When developing your web marketing strategy, the question of SEA necessarily arises as a lever for growth for your business. Undoubtedly, the rise of digital and the explosion of online research are giving pride of place to online advertising. And knowing that 91% of clicks are made on the 1st page of the search engine, Google Ads is essential as a referencing tool to gain visibility and traffic. Why and how to bet on these campaigns to develop yourself effectively? Stakes, operation, and consequences: decryption of the SEA.
SEA: definition and challenges
The SEA for Search Engine Advertising refers to the paid listing. You pay to advertise your products and/or services on the first pages of search engine results – Google, Bings, Yahoo….
SEO vs SEA, what’s the difference? SEO, for Search Engine Optimization, refers to natural referencing. You are not paying for advertising, it is the “quality” of your website that makes it gradually rise in the search engine results.
If SEA isn’t everything, it’s an integral part of your web marketing strategy.
Be present in 1st position
What link do you click when you search the web? Naturally, you tend to focus on the 1st results of the Google page. Like you, Internet users (consumers and professionals) looking for information, a product, or service often do not go further than the first page of their search engine. And few are those to scroll to the bottom of the page …
- The CTR (click-through rate) of the link displayed at the top of the search results is almost 33%. The link in 2nd position obtains an already lower CTR (18%), and the rate decreases further for the following links.
- Out of 100 people who use the Google search engine, 91% click on a result of the 1st
Thanks to SEA – provided you bet the right price, on the right keywords – you “force” the display of the URL of your choice in the 1st results.
For example, you are an IT consultant, you buy the key phrase “IT consultant”. When a company needs IT services, it naturally fills in the key phrase on its search engine: the ad you have configured appears at the top of the results list. You have every chance that the company will click on the link, to be redirected to your site – and to contact you!
Paid SEO: Instructions for a Successful Google Ads Campaign
Google largely dominates the search engine market – over 90% of the market share. Solution n ° 1, Google Ads is to be favored for a SEA strategy with consequent benefits.
Google competes with advertisers on the basis of an auction system. Among the possible bidding strategies, depending on the objective of your campaign:
- Want to drive traffic to your site? You must encourage clicks: use the auction system cost per click (CPC), automatic or manual. You set a daily budget, and Google displays your ad in a click-through manner, within your budget.
- Do you want to gain notoriety? The more your ad appears at the top of the 1st page of Google results, the more often your prospects “see” your business. This enhanced visibility quickly establishes your notoriety. For this purpose, use cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM or vCPM) bidding. You are billed based on the number of times your ad is served.
- Do you need to increase your conversion rate ? Target Cost Per Action (Target CPA) is a smart bidding system that optimizes conversions within your budget.
The budget allocated to your Google Ads campaign is of course decisive. But the quality level of your ad also … Google automatically measures your quality score, and tells you:
- The probability that the prospect will click on your ad (CTR);
- The quality of the message of the advertisement;
- The relevance of the keywords chosen in relation to the research intention of your prospects;
- The suitability of your landing page.
2 good reasons to implement a SEA strategy
Paid SEO allows you to get fast, measurable results.
SEA to go fast
You set up your campaign online, it is delivered immediately and you get results quickly. SEA for these reasons is a particularly useful strategy in the following situations:
- Business creation and/or product launch: paid referencing allows you to set up an “aggressive” promotional campaign, to push a product or to publicize your new brand.
- Gain notoriety: competition is growing in your industry? You need to establish your notoriety, to remind your customers that you are always in the race. The SEA for this purpose makes your brand appear at the top of Google results, your business is valued.
- Loss of speed: because you have been penalized, or because you have not adapted your SEO to the latest Google algorithm, you notice that you have lost places in the natural search results. The time to update your strategy, paid search allows you to stay present – and in pole position – in the search results of your prospects.
SEA to measure the ROI of your campaigns
While the results of your SEO strategy are difficult to measure, SEA allows you to calculate your ROI precisely. On this basis, you adjust your campaigns so as to generate ever more qualified traffic, while controlling your budget.
To ensure the performance of your Google SEA campaigns, you need to pay attention to the budget allocated on the one hand, and the overall quality of your ads on the other hand. A web marketing agency such as OMT supports you at all stages, for an optimal return on investment.
