If you’re using Google AdWords as part of your inbound marketing campaign, or if you’re considering adding it to the mix, then you obviously know that first page advertising is where the action is. However, just HOW important it is to get on page one may shock you.
As reported by SocialMediaToday.com, research by the ad network Chitka revealed that businesses that show up on page one (either through first page advertising, or through organic SEO) receive a staggering 91.5 percent of traffic. These results align with HubSpot’s findings that 75 percent of searchers don’t even bother looking beyond page one.
So yes, first page advertising is the AdWords gift that keeps on giving. However, as you can imagine or have experienced, every business wants to claim this precious real estate – and there’s only a handful of spots to claim! That means businesses that compete on the ground (or on the web) for customers also need to bring their strategic and tactical playbook to the AdWords arena – because basically, it’s page one or bust.
With this in mind, here are 3 proven first page advertising tips to take your AdWords ads to the top – and keep them there:
First Page Advertising Tip 1: Improve Expected Click Through Rate (CTR)
Expected CTR is a key metric that Google uses to determine how good an ad is -- and therefore, where it should show up relative to other (not as good) ads. There are a few ways to improve expected CTR, including:
- Adding negative keywords, so that your ads don’t show up for irrelevant or inapplicable searches.
- Selecting highly relevant keywords that have a strong likelihood of aligning with the intent of a searcher.
- Write compelling ads that are likely to generate clicks from relevant searchers (e.g. customers looking for a business solution vs. students doing research).
First Page Advertising Tip 2: Boost You Ad Relevance
Google -- as well as Bing if you’re using their platform -- pays attention to the alignment between the content in an ad, and the keywords that trigger an ad. The tighter the alignment, the more relevant the ad is deemed, and the higher it will rank (all else being equal) to a competitor that isn’t doing as good a job in this area. This is easier to illustrate than to explain, so let’s look at a simple example:
Company A is based in St. Louis, specializes in providing office relocation services, and offers to bid $2 for its ad to show up. The ad has the phrase “St. Louis office relocation”, and that is also one of the keywords that trigger their ad to display.
Company B is also an office relocation company in St. Louis, offers the same $2 bid, has the phrase “St. Louis office relocation” in its ad, but doesn’t have this as one of the keywords that will trigger their ad.
All else being equal, Google will show Company A’s ad higher than Company B. What’s more, Company A may actually pay less than Company B! That’s an indication of just how valuable ad relevancy is: ads show up relatively higher, and cost relatively less. What’s not to love?
First Page Advertising Tip 3: Improve Your Landing Page
Some businesses do an OK job with their ads and keywords – or at least, they have enough budget to compensate for weaknesses in these areas – but they get hammered by Google when it comes to landing page experience.
It’s like this: Google wants to make sure that when a searcher clicks and ad and leaves Google to head elsewhere, that the experience is positive and successful. Frankly, this isn’t Google being nice. It’s Google being smart. If searchers don’t have a positive experience, then eventually they’ll stop trusting AdWords ads – which will take a big bite out of Google’s revenues (about $17 billion a quarter!) as businesses look to spend their inbound marketing dollars elsewhere.
There are a few ways to improve landing page experience – and ultimately, rise above competitors (AdWords ad-wise, that is) whose landing pages need to be updated or overhauled. Some of these ways include:
- Offering original, relevant content and suitable visuals-- and not just a form
- Making sure the page is optimized for mobile (very important!) and loads quickly
- Giving searchers options to move around and learn more vs. hit the back button
Learn More
The above are just some of the ways to reap the rewards of first page advertising. To learn more, contact the Leap Clixx team today and take advantage of your free consultation. We know what works and what doesn’t with AdWords, and will work with you to get your ads on page one – and keep them there!
For more information on why Google AdWords needs to be apart of your inbound marketing strategy, download our FREE eBook:
Topics: SEM
