Best Practices for SEM-Part 2
19Sep

Best Practices for SEM from our Search Services Manager – Part 2

Last week we introduced you to some best practices for Search Engine Marketing, courtesy of our Search Services Manager, Ruth Johndrow. She had so many great tips that we split it into two parts and have five more to present to you today! 

As a quick refresher, Search Engine Marketing (otherwise referred to as SEM) is a critical piece of online marketing for businesses today. It’s no secret that customers flock to search engines to begin their research when considering purchasing an item nowadays. Therefore, now it’s more important than ever to utilize tactics like SEM to ensure your business is at the top of search engine results and capturing your prospect’s attention. So without further ado, here are five more best practices you should rely on when it comes to implementing your SEM strategy:

1. Use Ad Extensions: Another tool you can utilize with your paid ads are ad extensions. What is an ad extension you might be asking? According to Google, “extensions expand your ad with additional information—giving people more reasons to choose your business. They typically increase an ad’s click-through-rate by several percentage points.” These are the key extensions we’d recommend:

  • Sitelink extensions – They provide links to other pages and sections of your website you’d want the viewer to visit as well
  • Location extensions – These include your address in an ad making it easier for the viewer to visit you
  • Call extensions – They include your phone number for a more seamless transition to contacting your dealership
  • Callout extensions –  These add relevant details that may be additional selling points. For example, 24/7 Customer Service, 2-Day Delivery, etc.
  • Price extensions – They include the product price within the ad so the customer knows right away

2. Conduct A/B Tests: This is an extremely valuable feature with paid ads. What it means to conduct an A/B test is to draft two versions of your ad and set a period of time for testing which one performs better among your audience. Once you give it some time to collect data, you can choose to go with the more successful ad of the two. It’s a great opportunity to test language and features to see what types of elements your potential audience responds to the most.

3. Give it Time: While SEM is known for its immediacy compared to SEO, it doesn’t mean that you should change keywords or ads on the daily. Be sure to give your ad time to get real results and determine whether it’s effective. At the least, we’d recommend leaving an ad for a week before you consider changing some things around.

4. Create Different Ad Types: Don’t just stick with the standard text ad setup. Be sure to include a variety of ads in your SEM strategy. Getting visual is important in this day and age, so be sure to try ads that are image-based. Don’t forget about call only and responsive ads too!

5. Utilize Retargeting: Retargeting ads are another important form of SEM. In fact, customers are 70% more likely to convert after seeing a retargeted ad according to ReadyCloud. That’s because these are specialized types of ads that follow the viewer around the internet showcasing either the specific unit or page they were looking at to ultimately redirect them back to your website. It keeps your business top of mind and is an incredible strategy to implement into your SEM efforts.

We hope you found this post interesting and informative, but if you have any questions around Search Engine Marketing, don’t hesitate to reach out either in the comments below or by emailing us at marketing@commercialwebservices.com so we can get you connected with a Search Services Specialist. 

Don’t forget to keep checking back to our blog for our third and final installment of this series on best practices around your search strategy!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kelsey Fritz
Kelsey is the Marketing Coordinator at Commercial Web Services where she monitors the latest marketing advancements to better educate dealers on marketing trends that can further their business goals.

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