WHAT IS PAID SEARCH? HOW PAID SEARCH MARKETING WORKS

By Justin Jones Last updated Nov 11, 2022

Paid search marketing is about bidding and buying relevant keywords: Paid search is a sort of digital marketing in which advertisers pay search engines such as Google, YouTube, Yahoo, and Bing for ad space.

Marketers compete for a space in the sponsored links by entering an auction and bidding on the terms that will trigger their ad.

This type of advertising works on a pay-per-click basis, which means you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.

Ads often display above and below organic search results and feature three crucial elements: a headline, a URL, and a description, all of which, when done well, compel users to click. Text advertising may also incorporate extensions, which provide additional information to your ad.

Paid search marketing is about bidding and buying relevant keywords

If you’re new to paid search, you might worry if it’s worth your time. Why bother when you can rank in organic search results for free?

Unfortunately, ranking organically is neither simple nor inexpensive.

Gaining the domain authority and brand awareness required to rank on Google’s front page requires a significant investment of time and money for generating and distributing high-quality content.

Search advertisements can be a quick way to generate qualified visitors to your site while also helping your organic efforts.

The following are the primary advantages of a paid strategy:

SERP visibility has improved. SEO methods alone may get you in the top organic position, but sponsored ads can help you get on the radar of your target audience right away.
It is compatible with other channels. Use paid search to steer traffic to other channels, specific pieces of content, or anything else you can think of.
Prospects who are qualified. Because search advertisements target specific search queries and audiences, you can get your ad in front of individuals who are already looking for a solution like the one you offer. While impression-based advertising, such as those found in your Facebook feed, try to passively capture searcher attention, query-based targeting allows you to get into an audience with intent.
Insights from the audience Paid search also enables marketers to discover more about their prospects, campaign performance, and the type of ROI they’re generating from their ad spend.

WHAT IS PAID SEARCH STRATEGY?

A sponsored search strategy is made up of several moving elements, including keywords, ad groups, match kinds, and much more.

In this section, I’ll go over some of the fundamentals you’ll need to understand before launching a campaign.

It Starts with a Goal

The majority of bad marketing strategies have one thing in common: they began with no end goal in mind.

As you begin to put together your search campaigns, you’ll need to decide exactly what you want to achieve.

Your objectives may include the following:

Improving brand recognition.
Generating leads.
Increasing sales.
Driving conversions.

Ultimately, the goal here is to convert website visitors rather than produce a large number of hits. Otherwise, you’re squandering your money.

Remember that conversions do not always equate to sales. The word refers to any action that corresponds to the advertiser’s ad target. In other words, it could include:

Purchasing a service.
Signing up for a newsletter.
Signing up for a free trial.
Booking a consultation.

Whatever your desired goal, you must ensure that conversions are tracked. This allows you to see how effective your ads are and how many conversions can be ascribed to your paid campaign as opposed to other channels.

Selecting Keywords

Keywords are at the heart of each search marketing campaign, connecting advertisers to users’ search queries.

Queries are the words that people type into search engines to locate information, whereas keywords are the words and phrases that marketers employ to target those searchers.

If you have the time, I prepared a video on how to choose the proper keywords. Take advantage of the free class! You may see some of my previous classes here.

Marketers use keywords that they believe are relevant to the queries that people would use to locate their website.

When you create a campaign in Google Ads, you will have the option of selecting one of the following match types:

Exact match keywords will only trigger advertising when someone searches for that exact term, accounting for plurals and spelling issues.
Phrase match – When a searcher inputs the exact phrase but additionally includes extra terms, your target keyword triggers the ad. For example, if your keyword is “dog food,” the ad may be triggered by both “natural dog food brands” and “pet businesses selling natural dog food.”
Broad match keywords elicit an ad when the searcher enters synonyms or the words in a different sequence.
Modified broad – When a searcher submits the query in any sequence, without synonyms, adverts are triggered. For instance, ‘natural dog food’ or ‘dog food with all-natural ingredients.’

Aside from match types, marketers can employ negative keywords to prevent advertising from appearing on queries that contain the target phrase but indicate a different intent.

This allows you to avoid irrelevant clicks, which boost campaign expenses, increase bounce rates, and decrease quality ratings.

Crafting Your Ad Copy

When writing your ad content, you’ll need to identify the product or service you offer and what sets it apart from the competitors right away, while also including your keyword the necessary number of times.

Here’s a rundown of how to make the most of your limited space:

Headline: Make sure the keyword makes an appearance in your headline. Once is enough.
Description line 1: Should discuss features and benefits.
Description line 2: Reinforce benefits and include a call to action (entice them to buy your product or sign up for a free trial, for example).
Display URL: yourwebsite.com/Keyword

Furthermore, Google guidelines strongly advise against using full caps or excessive exclamation points. The embellishments will most certainly irritate your viewers.

Need some ideas for putting your advertisements into action? Here are 18 of the best CTAs on the web to serve as inspiration.

Extensions

You’ll also be able to embed Extensions in Google Ads, which are links that appear underneath the primary ad copy.

This feature allows you to take up more space in search results while providing more context for your ad copy.

Ad extensions feature the following options, which you can select based on your campaign objectives.

Sitelinks – Links users to specific website pages like product categories or contact pages.
Callouts – Additional text you can use to highlight things like “free delivery” or special promotions.
Location – Shows users your business address.
Call or Message – Encourages people to get in touch.
Seller ratings – Google My Business or TrustPilot reviews that show customer ratings.

Structure Your Ad Groups the Right Way

Consider Match kinds, messaging, and audience intent when segmenting your keyword lists into ad groups.

I recommend structuring your campaign by creating ad groups based on a single topic or idea at a time.

While Google recommends adding roughly 7-10 keywords to each ad group, it is simpler to target the proper demographic when you keep things as tight as possible, limiting ad groups to three or four keywords each.

For example, your ad groups might look like this:

Campaign Name: Chairs
Ad Group: Leather office chairs
Keywords: leather office chairs, brown leather office chairs, etc.

In addition, when creating your ad groups, keep the buyer’s path in mind. For example, if someone is just starting their purchasing adventure and gathering information, they may not know which brands to buy from.

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