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Top 3 SEO Tips for Click-Worthy Headlines

Are you a reader or a skimmer? We’re going to guess you’re a skimmer. After all, in a world overrun with information, who has time to dissect every detail?

But what if you need your clients or potential clients to read? You’ve written a blog or published an article and the information you’ve included would actually help them, but alas, they don’t think it’s worth their time. 

There’s one way you can increase the chances that people would actually read your content: your blog titles and article headlines should be both obvious and promise a pay off.

Vague or off-beat titles may be fun to write–and you may even call yourself clever for writing them–but those titles do not get clicked on. Headlines are read six times more than the article itself is. You have a split second to get your reader’s attention and about two seconds to keep that attention. You’ve got to give it your best shot. 

With that being said, here are three tips to help you draw readers in with your headlines.

Tip #1: Keep Character Length to 70 or Fewer

Unless you’re trying to be funny and you know your audience will get the joke, don’t name your blog post like the new Kristen Bell show on Netflix. If you’re unfamiliar with it, here it is: 

The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window

If you want a click-worthy headline, make it clear and easy to read in under two seconds, preferably 70 characters or less–unlike the above example.

Tip #2: Bait the Hook Early

Tell your readers the most important thing they need to know first. Not only does this help with SEO because the “bait”, or most important thing to your reader, is most likely a keyword, but it makes them want to read more.

Example: Which of these two titles would you click on?

Bad: Digital marketing practices are helpful to most businesses.

Good: 67% of businesses experience business growth using SEO.

While both statements are helpful, the second cuts to the proverbial chase more quickly and is therefore more effective.

Tip #3: Use Numbers, “W” Questions, or Reveal a Secret

Nobody wants to feel ignorant. Pull in your readers by using information that they want or would feel foolish not having.

This includes information that you can use to answer “W” questions, such as who, when, where, what, and why. It also includes numbers, as people tend to focus on what stands out in an article or title–aka numbers in a sea of text.

Examples:

  • 5 Tax Write-Offs You Could Be Missing
  • What Does Q2 of 2022 Have in Store for Family Law Practices?
  • Why SEO Is No Longer ‘Nice to Have’ for Small Businesses in 2022

Bonus Tip: Act Like You’re Writing to a Real Person

When writing content for clients or potential clients, write like you’re writing to a person.

Not to people. Not to search engines.

To one singular person.

It may feel weird at first, but the writing connects better with your audience when you act like you’re writing it to one person. 

It takes a minute to get the hang of headline writing, but when you’re a small business owner, learning on the fly is what you do–you got this!
Find out more about how you can enhance your content marketing for the better by booking a free discovery call with GoBeyond SEO today.

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Search Engine Optimization Tips Small Business Marketing

Are you Missing this Important Opportunity to Get More Clients?

Word of Mouth (WoM) will always be the best form of advertising, but it’s gone digital. If you’re not prioritizing your Google reviews and actively managing your digital reputation, you are missing an important opportunity to be visible and vetted by more clients or customers. Keep reading to learn more about online reviews and how they affect your rankings in Google.

How Google Reviews Can Bring You Clients

When you enter a local search term into Google, three main factors will affect the ranking of each site displayed:

  • Relevance
  • Distance
  • Prominence

The first two ranking factors are explanatory–Google will attempt to present the most relevant options within your immediate vicinity. Makes sense, right?

Reviews, however, fall into the category of prominence. If you searched for “dog groomer” and found one with hundreds of highly rated reviews, that groomer may outrank a closer local competitor if they have fewer, less positive ratings and reviews.

3 Simple Steps to Get More Reviews and Boost Your Rankings

Let’s say you’re one of the many businesses that doesn’t have a ton of reviews. Here are three steps you can take to bump those review numbers and, consequently, your SEO results.

 1. Fix Your Listings 

“Near me” searches are growing exponentially year after year. With the rise of voice search, they’ll be even more important. It’s estimated that 22% of voice searches are location-based. That’s a big number and growing by the minute.

If you haven’t done so already, claim your Google My Business (GMB) profile. This is your most visible listing, since it will show up every time someone does a search for your business.

It’s incredible how many businesses don’t take this simple step to boost their rankings and online visibility. Some of these businesses still have their old business address and phone number listed and then wonder why they don’t get more phone calls!

If you want to make sure your Google listing (or Yelp, Bing, or any other listing service) is correct, Google your company and see what pops up. If you think you need help fixing it, give us a shout. We update and optimize Google My Business (and other) listings every day.

2. Send Review Requests 

Customers trust reviews. The more reviews you have, the better. That’s why it’s important to ask your customers to leave reviews. This is the kind of social proof that future customers will trust and can ultimately encourage them to convert. 

To get the best results, make sure you’re sending review requests via text and email. This makes the process easy for the customer. They don’t have to spend time looking for your business or where to post the review. All they have to do is click the link and write about their experience.

Also, there’s no need to feel weird about asking. Happy customers love to help out. Asking can feel awkward, but more for you than for them. Make it easy for them and you’ll get more reviews. If asking directly is still too much for you, GoBeyond has a cringe-proof process in place to get you those reviews without making you blush.

3. Respond to Customer Reviews 

Lots of business owners don’t respond to online reviews. That’s a big mistake. A study by Harvard Business School showed that responding to reviews leads to a higher overall star rating. 

But the benefits don’t end there. Genuine responses help build loyalty with your customers. A simple “Thanks a ton, we hope to see you soon!” can leave a positive impression in the mind of your customers and encourage them to come back for more. 

Google has confirmed that responding to reviews can help your business rank higher on search engines. What’s not to love about that?

Don’t Stress About Getting Reviews

Word of Mouth will always be a factor when it comes to decision making. We’re social creatures and the opinions of others dictate everything from how we behave at the dinner table to how we make our laws. Word of Mouth has not and will never go away, but how we access those opinions has changed permanently.

Don’t stress about the review process. These days, having the occasional bad review is not a business death sentence. The far worse outcome sounds more like this: “Acme Products and Services? Never heard of ‘em”.

Want to automate your review process to make it easier and less painful to get more reviews of your business? Contact GoBeyond SEO to learn more about our process for getting reviews without the hassle.

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Blog Search Engine Optimization Tips

Could SEO Marketing Save Your 4th Quarter Sales

The Top  Marketing Strategy to Optimize Your Business’s Performance Through Coronavirus and into 2021

As the year 2020 is approaching it’s 4th quarter, businesses small and large are crawling toward the finish line. With lock down restrictions beginning to ease and only 3 months left in the year, it is time to take your business out of hibernation and take stock of your company’s visibility.

You’ve seen it everywhere. Scare headlines declaring that the economy is falling apart, big name businesses are having to close and small businesses struggle to survive as the coronavirus forces customers to avoid public places and limit shopping. Despite closures of non-essential business, restrictions and embracing social distancing, the patron shoppers of this world have not retired from their consuming habits. The means by which they are buying just look a little different. The buying journey for Americans has shifted and the business world must follow. 

The Trends You Can’t Ignore: Online Shopping Craze

seo marketing for ecommerce

Research shows that Coronavirus has turbocharged a shift to e-commerce business for many Americans.  In total, consumers spent $211.5 billion online during the second quarter of 2020 alone. Increasing the average dollar spent online by 10-30% more. Market trends predict that these numbers will increase in the future. Looking ahead as a business, it is important to know how you can build relationships with customers and close deals with prospective clients via the digital world. A smart start would be to identify and focus on the platforms by which your consumers are searching and doing business.

We’ve done the dirty work…

Here are the top buying journeys by which consumers are looking for goods and services:

Mobile Devices & Smartphones 

seo marketing for etailers

Ah, yes. The portable computer that lay in the hands, pockets and purses of over 3.5 billion people. Roughly half of the world’s population. Forget the desktop! This device gives you the power of infinite information in a total of milliseconds at the palm of your hand. It would only make sense that the masses are using this platform to surf the web. And that is a trend that is not about to change anytime soon!

Disagree? 

Here are the stats

  • 51% of smartphone users have found a new company or product when searching on mobile.
  • 60% of smartphone users have contacted a business directly after finding their website through search results
  • The first organic listing on mobile receives 27.7% of clicks, versus 19.3% on desktop.
  • 87% of smartphone owners use a search engine daily. 
  • 85% of internet searches are conducted on the mobile phone

Video Advertisements

seo marketing with video advertising

There was no doubt that online video was growing rapidly pre- coronavirus, but ever since activities were limited to non-risk, video streaming has gotten bigger. Going to bars or public events with curfews in place before midnight we’re out of the question. Thanks to corona this meant most nights were spent streaming Hulu or Netflix and searching Youtube for DIY projects around the house. 

Did you know that the second largest search engine behind Google is Youtube? Perhaps it’s time you invested your marketing campaign on video ads. 

Disagree? 

Here are the stats

  • 78% of people watch online videos every week, and 55% online every day.
  • 72% of customers would rather learn about a product or service by way of video.
  • 64% of consumers will make a purchase after watching a branded video on social platforms.
  • Nearly 50% of internet users look for videos related to a product before visiting a store.
  • Including a video on your landing page can boost your conversion rate by 80%.
  • Blog posts containing a video have a 53x higher chance of ranking on the first page of google.
  • Video content has 6 times higher conversion rate than non video pages. Pages with video content are 60% more likely to rank .
  • 92% of users watching video will share it with others.

Local Searches

local seo marketing

“Shop Local” is more than just a jingle; it is an image of unity amongst the marketplace during the pandemic. After observing the trends of consumer habits during coronavirus, buying and shopping locally has seemed to become the new essential. Consumers see their neighborhood business struggle, and want to help out. Shifting dollars from big- box stores to small businesses is becoming not only popular but the trend. 

Disagree? 

Here are the stats

  • Over 65% of online searches are for local business.
  • After searching on a smartphone for something nearby, 76% of people end up visiting the business within 1 day.
  • 28% of local searches result in a purchase.
  • 72%  of people surveyed say they will continue to support post-coronavirus.

Voice Search 

Last but not least, this should come as no surprise. As developers are expanding the power and tools of technology, it only makes sense that voice search would be added to the list. Voice searchers are starting to replace traditional, text-based searches. Voice search is easy, faster and something we can do while prepping for dinner, cleaning the house or walking the dog. 

Disagree? 

“Hey Siri, show me the facts on voice search statistics”

  • 2019, 25% of searches were voice over google- 2020, 50% of all searches were done by voice
  • 41% of adults use voice search at least once a day
  • 62% of smart speaker owners will make a purchase using voice technology in the next month
  • 27% of the global online population is using voice search on mobile

How Your Business Can Benefit from SEO Marketing

seo marketing more leads

The future of buying, selling and building customer relationships has moved online. Whether your business is plugged in or not will determine its fate. As shown above, studies have indicated the vehicles by which your consumers are searching and buying. It would be considered malpractice if any company large or small did not take advantage of moving their sales process online!

However, a business can not stop there. Now and evermore, it is simply not enough to just have an existing website. There are over 1.95 billion websites on the internet! A website without a masterful presence will be consumed, engulfed and spat out in an instant. If a company wants to succeed in this market, their online platform must get in front of the right consumers, appeal to their right wants and needs, and have the right message that showcases the brand they represent. 

Here is everything you need to know about how to optimize your online services.

The SEO Marketing Tool That Will Help Your Brand Stand Out

SEO marketing is an effective marketing strategy that ensures your company’s visibility to the target audience of your desires. Search engine optimization (SEO) enhances your online content by using keywords that are linked to high click rankings or organic traffic commonly used by the searcher. When a website’s organic traffic has a high ranking, Google, the number one search engine in the world, rewards the website by  identifying it as a top result, landing it a 1st page position in search results. 

Why is this important? 

Well if the evidence above showing that your consumers are turning to search engines to find business isn’t enough…

Here are the stats

  • On a given day people conduct more than 3.5 billion searches.
  • 75% of all searchers start their searches on google.
  • The first five results of google get 67% of all clicks.
  • Studies show that 75% of people will never scroll past the first page on a google search. 

Invest Now in SEO Marketing 

seo marketing success

If your business is still not convinced that you ought to invest in SEO marketing for the 4th quarter of 2020 and beyond, here is my final point. 

SEO marketing is the most cost effective online marketing strategy and return on investment. It is a continual non paid exposure to your brand. Paid advertising for other social media platforms can generate traffic to websites, but as the studies have shown, the majority of online traffic is brought by search engines! 

SEO is the only online marketing channel that, when implemented correctly, can supply cash flow gains over time. When a solid piece of content uses the right keywords and ranks high, traffic will continue to flow through over time, unlike other areas of advertising where continuous funding is needed to send traffic to your site.

GoBeyondSEO specializes in SEO marketing for all size businesses across the United States. We have a team of SEO specialists who KNOW how to optimize a website for maximum visibility.

There’s no better time than now to start investing in SEO marketing. You will thank yourself when you see all of the rewards it provides over time.

Click here to learn about the PLS (Predicable Leads System™).

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Charlotte Law Firm Marketing Lead Generation Local SEO PPC Search Engine Optimization Tips SEO Tips Small Business Marketing Social Media Marketing

Law Firm Marketing 101: An Essential Guide for Family Lawyers

These days, it’s not enough that you have an office to meet clients. You have to have a strong online presence. Check out this guide on law firm marketing.

Every lawyer who ventures out on their own has a vision of a bustling practice and nailing one case after another. In reality, most find themselves with less action and more thumb-twiddling, than they’d like to admit.

The field of law, including family law, is a saturated and competitive industry. Why are your competitors getting more business than you are? What are they doing that you aren’t?

One of the most effective ways to build your practice is to have the right digital marketing strategy. After all, 85% of people hit the internet when they’re looking for local businesses, so a strong online presence goes a long way.

For a more effective and revenue-boosting strategy, check out these law firm marketing tips.

Family Law Firm Marketing Tips for Your Digital Strategy

Using the online world to gain business requires a few elements. You need people to know who you are. You need them to find you. And you need to be able to convert them to clients. Start with these steps.

1. Make It Easy

Before you jump headfirst into trying to get more visitors to your site, make sure your site has what it takes to convert those visitors into clients. Your key goal should be to make it easy for clients to make that conversion.

First, you need to guide clients toward taking the next step. Every page of your site should have a call-to-action. For instance, maybe you have a page about custody arrangements in divorce. At the end of the page’s content, invite users to contact you about their own custody case. Display a button they can click to do this.

Next, make it as convenient as possible for them to get in touch with you. The days of instructing clients to call you during hours of your convenience are over. Offer a way for them to contact you online with their questions. With that information, you or your staff can call them when you’re in the office.

2. Know How to Use Social Media

Every marketer talks about the importance of social media marketing today. They’re right, it is important, but it’s not just about whether you have it: it’s about how you use it.

On your social media pages, you should focus on spreading information. Your posts shouldn’t sound like sales pitches, because readers will tune out in a heartbeat.

Instead, your goal on social media should be to establish yourself as a trusted expert in your field. If you do this, you’ll be the one people will turn to when they need a lawyer.

3. Get Your Speed Up

It’s not just the content of your website that matters but the technical performance as well. After all, do you stay on a site that isn’t loading or one that doesn’t work well? Neither will your clients.

One of the key statistics you need to check is your website speed. If your site doesn’t load within two or three seconds, about half of users will head elsewhere.

When users leave your site so quickly, it raises your bounce rate which hurts your search engine optimization, or SEO. Even those users who stay are already starting to get frustrated, so they won’t have the best impression of your site.

4. Blog and Blog Well

Blogging is an important way to improve your digital marketing. The frequent updates and valuable content will improve your search engine optimization, and each blog post is providing content for your social media pages.

Those are just the benefits you get from posting each blog. When people actually read them, your articles will display your knowledge as an expert and will establish a connection with the reader and a growing trust.

Of course, not all blogging practices will give you the same benefits. Make sure you post blogs on a consistent basis and that the content is valuable and well-written. Focus on topics your clients really want, like tips for negotiating a custody agreement.

6. Get On Camera

If you don’t already use videos in your digital marketing strategy, now is the time to start. Videos are an engaging medium that users love, and there are so many ways to use them to market your firm.

You can start with simple “talking head videos,” in which you’re sharing your knowledge about a particular subject. You could also use videos to share a tour of your office or to discuss your recent interesting cases (with confidentiality of course).

After you have a video ready, post it everywhere. We’re talking about YouTube, your own website, and your social media pages as well.

7. Get Help from the Past

There’s a lot of trust involved when a client chooses a lawyer, and especially a family lawyer. One of the best ways for new clients to see that you’re trustworthy is to hear it from your past clients.

Encourage your happy clients to post reviews for you on Google, Yelp, and other sites. You can even ask them for a brief testimonial that you can post online. In many cases, reviews and testimonials are a client’s deciding factor when they choose their lawyer.

8. Prioritize Local Search Engine Optimization

One of the most common mistakes local businesses make is forgetting about local SEO. For instance, they optimize their site for keywords like “family lawyer” and “family law firm” rather than “Charlotte family lawyer” or “family law in Charlotte.”

As a law firm, attracting site visitors in California might help your statistics but it won’t bring you clients. Be sure to incorporate local SEO into your digital marketing strategy.

Building Your Client Base

Many lawyers think that if they do good work, the clients will follow. That’s not often the case. As you build your reputation as a great lawyer, you still need to spread the word about your business. The law firm marketing tips above are a great start.

If you’re ready to really jumpstart your growth, contact our digital marketing experts for a more comprehensive plan.

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Charlotte Law Firm Marketing Lead Generation Local SEO Search Engine Optimization Tips SEO Services SEO Tips Small Business SEO

Why SEO for Lawyers Can Make or Break Your Case

As an attorney, you’re well aware that the legal market in the digital age is more competitive than ever before.

You’ve created what you thought was a strong website for your Charlotte-based law firm, but your traffic hasn’t increased — and neither has your client volume.

In this post, we’ll tell you why SEO for lawyers is something that your firm can no longer afford to do without.

We’ll also let you know where you can connect with attorney SEO services that will increase your conversions and give you the kind of results your firm deserves.

Poor SEO Will Cost You in the Rankings

One of the biggest reasons why you need to take legal SEO as seriously as your next client’s case, is because it directly affects where your website will land when it comes to the search engine result pages, or SERPs for short. About 75% of online consumers say they never bother to go past the first page of search engine results.

Even if you’ve worked hard to create a website that’s easy to navigate and informative, if it’s not designed with SEO in mind, all of your hard work will be for nothing. Additionally, SEO for law firms is all about outranking your competitors. You want to be certain that your law firm’s website shows up in the SERPs before your biggest competitor’s site does.

But it’s not just about choosing the right keywords and hacking your way to the top of the first page of Google. Remember that a strong SEO strategy is also influenced by your website’s loading speed and design.

It’s obvious that a user won’t bother to spend much time — less than three seconds, to be exact — on a website that’s slow to load. A potential client also won’t think much of a law firm website that’s full of spammy pop-ups, broken links, and aggressive, unprofessional graphics.

You won’t just lose a client — a poorly-designed website also impacts your site’s dwell time. This is the average length of time that a user stays on your site.

Sites with higher dwell times are recognized by Google and other search engines as providing useful, relevant information. So, they rank higher than those that have lower dwell times.

Remember, it’s not just your law firm’s reputation that’s on the line. It’s also about how SEO affects your site’s overall visibility.

The Right SEO Strategy Puts You in Front of Your Target Market

Another reason why SEO for lawyers directly affects your firm’s success?

Because the right keywords and link strategies can shorten the time it takes for your target market to find you online, and without a proper legal SEO strategy that target market might not be able to find you online.

There are currently more than 1.5 billion websites on the Internet — and that number is increasing every minute. And while all 1.5 billion of them might not be related to the legal industry, a good portion of them will be.

Keywords, or what people type into search engines to help them find what they’re looking for online, are an essential part of SEO for law firms.

First of all, your keywords should include references to the specific type of legal work that you do. For example, if you specialize in divorce law, you might choose a high-ranking keyword like “divorce attorney” or “hiring a divorce lawyer.”

But something is missing from those keywords — your location. Location-based keywords are the bread and butter of legal SEO. They don’t just help you find people who need your services. They ensure that the people who need your legal services and live within your practice area end up on your website.

Including location-based keywords like “Charlotte NC divorce attorney” or “Divorce attorney Myers Park” will get you exactly the kind of traffic you’re looking for.

SEO Establishes You as an Authority in the Legal Industry

As a legal professional, you’ve spent years earning your degrees, creating your network, and establishing a reputation in the courtroom.

Now, you need to make sure that your SEO strategy is working to effectively translate that reputation and work to the digital world. Superior legal SEO helps you to establish yourself as the go-to legal authority within your niche and service area.

It does this by allowing you to join the digital conversion, whether that conversation is taking place on your blog, your YouTube channel, or even on a third-party site.

Remember that an effective SEO strategy isn’t just about what’s on your website.

It also includes your social media profiles, any guest posts that you write for legal websites and online journals, and even third-party review sites where past clients can discuss their experience with you.

In other words, to get attorney SEO done right, you need seamless integration between all of your different online accounts and presences.

Looking for Professional Guidance on SEO for Lawyers?

We hope that this post has helped you to understand why SEO for lawyers is such an important part of your overall marketing strategy.

Remember that SEO doesn’t just help you to outrank your competitors and show up in front of the right people. It also creates a sense of authority and trust between your firm and your target market.

To get an even better understanding of how not just SEO, but our services can help your law firm to grow, check out our case study.

When you’re ready to put the right kind of legal SEO strategy into place for your firm, reach out to us to chat.

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Charlotte GoBeyond Law Firm Marketing Lead Generation PPC Search Engine Optimization Tips

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising Tips Part 3 – Everything Else

If you’ve made it through Parts 1 and 2 of this series and you’re here, chances are you’re definitely convinced how PPC can be a valuable marketing tool for your business.  We’ve covered a lot so far, and in this final part we’ll cover Search Campaign Structure, Ad Groups, Ad Extensions, Setting up a Search Campaign, Ads Automation and finally, Additional Targeting Capabilities.

Adwords Search Campaign Structure

Below is an example of a PPC account structure and its content.  You could have multiple campaigns running, depending on your business goals and objectives. For example, multiples for different locations or different products and services, perhaps. Each campaign could have multiple ad groups and then finally, the ad group level where the keywords and ads are organized.

The Search Campaign Structure is one of the most important elements to the success of a PPC campaign. There are a ton of ways you could ultimately structure your campaigns, but of course, there are some best practices to consider:

  1. Create separate Search Campaigns for your brand keywords. Brand campaigns will perform in a much different manner than non-brand campaigns since users would already have some familiarity with your business.  It’s also important you can budget, manage and report on brand versus non-brand as well. Make sure to add your brand keywords as negative keywords in your non-brand campaigns to be certain all brand traffic goes through your brand campaign
  2. Don’t target more than one network in one campaign and keep Search and Display Network campaigns separate.
  3. Structure the campaign based on your goals. Your non-brand campaigns might be organized by conversion action type, stages of the buying cycle, product or service type, geographic targeting and more. The key is to create a structure that aligns with your business goals and objectives.

Be ready to budget adequately for each of your campaigns and goals or, at least in the beginning, think about either reducing or condensing the number of campaigns.

  1. Consider the resources you have available for ongoing management of your campaigns as the more campaigns you have, the more time-consuming to manage them.
  2. Settle on a naming convention that will be easy for anyone managing the campaigns now or in the future. Keep this information in a spreadsheet that is readily available to everyone who will need it.

PPC Keywords: Research & Match Types

When you’re just starting out, it’s typically not necessary to do extensive keyword research. Think back to your campaign goals and consider the ways in which users will search for your products or services.  Also consider where they may be in the buying cycle and then group these into themes, which will then become your ad groups.

Negative keywords:

Negative keywords are words you don’t want your ads to show for or your budget to be spent on. Negative keywords can be set at the account, campaign or ad group level.

PPC Keyword research tools:

AdWords has a Keyword Planner for conducting keyword research providing search volume, cost per click and conversion estimates. There are also many other free and paid keyword research tools, as well as many other places to get ideas, such as the related searches shown on Google search results, Amazon, customer reviews and more. Ask those in other departments of your company for their input, ask sales reps what they hear from prospective customers, ask account managers what words they hear from customers and last, but not least, what words are the competition using?

Match types:

A great way to manage your budget and qualify traffic in Search campaigns is by using keyword match types. Search engines give advertisers even more control over when their ads will be triggered by a search query with keyword match types. Her are the four match types, in the order of most to least restrictive:

Exact:

Exact match keywords are represented with brackets around them: [women’s shoes].  They are not however, not really exact. Google allows for close variations, such as reordering of words (if it doesn’t change the meaning), and removal or addition of words such as prepositions, articles, conjunctions, etc. that aren’t impactful to the intent of the search.  Given all of this, the priority is still put on identical or “exact” match keywords.

Example keyword: [women’s shoes]

Example search: shoes for women

Phrase:

Phrase match keywords are represented within quotation marks: “women’s shoes”.  The order of the words does count with phrase match keywords, but only if the search uses the same order as the keyword.  Phrase match keywords can also trigger your ads if there are words before or after the phrase keyword used in the search.

Example keyword: “women’s shoes”

Example search: women’s shoes size 8

Broad Match Modifier (BMM):

Broad Match Modifiers are represented by adding a plus sign in front of the keyword: +women’s shoes.  These are a good match choice for trying out new keywords, but still having some control over what searches trigger your ads to show. BMM will show the broad match modifier keyword or close variations, but not synonyms, and the order doesn’t matter.

Example keyword: +women’s +shoes

Example search: shoes for women

Broad:

Broad match keywords are the default type in AdWords. There are no symbols associated with broad match.  They can trigger your ads to show on search queries that Google views as relevant, even if they aren’t keywords in the ad group. This option can provide a lot of good insight and data on how users are searching for your product or service, but it can also create some bizarre matching, requiring that you to keep a close eye on your search term reports. However, in addition to keyword research, broad match can be useful if your keywords have low search volume because the product or service serves a small audience or you’re targeting a limited geography.  Another key thing to note is ads may show in searches that include common misspellings, related searches, synonyms and other relevant variations.

Example keyword: women’s shoe

Example search: ladies shoes size 8

How to use match types: You can use any and all of the four match types available for the same keyword, even within the same ad group. Google will show the keyword with the highest Ad Rank, so you want to structure your bids accordingly, by setting exact match highest, then phrase, then BMM and finally broad.

Use exact match more heavily if you’re running on a tight budget since BMM and broad match keywords will trigger for more search queries, costing more. When thinking about what keyword match types to use, always consider your budget.

Ad groups

Campaigns consist of one or more ad groups. Ad groups are simply that: groups of ads that are aimed at a set of related keywords. This structure helps in grouping related keywords and writing ad text around a common theme. Each ad also includes the landing page you want users to be directed to after they’ve clicked on your ad.

Just like mapping out your campaign structure is important, it’s critical to do the same with your ad group structure with the keywords you want to target and exclude, several variations of ad copy and the landing pages that best relate to the keywords. Each ad group should be tied to the goal of the campaign. The keywords should share a common theme and the ad copy should be closely related to the keywords in the ad group and properly reflect the intent of those search queries. This is super important for earning high Quality Scores.

For example, if you’re a retailer selling many different types of shoes you wouldn’t want to have “high heels” and “running shoes” in the same ad group. You would need to write completely different ad copy tailored to each of these products. Additionally, you’ll need your high heels ads to direct to your landing page for high heels and your running shoes ads to direct to your landing page for running shoes.

Adwords Search Query Report

Once your campaigns have run for a time, you’ll be able to see exactly which search terms triggered your ads. Search query reports help determine whether your keywords are grouped properly, if there are keywords you can add to the group (or add as negative keywords), and if you should further segment keywords into multiple ad groups and write ad copy more tailored to those groups.

Text Ad Copy

As shown in the image below, Text Ads consist of two headlines, a description, a display path, a destination URL and ad extensions.

Final URL:

This is the landing page users will come to after clicking on your ad. Be sure the landing page is relevant to the ad and keywords and provides a good user experience. Refer back to Part 2 for a refresher on landing pages.

Adwords Headlines:

Each headline can have up to 30 characters (including spaces). They appear on one line at the top of the ad, separated by a vertical dash. This is the most prominent part of your ad and your key opportunity to catch a user’s attention. You’ll want your headline to reflect the search intent and set it apart from the other ads with an offer, benefit or feature.  Use the ad groups keywords in the headlines.

PPC Description:

The description can be up to 80 characters long. You can experiment with length and content, but be sure the description reflects the purpose of the search.

Display path:

The display URL will automatically be set to the domain from the final URL and is the URL shown in green under the headlines. You can then set up to two paths of 15 characters each that show after the URL. These give potential customers an idea about the content of the landing page so an ad showing for the search term “women’s shoes” could use two paths /womens/shoes.

PPC Ad Copy Testing & Best Practices

The ad with the best CTR may not necessarily have the best conversion rate, however, ads with better than average click-through-rates will cost less and rank higher in search engine results.  Ad testing is an important element of search marketing, but inherently changes as search engines rely more and more on artificial intelligence to determine which ads to serve.

Google recommends at least three ads per ad group. You’ll want two versions of each ad at a minimum to allow for adequate testing.  Even with Google’s guidance though, ad testing continues to be an important and progressive part of PPC.

Ad Extensions

Ad extensions enhance the appearance of your ads by providing additional information, making your ad stand out more, thus giving the user more of a reason to click on it.  Ad extensions are served dynamically based on context such as device and location and in combinations predicted to improve click-through-rates. Ads in the top position are eligible for more ad extensions to be shown with the ad.

In 2013, Google added ad extensions into its calculations for Ad Rank indicating the price paid per click and the position of your ads are directly related to the extensions you use.  Ad Rank also decides if ad extensions will show with your ads or not. Highly relevant extensions can lead to lower CPCs and a higher position on the page. Advertisers are encouraged to use every relevant ad extension in their campaigns because they can result in higher positions in search results and lower cost-per-clicks. Google creates some extensions automatically if they aren’t already implemented in your campaigns, such as Sitelink extensions.

The biggest benefit of extensions is allowing you to add additional information to your ads like special offers, discounts or sales, events and more without having to create separate ads for these.  Also, naturally, the more information in and attached to the ad will make it stand out more.

Types of Ad Extensions:

Sitelink extensions:

Sitelink extensions are clickable extensions that link to other pages on your website. The exact number of sitelinks shown with your ads will differ whether your ad is shown on mobile or desktop.  Sitelinks can also show in a list format for ads in the top position. They can be added at the account, campaign or ad group level and adding a description is optional. Google may also create descriptions automatically based on the content of your landing page. There is the option to create sitelinks specifically for mobile devices as well as to incorporate custom scheduling.

Callout extensions:

Callout extensions are not clickable. The purpose of these extensions is to call attention to users about certain benefits or offers.  For example, “Free Shipping and Returns,” “Shop New Arrivals,” “Free Consultations,” “Authorized Dealer,” “Family Owned and Operated,” “Money-back Guarantee” and “24 Hour Emergency Service.”  Between two and six callout extensions can display with your ad on desktop or mobile devices. They can be added at the account, campaign or ad group level and can be custom scheduled.

Call extension:

Call extensions attach a phone number to your ad. On mobile, users can click to call directly from the extension on mobile devices.  Google could possibly display an automated call extension using the number on your website or landing page if you don’t already have the extension set up.  Call extensions settings offer custom scheduling to ensure you’ll receive calls when you’re available to answer them. Call extensions can be set at the account, campaign or ad group level and can be counted as conversions if you have turned on the call reporting feature within your account.

Promotion extension:

Promotion extensions are great if you’re promoting a sale or special offer. Promotion extensions are clickable and can appear with a price tag icon as well as include up to two lines of text about the promotion.

Structured snippet extension:

Structured snippet extensions are not clickable. Their purpose is to display additional information about the products and services you offer.  Structured snippet extensions are listed with a header you choose from a list within the AdWords platform and include options such as “Brands,” “Models” and “Types” as well as a list of values that correspond to the header you choose. One header will show on mobile, but two headers may show on desktop. Google recommends having at least four values per header and setting up at least two sets.  Structured snippets can be setup at the account, campaign or ad group level and can be custom scheduled.

Message extension:

Message extensions only display in ads on mobile devices that can send and receive text messages; similarly, the business number also has to be able to send and receive text messages. When a user clicks on the message extensions, a message you’ve created pops up, such as “I’d like to schedule an appointment”or “I’d like to learn more about your special offer”.  You do get charged when someone clicks on the message icon within your ad, but not when they actually send the text. Message extensions can be setup at the account, campaign and ad group level.

Location extension:

If your business has physical locations, you’ll definitely want to use location extensions.  First you have to link your Google My Business account to your AdWords account. Location extensions can potentially appear in Search results and Google Maps, as well as in display and video ads. In Search results, location extensions can show the location and phone number or a click to call button on mobile devices, which users will also see the distance to the location in relation to their current location.  There is also a details page users can click on to view additional details such as that location’s hours, ratings and reviews, photos and directions.

Affiliate location extension:

Brands and manufacturers that sell products in retail chains can enable affiliate location extensions to help users find their products at nearby locations. In the United States, there are currently more than 80 chains to choose from for affiliate location extensions.

App extension:

App extensions are clickable links providing users a way to access your mobile app listing in the Google Play or Apple App Store from a text ad , however, the ad headline still directs the click to your website.  The App extension isn’t meant to replace app promotion ads for driving app downloads. Google automatically detects the user’s device type and only shows app extensions on the compatible devices. App extensions can be setup at the account, campaign or ad group level and only one app extension can display with an ad.

Price extension:

Price extensions are clickable extensions highlighting prices for products or services. Each price extension includes the option to customize the header and add a 25 character description to each.  Google recommends having at least five price extension items and on mobile devices, up to eight price extensions can show.

Setting up an Adwords  Search Campaign

Campaign Types

When you add a new campaign in AdWords, you’ll see the following menu to choose Search, Display, Shopping, Video or Universal App.  Click on the Search option.

Search campaign settings:

The primary settings at the campaign level include:

  • Campaign type.
  • Daily budget.
  • Location targeting.
  • Bidding method.
  • Ad rotation & scheduling.

When you create a new Search campaign in AdWords, you’ll be asked to select a goal of sales, leads or website traffic.  When you select a goal, Google will show recommended settings and features. However, you can also opt to set up a campaign without a goal and without seeing step-by-step recommendations. No matter which option you choose, Google will ask if the goal is to get website visits, phone calls or app downloads.

Here are the steps of the Search campaign settings when you choose not to set a goal:

Network selection:

Search and Display advertising campaigns are completely different making it best to separate the two, so the first step is to check ‘No’ under “Add Display Network.”

Location targeting:

The next setting is Location, indicating where you want your ads to show. If you sell your products and services all over the United States, for example, you could select that option.

Location targeting can be much more fine tuned, however. You can hone in on a state or province, a city or cities, neighborhoods, zip codes and more.  Additionally, if there are areas within your chosen target locations you don’t want ads to appear, you can also choose to exclude those areas.

The “Advanced search” feature allows you to to add multiple locations or target a radius around a specific area. If you have physical locations and have linked your Google My Business account to your AdWords account, you can set your campaign to show ads within a specific distance surrounding each of your locations.

Once the location targeting is complete, you can modify the bids in specific areas based on how much you want to pay for clicks within your target locations.

Next, choose the languages your customers speak. With language settings, you can restrict where your ads can appear based on the user’s language settings and the language of the site.

Daily budgeting:

Daily Budgeting is an average, not a maximum.  Some days the daily budget may not be met and other days it may be exceeded.  To account for lows and spikes in daily search activity, Google balances out the daily budget so you don’t spend more than your daily budget times the number of days in a given month.

If for some reason you see the notice “Limited by Budget” in your campaigns, this is not good and should be avoided.  When you manage your spend by limiting your budget, your ads won’t show all day and Google will let you know because you’re missing out on impressions and clicks they deem as valuable to your campaign.

Shared Budgets:

The Shared Budget option is located under the Shared Library and allows you to spread your budget across multiple campaigns.  AdWords controls how the budget is allocated and if one campaign is under its daily budget, the remainder will be used in your other campaigns.

Delivery method:

The Delivery method within the budget setting gives you two options: Standard or Accelerated.

The Standard delivery method is the default option in AdWords.  The objective is to deliver your ads, distributing the daily budget evenly throughout the day.  Although your ads can be seen throughout the day, they may not show at every opportunity possible as Google is holding out to make sure your budget lasts throughout that day.  Alternatively, your entire budget may not be used entirely since the algorithm used to determine the ad impressions and the cost-per-click uses historical data to make these predictions.

The Accelerated delivery method doesn’t aim to help your budget last throughout the day, but instead will show ads as often as the auction allows, resulting in the likelihood your whole budget will be used and fairly quickly.

The disadvantage of the Accelerated delivery method is if you have a limited budget, your ads could possibly stop being delivered earlier in the day, missing opportunities for search traffic later in the day. Also, your ads won’t start showing again until the next day when your daily budget resets.

The advantage of the Accelerated delivery method is it allows you to account for the highs and lows of daily search volumes and your ads will show more often; ads that show more often likely result in more clicks.

Bidding method:

Bidding is the next campaign setting, but essentially it’s setting the type of bidding you’ll use in the campaign based on your goals.  The Bidding section defaults to a guided walk-through based on your other campaign settings.

Google is rather intent on getting advertisers to choose an automated bidding strategy versus setting bids manually.

To see all of the bid strategy options available, click “Select a bid strategy directly” and you can view all of the automated options available to you.

Smart Adwords Bidding strategies:

Smart Bidding strategies are subsets within the group of automated bid strategies.  They each rely on machine learning algorithms, meaning they use historical data to predict conversion outcomes.  They require a sizeable amount of historical data to optimize for conversions and conversion value. The bids are made in real time at each auction, known as “auction-time bidding” and are based on many signals, including the user’s device, browser, location and location intent and demographics, whether they are on a remarketing list, the day and the time of day and even more. AdWords conversion tracking must be set up for Smart Bidding strategies to work for Search campaigns.

Smart Bidding strategies:

  • Target CPA (cost per acquisition): Target CPA sets bids with the goal of getting the most conversions possible while reaching your average cost-per-acquisition (CPA) goal. This strategy is best for advertisers that have had at least 30 conversions over the past 30 days.
  • Target ROAS (return on ad spend): Target ROAS aims to maximize revenue or conversion value based on the target return on ad spend you set. The ROAS formula is: Conversion value/ ad spend x 100%. It works best for accounts that have had at least 50 conversions within the past 30 days.
  • Maximize Conversions: Maximize Conversions automatically sets your bids to help you achieve the most conversions for your budget.
  • Enhanced CPC (ECPC): This strategy raises the max CPC bid in auctions that the algorithm predicts are more likely to convert and lowers the bid in auctions deemed less likely to convert.  Google aims to achieve an average CPC that is below the max CPC over time. This strategy works best for advertisers that have had at least 30 conversions within the past 30 days.

Portfolio strategy:

You may have several campaigns using the same target CPA or ROAS settings. With a portfolio strategy, a single strategy can be applied across multiple campaigns.

You can create a portfolio strategy when creating a new campaign, in campaign settings or in the Shared Library.

Next, choose a start and end date if you’d like. If you don’t indicate a start date, the campaign will begin when you hit “Save” at the end of the setup process. If you do not choose an end date, the campaign will run indefinitely.

After that step, be sure to click “Additional Settings”.

Ad rotation: This setting provides two options: Optimize or Do not Optimize.

Optimize: This option uses machine learning to determine which ad shows.

Do not optimize: With this setting, the ads show in even rotation for as long as the campaign runs.

With “Optimize,” the default is for Google to optimize for clicks. If you want to optimize for conversions, you’ll need to use one of the Smart Bidding strategies discussed above.

By choosing the “Do not optimize” setting, advertisers are able to manually run A/B ad testing and measure performance against whichever metrics they choose.  Google, however, has strongly encouraged advertisers to select the “Optimize” option and has moved away from A/B testing in which two ads run in each ad group. Instead, Google recommends advertisers run at least three ads per ad group and gauge success by looking at ad group-level metrics rather than those of individual ads. This is a big shift from the A/B testing best practices most advertisers have used since PPC’s earliest days.

If you want to manually run your own ad tests (and many advertisers do), rather than rely on Google’s algorithms to get it right, you can choose “Do not optimize,” but you won’t have access to other functionalities, such as Smart Bidding strategies.

Campaign URL options:

Tracking template is the URL you want the ad click to go to for tracking.  Tracking was covered in more detail in Part 2.

Dynamic Search Ads:

Dynamic Search Ads target relevant searches automatically based on information from your website, then use headlines automatically customized to people’s actual searches.  Google automatically generates headlines for your ads matching what it determines to be the most relevant landing page on your site to the search query. You have control over the description in the ads. These ads can help expand the world of keywords that trigger your ads to show. You can then use keywords found in the search terms report for your DSA campaigns as positive or negative keywords in your other Search campaigns.

If your site content changes often or is dynamically generated, DSAs are not recommended.

Additional Targeting Capabilities

Aside from keyword and targeting there are several other useful targeting options available (navigate to the left side column in the platform).

Audience targeting:

Audience targeting has continued to play a greater role in Search campaigns in the past few years. Ads can be targeted based on behavioral signals rather than just keyword intent signals

Demographics:

Reporting and targeting by age range, gender and household income percentiles are available here, but you’ll often see a higher percentage of data categorized as “Unknown” where Google doesn’t have enough information about the user.

Location targeting:

Advertisers can set campaigns to run in specific locations. Location bid modifiers allow you to increase or decrease the maximum CPC you’re willing to pay for clicks from target locations. It’s also possible to exclude locations within a target area.

Ad schedule:

At the campaign level, you can set the days and times you want your ads to show. Times are based on the time zone of your account so you’ll need to consider the span of time zones in the regions you are targeting in your campaigns.

Device targeting:

It used to be common for advertisers to separate campaigns out by device so they could control the budgets and format ads and landing pages according to device, but since Google introduced bid modifiers there are not near as many situations where separating campaigns is necessary. In Search campaigns, device targeting is managed entirely with bid adjustments.

Adwords Bidding & Bid Adjustments

Bidding and bid adjustments let you to manage your budgets and optimize paid search campaigns based on your targeting objectives. The following details how bidding and bid adjustments function in PPC campaigns.

Ad group & keyword level bidding

Smart bidding strategies are set and automated at the campaign level based on the bidding goal, but you aren’t allowed to adjust those bids manually. When you’re using manual bidding or Enhanced CPC bidding, individual bids can be set and adjusted at the ad group or keyword level.

If you’re just starting out and don’t have the same keyword with different match types in an ad group yet, you could begin with setting bids at the ad group level only until your campaigns are up and running for some time so you can accumulate CPC and performance data on the individual keywords.

Once you have some data to work with, you’ll want to start setting bids at the keyword level. Keyword bids take precedence over ad group bids allowing you to have more control and giving you the ability to prioritize keywords based on performance.

PPC Bid simulators

When Google has enough data on a keyword, Bid Simulators (enabled from the columns option at the keyword level) will provide estimates for how your ads could have performed with different bids based on historical data. They’ll show the potential impact bid changes would have had on impressions, clicks, conversions and conversion value. Simulation data may not be available if your campaign regularly hits its daily budget before the end of the day or if you changed your bid recently.

Adwords Bid adjustments

Regardless of what bidding strategy you’re using, bid adjustments can be set at various levels of a campaign. Bid adjustments are percentage multipliers you set to automatically adjust bids depending on factors such as device, location, demographics, time, audience and more. Google continues to add more bid adjustment options.

Bid adjustments can offer a lot of flexibility when used, but they can also add significant complexity to account management when you use more than one bid adjustment in a campaign. Bid adjustments are usually multiplied together when determining your final bid.

Bid adjustment ranges (and where they can be applied) are as follows:

  • Device:  -100% to +900% (campaign and ad group level).

Note:

– If a -100% bid adjustment factors into the mix, the final bid will be zeroed out. If you don’t want your ads to show on desktop, for example, you can decrease the desktop bid adjustment by 100%.

– If you’re using Target ROAS bid strategy, the only device bid adjustment available is -100%.

– If you’re using Target CPA, device bid adjustments change the CPA target, not your bid.

  • Location: -90% to +900% (campaign level).
  • Ad scheduling: -90% to +900% (campaign level).

Note:  – Maximize clicks is the only automated bidding strategy that works with ad scheduling bid adjustments.

  • Remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA): -90% to +900% (campaign and ad group level).
  • Call adjustments/Interactions: -90% to +900% (campaign level).

Conclusion

Remember, this is just the beginning of your adventure with pay-per-click campaigns. There is constantly more to explore and more learning and testing. Understanding the basics from the start will help to ensure you don’t spend a lot of money with nothing to show for it.  In order to maximize efficiency in PPC, it takes a lot of practice, patience and high attention to detail to understand how all the various levels work together to achieve your ultimate goals.

The key to success with PPC is to consistently tie your efforts back to the objectives of the business and understand its part in your company’s marketing as a whole and how it can benefit and support your other means of marketing.

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Kristy is an Assistant & Coordinator of Awesome. She has worked extensively in academic administration and brings a varied wealth of knowledge. As a self-starter, she is ready to take on news projects and see them through to completion. Always curious, Kristy is an avid researcher and delights in the challenge of learning new skills.

When Kristy isn’t organizing or researching something, you can find her listening to a true crime podcast, re-watching How I Met Your Mother or The Big Bang Theory and coming up with some crazy shenanigan for her family’s next adventure.

5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT KRISTY

  1. Kristy prefers the Harry Potter books over the movies. Her favorite book is The Prisoner of Azkaban and her favorite character is Luna Lovegood. Ravenclaw house. She just started her 8-year-old son on listening to the books.
  2. Kristy has a nail technician license, esthetician license, medical assisting certification, associate degree, and bachelor’s degree. She didn’t get her full cosmetology license because she can barely do her own hair, she shouldn’t be trusted with someone else’s.
  3. She doesn’t know how to gamble but is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada. She moved to Colorado three months before her 21st birthday.
  4. Her high school graduating class consisted of only 20 people.
  5. Kristy loves gift giving. One of her great joys in life is finding the “perfect” gift.
Kristy Elias