Many small businesses want to leverage Pay-Per-Click (PPC) to gain leads and sales, but this is hard to do if you're not on top of trends in Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
We talked to a number of PPC experts to find out which trends you need to know about to be successful with your search marketing.
We’ll be discussing this topic, and others about PPC in our fireside chat via Google Hangout on July 29. Don’t forget to RSVP!
1. Mobile
Mobile is going to play a big role in driving conversions. Almost 50% of the world population have a mobile device now. It is extremely important to have a mobile-friendly website and make sure the user experience is smooth. Tracking and Optimizing will be an important factor in nurturing growth via PPC.
Shreyans Jain, Digital Marketing Manager at EduPristine
Being optimized for mobile is big in SEM right now, as more and more people are using their mobile devices to do searches and view websites.
Matt Boaman, VP of Product Development and SEO, EZSolution
Mobile marketing – make sure you have a mobile website (this can impact your quality score which impacts your cost per click and page position)
Brock Murray, Web Marketing Specialist, seoplus+
2. Retargeting/Remarketing
One of the hottest trends in SEM right now is retargeting (also known as remarketing). This is a type of online advertising that allows you to serve ads to people who have visited your website but haven't converted into leads or clients. It essentially gives you a second chance to advertise to visitors who didn't convert the first time around.
Tim Kelsey, Director of Client Marketing Services, Pronto Marketing
Retargeting-fter prospects come to your website, you can drop a cookie in their browser and follow them around with a digital billboard. Some people find this creepy, but it is effective and inexpensive – generally 10% of what you pay for a Google Adwords campaign.
Brock Murray, Web Marketing Specialist, seoplus+
3. Call Tracking
Call tracking for websites and PPC campaigns is also very important so you can determine what campaigns your leads are coming from. Being able to track leads and ROI per marketing channel is something that has been difficult in the past, but using analytics and call tracking you can reverse engineer how your leads found your business to contact you.
Matt Boaman, VP of Product Development and SEO, EZSolution
Using software to track phone calls and manage campaigns (this isn’t new but it’s more popular). Call Rail is an example.
Brock Murray, Web Marketing Specialist, seoplus+
4. Analytics
With more players in the market, PPC is becoming more expensive. There is focus in analytics to maximize the value of PPC traffic.
Tom Bukevicius, President, Supero Media Corporation
5. Bids by Weather
Bids by weather – for example you are a roofer you can ad a bid enhancer so when it starts raining, you bid more for keywords because there is urgency.
Brock Murray, Web Marketing Specialist, seoplus+
6. Google Shopping
Google Shopping – the images that appear on the top of google search results when searching for products. Google shopping is growing and can be set-up even by small retailers. CPA tends to be lower because this is still new.
