Coaching Session 7 – Paid Search: Search Engine Marketing and Google Ads

Video Lesson

Lesson Notes

In this lesson:

  • What is SEM
  • Ad Copy
  • Google AdWords
  • Getting Started with SEM

Portfolio

  • Draft your own first Google Ad

Search Engine Marketing 

What is Search Engine Marketing?

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing strategy used to increase the visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs).

While the industry term once referred to both organic search activities such as search engine optimization (SEO) and paid, it now refers almost exclusively to paid search advertising.

Search engine marketing is also alternately referred to as paid search or pay per click (PPC).

How Does it Work?

  • Search engines use complicated algorithms to ensure the most relevant results are returned for each search, including location and other available information.
  • In paid search advertising, sponsored ads appear at the top of and on the side of search engine results pages to gain more visibility and prominence than the organic results.
  • You go to a search engine and type in your search terms (also known as keywords).

SEM Platforms

An SEM platform is a search engine where a brand can place search ads that are displayed when users perform a search. The most common SEM platforms are Google and Bing.

Google Ads is the most widely used SEM platform. Billions of Google searches are performed a day, so it can help you get in front of the largest online audience.

Bing Ads claims to connect with 3 million searchers that Google can’t reach. By serving ads on partner sites such as Yahoo and MSN, Bing Ads help you connect with searchers who aren’t exclusively using Google for search.

Types of SEM Keywords

When you set up an SEM campaign, you choose the keywords you want to target and/or avoid. There are four types of keywords you can use in your SEM campaigns.

  1. Broad match keywords target variations of a term. This includes similar phrases, singular or plural forms, misspellings, stemmings, or synonyms of the target term. For the target keyword virtual assistant, a campaign may also target virtual assistants, online assistant, and virtual team.
  2. Phrase match keywords target the exact phrase, plus any phrases that have words that come before or after the target keyword. For the target keyword virtual assistant, a campaign may also target best virtual assistant, find a virtual assistant, and hire a virtual assistant.
  3. Exact match keywords target words that are very closely related to the target term. This includes misspellings, singular or plural forms, stemmings, abbreviations, reordered words, paraphrases, or closely related words with the same search intent of the exact match term. For the target keyword virtual assistant, a campaign may also target virtual assistants, virtual assistance, and virtuals assistant.
  4. Negative keywords exclude terms that you don’t want to target. Negative keywords are variations of broad match, phrase match, and exact match keywords that you don’t want to use in your campaign. For the target keyword virtual assistant, a campaign may also target virtual assistants, virtual assistance, and virtuals assistant.

SEM Targeting

Targeting keywords tells a search platform when to show your ads. SEM targeting takes it one step further. Through targeting, you set additional parameters for when your ad should show and who it should show to.

  • Location Targeting sets ads to only show to people who are within a certain ZIP code or geographic area.
  • Ad Schedule Targeting sets ads to only show at certain times of the day or during specific days of the week.
  • Demographic Targeting sets ads to only show to people who fit certain demographic categories based on age and gender.
  • Device Targeting sets ads to only show to users on specific devices such as mobile phones, desktops, or tablets.

SEM AD Copy

For the most part, SEM ad copy mimics organic search results. But they also have options for showing additional information. A standard ad usually includes two headlines, a description, and a website URL. You can also add:

  • Sitelink extensions
  • Callout extensions
  • Call extensions
  • Message extensions
  • Location extensions
  • Advertiser ratings
  • Price extensions
  • Structured snippet extensions

Qualities of a Good Ad Copy

What ad copies should have…

  • Simple
  • Informative
  • Concise and complete
  • Exciting
  • Honest
  • Most important element – Creates an urgency

Elements of a Good Ad Copy

What ad copies should have…

  • Attention value – Because readers are lazy
  • Suggestive value – CTA
  • Conviction – Because you are sure of your product
  • Memory – Ads need to be unforgettable

Copywriting Principles for Ad Copy

  • Avoid “unsure” words – maybe, seemingly, sort of, probably
  • Use simple words. Our aim is not to impress, but to make them act 
  • Avoid making it personal – Me, I, in my opinion 
  • Use confident words – definitely, always, surely
  • Remove fluff
  • ALWAYS have a call to action – what do you want the reader to do?
  • Keep it SHORT

How to Improve SEM Results: Keys to Creating Powerful Campaigns

Perform Keyword Research

  • Are used by your target audience. Sort results by keyword popularity to identify the top phrases that your audience regularly searches for. Use a tool like Alexa’s Keyword Difficulty Tool to find the most popular phrases related to your business and industry.
  • Work at the end of your sales funnel. Identify high-converting buying keywords that target prospects near the bottom of the purchase funnel. Use the buyer keywords filter on Alexa’s Competitor Keyword Matrix to identify search terms with high purchase intent that already drive traffic to your competitors, but not to you.
  • Fit within your budget. Consider the ROI you expect to receive from your campaigns and choose keywords with a cost-per-click that will lead to a positive ROI.

Understanding Google AdWords 

What is Google Ads?

  • Google AdWords is now Google Ads. Google Ads is an online advertising platform developed by Google, where advertisers pay to display brief advertisements, service offerings, product listings, video content, and generate mobile application installs within the Google ad network to web users.

How Does it Work?

  • Google AdWords works on a bidding system. Your advertising rank, which is a combination of your maximum bid multiplied by your quality score, determines your actual ad position.
  • Your maximum bid is how much you are willing to pay per click on your ad, and your quality score reflects how well your ad is optimized and relevant to the searcher. The better the ad rank, the higher you show up!
    1. Landing Page: How well does it convert, how is the user experience?
    2. Expected CTR: What is your CTR (click-through rates) in relation to the average? Higher = better.
    3. Ad Relevance: How specific is your ad in relation to the search. Specificity = better ad relevance.
  • Search Ads – Search network ads show up as a text ad for a given Google search.
  • Display Network – Display ads work as text or banner ads and can show up on Gmail and various websites within the display network.
  • Video Ads- allow you to create a video ad that will show up on YouTube videos.
  • App Ads – that allow you to advertise on popular Google network-based applications.

Steps

  1. Sign up/ Sign in
  2. Pick a goal for your AD
  3. Where are your customers?
  4. Define your product or service
  5. Create your ad
  6. Add images to your ad (optional)
  7. Set your budget
  8. Review your ad settings
  9. Confirm payment info
  10. Live

 

Portfolio

Please submit the following:

  1. Draft your own first Google Ad
  2. Submit screenshot from steps 1-8

Email Subject: DM – Portfolio 7

Examples

Use the arrow on the navigation bar to view the other pages of the portfolio samples.

Portfolio 7

DM-CS7

 

Proverbs 12:24

“Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.”

 

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