Search Advertising…. It's more that just keywords.

Search advertising is a great way to get in front of a prospect when they are actively looking for a product or service your company has.  However, I find that when putting together a new search campaign we often get mired down with keywords.  While developing a strong list of keywords; you know coming up with every conceivable way you can think of that someone would look for something, it is just one element needed for a successful campaign.  Much like the traditional advertising, search needs to be thought of strategically, with clearly defined goals, and calls to action. Similar keywords could be used for various goals or call to actions, the elements that go with them may be different.  The basic rule when developing a campaign is, “Give them what they’re looking for”.   

 

Step 1. Focus on one goal for each set of keywords
Step 2. Ad copy should be written to let the searcher know what to expect on the landing page.
Step 3.  Develop strong landing pages that pay off what you ad copy promised.
Step 4.  Keywords should support the creative and landing pages.
Step 5.  Monitoring and Optimizing.   Constantly be looking at performance data.  The information should include impressions, clicks and Clickthrough Rates (CTR), as well as data collected from actions from you landing pages. Optimize your keywords, ads and landing pages based on that data.