In Search Marketing - The Devil Is In The Detail

Post by Jennifer

When It Comes To Search Engine Marketing, Every Tiny Detail Makes A Huge Difference.

At one point or another, everyone has experienced a situation that didn't go quite according to plan. When that happens to you, how do you feel? Frustrated that things failed even when it feels like you've done everything possible to make it go perfectly? As someone who this happens to frequently, I can tell you that originally, I thought I was just unlucky. But what if it's more than just 'bad luck'? What if I told you there were tiny incorrect details in the situation, and you just never noticed? If those small details had been noticed and rectified, things could have gone according to your plan after all. If only you had paid more attention to the details...

It’s okay if you have questions. Let’s first begin with some examples in our daily lives.

A Simple Note Saves Girls From That BAD Date

When you go out on a date, what do you do if it’s not going well? We’ve all been on bad dates before that we would have loved to get out of, but there’s normally no easy escape pod. In this restaurant, there are notes in the lady’s restroom that offers help to women who need to get out of the bad date sticky situation. How helpful and sweet, am I right, ladies?

Two Words Lost One Loyal Customer

One time, I was in line to check-in at a hotel. The man at the front desk impolitely yelled, "next". He didn't welcome me when I approached him. He simply demanded my name. I guess this was his way of saying "welcome to our very expensive and well-known hotel. I'm here to check you in. May I have your name please?" This was a small annoyance, and by itself was insignificant, however, it was not an enjoyable experience for me, and because of that, this impersonal greeting lost this hotel a loyal customer. What a waste!

A Piece Of Food Scared Your Future Husband/Wife Away

You went out on a date. You left the date feeling good about the other person, your conversation, and the direction of your new potential relationship. But then he/she never called you back. Why?! You get home to find out there was a piece of food stuck on your teeth the whole time. How awkward! DO NOT LET A PIECE OF FOOD SCARE YOUR FUTURE HUSBAND/WIFE AWAY. PERIOD.

Now you can see that even the smallest details can make a big difference in our lives. Next, I am going to show you how details make a big difference for your search marketing. Ready? Let's do this.

Have you ever wondered why your ad’s performance is not as good as you had expected? Everything in your Google Ads (previously Google AdWords) account looks perfect, but why does your CPA stay so high? Your boss is complaining that online sales declined, but you don’t know why. You feel like maybe something is wrong, but you cannot tell exactly what it is.

As an advertising agency, we do have some secret ways to keep the CPA lower and make the Quality Score higher, which other people probably don’t notice. By creating a thorough marketing strategy with pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, we can keep the cost-per-click (CPC) down, and the quality traffic up. Now let me show you how small details in Google Ads can make for big differences and here are some of the smallest details that have the largest impact.

The Details That You Should Pay Attention To

Detail 1: First Page Bid

Did you know that First Page Bid Prices of Keywords that use lower case letters are lower than those that use capital letters? Also, some relevant keyword variations may have lower First Bid Prices too.

When someone searches for relevant brand keywords, you want your ad to show up as high in the search engine results page (SERP) as possible. Being more visible in the SERPs will increase the traffic to your website. With Google Ads, you can bid to get what is called "First Page Bid" to raise your chances of Google displaying your ad at the top of the page.

If the First Page Bid Prices of your keywords are higher than you expected, check your keywords and see if any are capitalized. Google Ads is case-sensitive and may deduce that keywords with capitalized letters are more official, so they make higher First Page Bid Prices for those keywords.

Do you ever feel like some keywords really aren't worth paying this much money to be on the first page? Through keyword research, you know it's one of your core keywords, but because it's so costly, what are you going to do?

A. No matter how high the price is, I am going to use it anyway.

B. I won’t use it because the price is too high, which means my cost will be high too.

C. I will use it, but may not bid too high. It’s okay if it’s not on the first page.

D. I will try relevant variations of this keyword first, they may have lower First Page Bid Price. Then use multiple match types and different bid prices for each match type.

If it’s one of your most important keywords, you definitely want to use it. But it doesn’t look very good if your ads show up on the bottom of the page, does it? Your answer is D. If the First Page Bid Price is high, try other relevant variations of these keywords first. Then, we are going to use multiple Match Types, the next detail you need to pay attention to.

Detail 2: Match Types

Use At Least 3 Match Types On The Important Keywords. Before we set up different bid strategies for each Match Type, let’s review each of the 4 Match Types: Broad, Broad Modifier, Phrase, and Exact Match.

The most costly match type is the Exact Match, to make sure your ads will be the first place when people search the terms that are exactly the same as your keywords.

The prices for Phrase Match Keywords are lower, to get more impressions and target the people who have different search habits.

The lowest price is for Modified Broad Match or Broad Match keywords, to the greatest number of impressions and clicks. Be sure to check the Search Term report to add Negative keywords to cut off any unnecessary traffic.

Detail 3: Use IF Functions

IF functions allow you to insert a specific message in your text ad when a condition is met, and a default text when it is not. This makes your ads tailored to each search and more relevant to potential customers.

IF functions only work for ads shown on the Search Network. IF functions are parameters that go within braces {like this}. The parameter gets replaced by the text you specify when your ad is triggered by a person’s search. You can include IF functions anywhere in your text ad except for the final URL field.

Tailor your message to mobile users.

Give cart abandoners an extra incentive to complete the transaction.

Detail 4: Use Keyword Insertion

Since people’s search terms aren’t always the same as the keyword, keyword insertion allows you to automatically update your ads with the keywords in your ad group that caused your ads to display. So it’s a good idea to use Keyword Insertion in ads to make your ads more relevant to users searching for what you offer.

Let's say you're advertising a chocolate shop. You could use a keyword insertion code in your ad headline:

Headline: Buy {KeyWord:Chocolate}

Google Ads will try to replace this code with one of your keywords in your ad group ("dark chocolate," "sugar-free chocolate," "gourmet chocolate truffles"), but when it can't, it'll use the word "Chocolate."

Detail 5: Highlight Upcoming Events with Countdowns Function

Let potential customers know about sales or special events by adding a countdown to your ad text. Countdown customizers come in both countdown formats. Countdown functions countdown by day, then by the hour, then by the minute. So a line of ad text with a countdown customizer might say "Hurry, sale ends in 3 hours," and then 2 hours and 28 minutes later say, "Hurry, sale ends in 32 minutes."

And it’s so easy to trigger the Countdown / IF / Keywords Insertion widget.

When you write your ads, type a brace { and select Countdown / IF / Keywords Insertion from the drop-down menu. Tada!

The devil is in the detail, so is the angel. As long as you pay attention. As you can see, small details make a big difference not only in our daily lives but also in the digital marketing arena. There are countless details to pay attention to when it comes to Search Engine Marketing, however, it's important to prioritize by the goals of your clients to figure out which matter most to you. When your ads don't perform as well as you'd expect; don't get frustrated. It's time to dig into the details. If you pay attention to the details you're seeing; sooner or later your ads will get better and performance will increase.

CenterRock Advertising is a full-service digital marketing agency that specializes in Search Engine Marketing (SEM), and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). We are well-versed in optimization and noticing the details, so feel free to reach out should you need any help!