The Answer May Surprise You
Only 3% of online retail stores are using pay-per-click advertising. Competition to dominate Google’s Display Network with targeted AdWords is low. With the right keywords, headline, and copy, you’ll easily see a 200% return on investment with your AdWords campaigns. The following article will walk you through how an AdWords campaign will benefit your online store, and how you can get started formulating one.
Chances are, you’re not part of that 3% of online stores using PPC adverts. So, this first section will cover what AdWords is and how it works.
First, AdWords campaigns are not like the static display advertisements of yesteryear that you’d put in the local newspaper. An AdWords campaign is a living thing, and it requires frequent analysing and tweaking. Keywords and keyword phrases are the quintessential elements to getting your ad to display on the Google Display Network (GDN).
The GDN are Google-run sites i.e., Gmail and Youtube and of course, Google itself. The way it works is keywords and phrases are entered into your AdWords account, where you’ll also create an enticing ad with compelling copy and a nice picture of your product. Next, you’ll bid a certain amount on the keywords and phrases you’d like to rank for.
Once a potential customer searches for your keyword or phrase, and you’ve bid a high enough amount so that your advert will display on the GDN, a customer may or may not click on the ad. This is called a click-through rate. If they click on the ad, you’ll be charged for the click. This is why it’s called pay-per-click advertising. If the person buys the product after clicking on the ad, that would be called the conversion rate.
These are all very important metrics you’ll need to track to get the best ROI on your Google Ads campaigns.
For example, let’s say you design and manufacture leather sandals. You own a physical store location but your online store receives the most traffic, and is where most of your sales come from. But you want to reach more customers, so you decide to start a Google Ads campaign.
You craft the copy for an ad for one of your most popular items; a woman’s t-strap sandal with floral embroidery.
Now, you need to choose keywords and set bids for them. You set a bid for the following keyword phrase:
Women’s leather t-strap sandals
Keep in mind, there are three categories of keywords and phrases:
- Broad Match
This means the keywords you’ve chosen are specified in your account not to match exactly. So if someone types, ‘women’s leather sandals,’ your ad may still display for them.
- Phrase Match
With the phrase match setting, your ad will show to potential customers who enter a search query that matches keyword phrase you’ve selected for targeting, i.e. ‘t-strap sandals.’
- Exact Match
An exact match is highly targeted. Here, users must enter the exact keyword phrase you’ve selected, with no deviations.
- Negative Keywords
By selecting negative keywords, you’ll be able to omit searches with certain words or phrases. For example, ‘leather t-strap sandals from Target.’ Negative keywords work well when you are trying to weed-out competitors’ customers.
Once you select your keywords and phrases and how you want them to match, you must choose a catchy headline.
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Once you enter the keywords, and upload your snazzy, eye-catching ad into your AdWords account and dashboard, it’s ready to go.
Someone who enters your chosen keyword phrase into the Google search query will see your headline and link to your product at the top of the page, and the display picture for your ad at either the top or the right-hand rail of the potential customer’s Google search. It would look something like this.
Notice the line of products at the top? Also, the first two links below the display ads have a little blue ‘ad’ below their headlines; these are AdWords advertisements.
So now that you know the basics of how AdWords campaigns work and what they look like, how can you get the best ROI and increase your brand awareness and sales for your online store?
Well, you have to optimise the ads. This requires keeping a close eye on the metrics mentioned earlier:
- Click-through Rate
- Conversions
Where most people go wrong with AdWords is they put far too much emphasis on measuring the click-through rate. Stores will use far too broad match of keywords and keyword phrases to capture the most leads, but these leads are not qualified. Thus, the subsequent conversion rate is dismal, and this causes so many people to give up on AdWords campaigns.
But the numbers don’t lie; businesses who target and optimise their ads with the right metrics for the right audience will see a return of 2 dollars for every 1 dollar they spend. Furthermore, the GDN gets the most eyeballs on it every day. This is where your potential customers are. They can’t buy from you if they don’t know you exist. 90% of internet users and over 2 million websites are on the GDN.
So, in order for you to get the most out of your ad campaign, you need to get in front of high-quality leads.
How do you do that?
By specifying your keywords and phrases, and obsessively tracking your online and offline conversions.
Let’s use our leather shoe store example from earlier again. You noticed you’ve gotten a very high click-through rate on your leather t-strap sandals ad, but your conversion rates are low; most people who see the ad and click it just aren’t buying, and you’re getting a terrible ROI on your campaign.
Chances are, the problem is your keywords are too broad. You’re capturing too many leads that are looking for leather t-strap sandals, but not what sets your leather sandals apart from your competitors. What do your customer’s say about your most popular item? Why do they love it so much?
You think back to what they’ve told you in the past. It’s the embroidery. They love the intricate designs and the high-quality of the leather.
So, you go back and tweak your keywords. Instead of the broad:
Women’s Leather T-Strap Sandals
You instead get more specific with your phrases, and add a few to the mix:
Women’s high-quality leather t-strap sandals
Floral embroidered leather t-strap sandals
Women’s leather t-strap sandals with rose pattern
Specifying and narrowing down your keywords will better target your ideal customers. Instead of being lumped in with all of the other leather sandal ads on the GDN, you’ll now show up in customer search queries who are specifically looking for what your product offers.
But it doesn’t stop there.
You still need to track those conversions. Luckily, AdWords offers free conversion tracking for your online conversions and your offline ones. Offline conversion tracking is especially beneficial if you also own physical storefronts. Or if you’d like your AdWords campaign to get customers to take action in the offline world, your ads can compel them to schedule a sales call or an in-person meeting.
For someone who owns and manages a busy online store, running a successful AdWords campaign can seem daunting. And, this article has barely scratched the surface on how to effectively run a campaign. There is far more to it than the scope of this article permits.
But, you still want to get in front of your target customers, grow your brand awareness and increase your sales. An AdWords campaign is an excellent way to achieve these goals and set yourself apart from your competitors. What you need to accomplish your goals for your business is a team of highly-trained, qualified professionals who eat and breathe AdWords campaign strategies and metrics.
We Can Help
The team of SEO pros at Australian Internet Advertising know exactly how to get the best ROI on your AdWords campaigns. We’ll craft and execute a comprehensive campaign strategy for your product line. You won’t lose any sleep or waste any of your precious time and money trying to tweak and optimise your ads; we’ll do that for you. Contact us today at Australian Internet Advertising and see how much a professionally managed AdWords campaign can do for your online business.
