We’re going to take a break from the 2018 Critical Impact Factors and focus on search. Today, we have a guest blogger from our awesome Search Services team, Danielle Harvey. Danielle is breaking down all of the successes of paid search and what tools the team uses to make those successes possible. Let’s check out her thoughts!

When agriculture or equipment dealers think of paid search, many just know that they want their company to be the first advertisement that shows up in Google. Dealers are confident in their products and inventory, and they choose Commercial Web Services to help get them to that number one spot in the search engines. The task sounds easy enough, but as in most industries, there is a lot of work that goes into pulling off a successful paid search campaign.

The landscape of paid search is very complex, and Google is constantly updating algorithms or releasing the latest version of the software to improve the paid search campaigns running in the search engine every day. At CWS, the Search Services team uses tools to help them create the most effective campaigns. There are many options available, but Google has three tools that stand out among the rest: Google Ad Preview Tool, Google Keyword Planner, and Google Trends. These tools should be used together to help marketers get their campaigns to the top of the search engine rankings as they lay the foundation for a successful campaign. Let’s break them down.

First, there’s Google Keyword Planner,  which is used with an existing Google AdWords account. It enables marketers to perform keyword research, create potential keyword lists, predict keyword campaign performance, and estimate keyword budgets and bids. The reason this is so important is that keywords trigger those dealership ads in Google when someone is searching for the latest Bobcat or Kubota equipment. Google Keyword Planner allows marketers to determine customer needs by figuring out what people are searching for as well.

Google Trends is a useful tool when exploring the latest industry topics. It breaks down data by region while allowing marketers to compare up to five search terms at a time. This tool also generates ideas for campaign content.  Google Trends shows marketers what products or brands are trending in a given industry or area of the world, which helps in recognizing product demand. This aspect is valuable when working with a paid search campaign because the marketers know what brands or pieces of inventory to feature in the ads running on Google.

Both previously mentioned tools are necessary for the creation stage of a paid search campaign, but the third tool brings everything full circle. Google Ad Preview Tool allows marketers to view their ads running in a campaign without affecting the performance. This means that the Search Services team can show ads to dealers without affecting the performance data since they are not actually clicking on the ads in Google.  This allows dealers to see exactly how the ad will look to their customers. This tool also enables marketers to customize settings for a target audience which is useful since CWS has customers all over the United States.

The Search Services team at CWS helps dealers reach their business goals every day. While there are many tools to choose from when working with paid search campaigns, Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends and Google Ad Preview Tool are used together to promote brand awareness and execute effective marketing campaigns.

Thanks so much to Danielle for this awesome post! Our Search Services team utilizes these tools to optimize your website and our own. If you would like more information about our search services please reach out to your CAM!

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