We use search engines like Google and Bing all of the time. And so do our customers. But what’s really happening on a search engine results page (SERP)? As business owners and managers, what can be done to get some extra face time with potential customers? Search Engine Marketing (SEM or sometimes known as a Pay-Per-Click or PPC) is one relatively straightforward and measurable answer to that question.
We type in our search: “used car”. The results we see vary depending on where and who we are. There will be a number of ads displayed, whether we’re actively aware of it or not. On a Google SERP, you’re probably used to seeing ads displayed at the top and to the right of the search results. They look a lot like regular search results. Marketers are paying for these ad placements and the ability to send clicks to a landing page of their choosing. (See google.com/adwords for more information.) In SERPs, the ads you see are related to what you typed as a search (known as “keywords”).
Here’s where it gets interesting. It’s one thing to pay for clicks to your website; it’s another thing to create and measure an SEM campaign with a specific goal in mind. Let’s say you’re placing an ad for a particular search keyword. By designing a landing page specific to your customer’s needs, and then specifying an action those customers can take to support your marketing objectives, you can measure how effective your ad dollars are.
The goal of this hypothetical SEM campaign is to build a list of leads in an effort to sell more of our products. Since we know what kind of ads our potential customers clicked on, we can take them to a page that cuts right to the chase: “Here’s an offer relevant to what you’re looking for, please provide your contact info so we can follow up with you”. As an example, here’s a lead capture page we helped develop for our client BigSteelBox. The page invites the user to fill out a form to get more information about BigSteelBox’s moving and storage products and services.
Now we’re in business. Between our landing page’s analytics software and the data from our SEM network, we can determine the search keywords and ads that generate leads, and how much it costs to get a lead. If specific ads or keywords aren’t producing business, we can discontinue or refine them.
Now we know exactly when marketing dollars are an expense or an investment. And that, fellow businesspeople, is some comforting (and profitable) knowledge to have.
Sam Turri is Artistech’s Internet Strategist.
