Ever since Google shook up the SERPs last year with the introduction of a 4th top of the page PPC result and the removal of the right-hand side ads, organic results are disappearing further and further below the fold. This means that for ecommerce websites, competition for visibility is fiercer than ever.
You’ll find that many digital marketers will fall either into the organic or paid search camp, with each espousing the advantages of one channel over the other. However, here at Flint, we believe that by using a combination of the two, you can develop a strong presence on the search engine results pages that ensures all bases are covered.
That said, if you’re stuck choosing between one or the other, this article will give you the rundown of some of the benefits of using AdWords to drive sales for your ecommerce business.
(Almost) Guaranteed Visibility
Although largely dependent on ad rank, there are factors in your campaign which you can manipulate in order to ensure that you appear at the top of the results whenever a search is carried out for one of your chosen keywords. With all of the algorithm roll outs and updates in Organic Search, your ranking can be quite unstable. Any minor tweak or change has the potential to send your website tumbling down the rankings into second page (or beyond) oblivion. PPC ads always appear at the top of the search results, meaning that if you get your bid and quality score on point, you can ensure your website is in the top position.
Full Tracking and ROI Measurement
Google’s “helpful” transition to the encryption of data from organic searches has left it difficult for digital marketers to full measure the return on the effort they put into ranking well for specific keywords. With AdWords, you can see the exact keywords, ad content, and even match type, which drove a conversion on your website - granted you have your AdWords and Analytics account linked (if you need help with account linking, give us a shout!). This means that you can see exactly how much revenue your website is making compared to the investment of ad spend. It also enables you to optimise your campaign based on performance, by tweaking budgets and bids
Numerous Targeting Options
Although keywords are the bread and butter of AdWords, there are a number of other targeting options available to advertisers within the platform that enable them to refine their campaigns to reach their intended audience. These targeting options include:
- Demographic targeting: To target searchers by gender and age;
- Location targeting: From country right down to a specific radius;
- Device targeting: To adjust your bid accordingly to target people on certain types of devices either more or less aggressively;
- Time/Day targeting: To create a custom schedule for your ads to only appear on certain days/times based on the search behaviour of your target audience.
Remarketing
Remarketing is often one of the most poorly-executed digital marketing tactics. In theory, it’s an ingenious idea; follow users who have previously visited your website around the website and entice them to return to your site to complete a conversion.
However, most advertisers, don’t take full advantage of the targeting opportunity offered by remarketing and create campaigns which target anyone who’s been on any page of their website with a generic message. Remarketing works best when it’s segmented and customised - different messaging aimed at different groups of visitors based on where they are in the conversion journey.
Ad Extensions
One of the most tangible advantages of AdWords over SEO are Ad Extensions. These are features which can either be optionally or automatically included in your ads, which don’t take up any of your ad copy character limit. Many of the ad extension options mirror the rich snippets which can appear in organic search results, however the main difference is that you don’t need the help of a web developer, or be technically-inclined, to set Ad Extensions up.
Ad Extensions come in various options, many of which are ideal for ecommerce campaigns, including:
- Call Extensions: Add your business’ phone number to allow users to phone you directly from the search results, if they’re using a mobile device;
- Message Extensions: These are a relatively new feature which allow searchers to send a “predefined” text message to your business to indicate their interest and request a follow up;
- Trusted Seller Extensions: These are an automatic extension which appear in your ad whenever there have been 150+ ratings on your website, culminating in a score of at least 3.5 out of 5, through a third party review service;
- Callout Extensions: A crucial ad extension for ecommerce websites, this enables you to showcase USPs about your website, such as free delivery, 24-hour customer service, same or next day delivery, etc.
There are many more AdWords features and strategies which improve and increase the effectiveness of your campaigns, and, as a Google Partner, we often get access to beta features to use for clients’ campaigns before they are rolled out universally.
To find out how to get AdWords to work harder for your ecommerce website, get in touch with us today for a FREE PPC Audit. You can either fill in your details here, call us on 028 9045 5554 or email [email protected].