SEA marketing

The basics, Google Ads

Google Ads is an advertising program developed by the search engine. Through Google Ads, business owners can show ads in the Google Network to Internet users. Within this service, you can then create the ads you want to show to Internet users. As we briefly explained above, there are numerous options in terms of ad formats. Entrepreneurs need a Google account to use it. Then in their Google Ads account, entrepreneurs can specify the maximum amount they want to spend per campaign. Then it is now time to talk about the different ad forms offered.

Advertising with text ads

Text ads are the ads displayed at the top of Google’s search results. By setting keywords, you can control which searches should show ads. However, not all text ads developed by business owners are shown in the paid search results. This is because Google Ads uses the auction model to determine whether or not an ad will be shown.

A business owner can specify in their Google account the maximum amount they want to spend on one click on their ad. This is because with text ads, the business owner only pays for an Internet user who actually clicks on his ad. If your ad is shown in the paid search results, but is not clicked on, then you do not have to pay either. This is called Cost per click (CPC). The advertiser determines a set daily budget for his ad campaign. So based on the CPC and budget, Google Ads can determine if advertisers are still eligible to show their ad or if the budget has run out.

Returning briefly to the auction model. The auction model relies mainly on two factors: the level of competition and the quality score of the ad in question. The competition level determines the number of advertisers willing to show their ad for a given target audience or search term. The higher the competition level, the higher the CPC. The other factor from the auction model is the quality score of the ad.

When determining the ad quality score, Google looks at the following factors:

1. Relevance of the ad in relation to the relevant keyword.

This looks at whether the relevant keyword or keyword group recurs in the ad. If this is the case, it means that the search term being searched for is mostly present in the ad, and therefore relevant. The quality score will go down when, for example, the keyword is not included in the ad title.

2. Relevance of underlying web page.

In addition, Google analyzes how relevant the underlying web page of the ad is in relation to the relevant keyword. When users click on an ad and are redirected to a web page on a website or online store, they want to find the answer or content they were looking for. This ensures that the underlying web page is relevant to the relevant keyword. If you link a web page to an ad that does not address the relevant search term, the quality score will be lower.

3. The expected click-through rate (CTR)

Finally, the expected click-through rate of Internet users also affects the quality score. Google determines the expected number of clicks per day on a developed ad in advance. They call this calculation the expected click-through rate (CTR). A high CTR indicates that many clicks are expected from Internet users when it is displayed in the paid search results. Thus, a high CTR will also contribute to the quality score.

The quality score is a number between 1 and 10. Together with the competition level, the quality score is used in Google Ads’ auction model. A low competition level and a high quality score will lead to a favorable position with your ad within the auction model. In addition, both factors also affect the cost you will have to pay per click. When there are few competitors advertising on the keyword in question, a low CPC will allow you to rank high in the search results. When there is a lot of competition on the keyword, the price of cost per click goes up and thus you will also have to set a higher CPC to be displayed frequently in the search results.

To place products in Google Shopping at all, you need to upload store and product information (product feed). Uploading a product feed can be done manually through Merchant Center or automatically through the Product Feed Pro plug-in for WooCommerce. If Google Shopping owns a product feed, products can be shown to users without you having to pay for them. If you want products to be shown more often in Google Shopping, then through the link with Google Ads, an advertising campaign can be set up. Through Google Ads you develop an advertising campaign that promotes your products in Google Shopping when searched for relevant search terms.

Working with display advertising

Display advertising is a form of advertising that uses banner ads. Banner ads are graphical ads and are shown in the Google Display Network (GDN). Examples include banners on NU.nl, YouTube and Nos.nl. Nowadays, many people are actively present on the Internet, so the potential reach of display advertising is enormous. Because as an entrepreneur with display advertising you are advertising with banners it costs you money. It is therefore important to weigh the costs and benefits of any display advertising campaign.

A banner ad differs from a standard ad in terms of text, images, flash, video and audio. Banners are (generally) more interactive and thus generate more clicks. Moreover, display advertising allows you to give a clear image of the company. If you make sure banner ads catch on and are designed in the right way, it can give a huge positive boost in terms of brand awareness. Finally, display advertising uses Google Ads to set up ad campaigns (banner campaigns). In Google Ads, you have the option of paying per click (CPC) or paying per conversion. With pay per conversion, business owners only have to pay when customers generate conversions.

What are discovery ads?

A new form of ads within Google Ads are discovery ads. Discovery ads have been available since 2020 and allow advertisers to target a large number of Internet users. Discovery ads can be found in several places on the Internet:

• Google Discover Feed
• Homepage Youtube and Watch Later Feed
• In Gmail under promotions and social

Discovery ads are visual ads where you can choose to show a single image or a carousel. You may know a carousel from Facebook ads where you can swipe past a number of images. The possibilities in terms of targeting are similar to those of display ads.

Using video ads

Video ads, the word says it all, are video ads that can be shown on YouTube and on sites of video partners. Within video ads there are different layouts possible that allow you to create very unique and cool ads.

The following ad layouts are possible:

• InStream ads that can be skipped
• InStream ads that cannot be skipped
• Video discovery ads
• Bumper ads
• Outstream ads
• Masthead ads

Based on your goals, a choice can be made between one of the ad formats

Don’t let go of them with remarketing

Remarketing, also known as retargeting, is an online marketing method where you retarget previous visitors through targeted ads. Previous visitors have already shown interest in your products/services or business. Only sometimes they need an extra push to proceed to purchase. Remarketing gives this extra push by showing highly targeted image, text, video ads to previous visitors. This type of advertising does not have to have the sole purpose of having visitors return to the website/webshop and make a purchase. Remarketing can trigger several conversions and can be highly relevant. This is partly because a very small percentage of visitors convert on their first visit.

Remarketing can be used on different platforms. It is important to consider the target audience(s) and your business when choosing which channel to use. Every campaign starts with placing a remarketing tag on every page. This tag is a piece of code snippet (pixel) placed in the backend. Using this code and a (legal) cookie, visitors are added to a so-called list. These remarketing lists are used to segment and show targeted ads.

Now that it is clear how visitors are added to remarketing lists and are eligible for remarketing, we can look at the different channels that can be used. The best known form of is Google Ads remarketing. In Google Ads, you can set up to then show through the Google Display Network (GDN) to people from your lists. Google also gives the option for dynamic display, which goes a step beyond the standard SEA ad. Through dynamic remarketing, for example, specific products/services or brands can be shown to users from remarketing lists when they have looked at them before.

The third channel that can be used for remarketing is the remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA) feature. This feature within Google makes it possible to target people who have previously visited the website/shop through text ads

In the past, a lot of advertising was done through newspapers and magazines with different types of ads. In this traditional form, the average cost of an ad was based on the reach of the newspaper or magazine and the size of the ad in the medium. Nowadays, in SEA marketing campaigns, it has to do not with the size and location of the ad, but with the competition. The minimum cost a business owner pays for a click on his ad is €0.01. Globally, the average cost-per-click for an ad is estimated between €1.00 and €2.00 in the search network and at €1.00 on average in the Google Display Network. Suppose you pay €2.00 per click for your ad and your set monthly budget is €200. Your SEA campaign can then generate 100 potential visitors per month.

The average cost per click is higher in the search network than in the Display Network (GDN). The standard search network consists of normal Google search, Google Maps, Google Shopping, Google images, discussion groups in Google and search partners. The Google Display Network consists of sites such as Gmail, YouTube, Blogger, Google Finance and sites set up as search partners such as NU.nl and marktplaats.nl. The cost of an SEA marketing campaign is higher in the search network than in the GDN because the click-through rate is higher.

Finally, the average cost of a SEA marketing campaign is strongly related to the sector in question. For example, large companies in the financial & insurance sector pay CPCs as high as 50€. And retailer Amazon spends about 50.000.000€ per year on campaigns. These are average costs per ad that small businesses cannot afford and are also not profitable for them. The CPC for other sectors is much lower. For example, an SME company can pay on average between 1000€ and 2000€ per month on Google Ads which amounts to an average of 18.000€ per year. So the average cost of an SEA marketing campaign depends on several factors.

What are the benefits of SEA marketing?

Applying this method of marketing can have several advantages and/or disadvantages. Below we have compiled a list for you.

1. Direct results

SEA marketing gives the business owner immediate results when done correctly. Once the ad is developed and the budget is set, the ad campaign can go live. This means that, with a suitable bid, Internet users can be shown the ad immediately and traffic is realized. The immediate result does require that the ad campaign remains live.

2. Targeted advertising

With the help of SEA marketing, you can advertise very targeted. This means that ad campaigns can be designed to be relevant to the target audience and generate conversions. Targeted advertising is possible because the advertiser can specify the keywords for which the ad should be shown. In addition, the advertiser can create target groups and thus indicate to which audience(s) the ad(s) can be shown.

3. Appearing at the top

With the right bidding in the Google Ads auction model, ads can appear at the top of paid search results and thus potentially generate a lot of clicks and traffic. In search engine optimization or SEO, it takes much more effort and energy to get pages to rise in organic search results.

4. Name recognition

Another benefit of SEA marketing is that it increases brand awareness. By building awareness and positive association with your business, products and services, brand awareness will increase. You can do this by advertising in the Google search network or in Google Display Network (GDN). In the GDN, you can specify exactly who your target audiences are and thus target your advertising to increase your brand awareness.

Why is SEA marketing important?

Due to a fast growing competition, it has become increasingly expensive to apply SEA marketing. However, this form is still a very important part of online marketing. Whereas more and more people see advertisements on television as irritating or intrusive, ads retain their value. This is because SEA ads have become smarter and therefore more target oriented. So ads are still of importance because they target people who are actively looking or may be interested in a solution you have to offer. An example of this is when you are watching your favorite series and get interrupted by an advertisement of a painter. You would consider this irritating. But if you searched “bathroom painting” on Google and an ad from a painter nearby appears, this may be seen as useful.

In addition, SEA marketing is still an important part of online marketing because text ads are hardly distinguishable from organic search results. Previously, Internet users had an aversion to clicking on paid search results. Mainly because companies paid for them and the organic search results came up because they provided the best answer to the search term entered. Today, paid ads do not stand out among the organic search results. The layout of both search results is the same, only the paid results contain a label of “Advertisement”. Internet users give themselves less and less time to orient themselves on the search results page and often click on the first option (a text ad).

1. Grip on the results

With SEA marketing at Convident, you always have a grip on the results. Convident works with certified search engine advertising specialists. We can perfectly help you grow your business online and get the maximum result from your budget. We do this by cost-effectively targeting only potential customers who are specifically looking for your products or services.

2. Control

At Convident you are always in control of your advertising and the set (daily) budgets. This makes it convenient and clear. Ads and keywords can be adjusted every moment of the day, just like the budget.

3. Measurability

Every month our online marketers will send you a report on the advertising activities carried out. Through the reports you get/maintain insight into the results. The monthly overviews answer questions such as where your visitors come from, what their age is or which channels they use. We use this information to better understand your target audience and serve them even better in future ads.

Could you use more traffic and/or conversions? Contact us to develop a target oriented ad campaign. Just want to spar with a Convident online marketer? Don’t hesitate and stop by the office to discuss SEA marketing opportunities.