generation.

 

What's In It For You?

To make it short, good PPC campaigns improve conversion rates. After all, this is what we are aiming for. If you only take a look at the possible campaign mistakes mentioned above, it is easy to figure out the disastrous consequences of a poorly managed advertising campaign.

A well-directed and properly instrumented Pay Per Click campaign can go a long way and increase sales.

There are lots of ways in which you can save money or waste money when creating Search Engine Marketing Campaigns. If the above-mentioned mistakes are avoided, customers will surely notice an increase in sales.