How To Make Search Placement and Targeted Online Ads Work Together Part 1
You have a brand, a story, a unique selling proposition to share with the world. Traditional marketing theory states that if you gain search engine positioning that those seeking the goods and services that you sell will find you on organic search, paid ads or a combination of both. The landscape is changing. More and more prospective customers are finding you via voice search, mobile devices and review sites like (gulp) Yelp.In this article, I will discuss search placement and how it remains relevant in this new search landscape and then in part two, I'll talk about targeted online ads and how the combination of these approaches will create more relevant website traffic and sales for your organization.
Placement on search
Placement on search is a great way to find prospective customers who already know that they need the goods and services that you provide. These potential customers are already at the bottom section of the “conversion funnel”. They know what they are looking for, they just need to decide which solution to choose to fulfill their need. These are customers that you must be found by to create a successful online campaign. Here are the main methods used to reach these customers, along with tips on how the current landscape has affected these strategies:
SEO
Search Engine Optimization is the art of gaining top placement on search engine results pages by demonstrating to Google and other search engines that your site is the best resource for the goods and services that you offer. Many SEO professionals accuse Google and others of making this task so complicated and subject to change that it is becoming impossible to rely on this strategy to drive your business. In my estimation, they are partially correct. September and October of 2018 alone saw numerous algorithm updates and changes that have led to inconsistent search results and website traffic for many who rely on SEO to drive their sales. The key in this environment is to be consistently creating unique and valuable content, constantly monitoring the structural integrity of your website, and continuing to create inbound links that a human would actually use. We have also found that long tailed keyword research (ie. finding terms like “best branding agency in Sonoma County”) is also a valuable way to keep up with voice search, as well as demonstrate to Google and other search engines that you are a valuable resource.
Google Ads
Google Ads (formerly Google Adwords) remains a valuable resource. The key is to use this together with SEO to both increase conversion on the most valuable terms and bolster SEO placement for terms that do not enjoy strong organic placement on search. Continually editing ads and results and keeping up with the improvements in the platform like improved bid strategies and dynamic ads will bring in customers and ensure that your spend is effective in bringing in new prospective customers.
Google Display
Yes, Google Display is technically part of Google Ads, but I separated it out because of the new affinity options in targeting (limited to 3 per campaign, but still effective) and the ability to use the visual part of your brand to attract prospective customers to your website. The impressions can be large numbers for a reasonable cost and the conversions will be less than most text ad campaigns. If you create a strong display ad visual and back it up with a creative and relevant landing page, you will see results from this platform.
Review Sites
As long as Yelp, Trip Advisor and other review sites hold strong positioning in Google, you need to make sure that you are optimizing your presence on these platforms. Even if you do not pay for premium ads, claiming your listing, making sure that the information is complete and has good pictures in it, will help to drive relevant traffic to your site. Be sure to respond to all reviews, ESPECIALLY the negative ones. Reviews are huge influences on conversion and are used extensively by web visitors for most service type businesses, so put your best foot forward. A word to the wise, do not incentivize customers to place positive reviews online or use review platforms that edit reviews before they go live to screen out negative reviews. Both of these practices have the potential to negatively affect your review placements.
Conclusion
For most companies, the online landscape is crowded with competitors, would be competitors, and sites that simply grab traffic because they have a related product. To rise above the crowd, don’t stop with just being prominent in search, but build targeted ads and emails into your online marketing plan. In most cases, you will find that your market share will grow.
Eric Van Cleave is the Co-CEO and Digital Marketing Director for TIV Branding–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––TIV Branding is a boutique branding firm in Sonoma County, California. We specialize in building brands by using traditional, social and digital channels in unison. If you would like to discuss a project or find out more about how we do what we do, please email us at info@TIVbranding.com.