Google Search ads remains one of the best platforms for e-commerce businesses to use for their advertising campaigns, particularly if they want people to find them in search engines. While search engine optimization (SEO) is critical for ranking well, you can automatically shoot to the top of search results with the right Google Search ads strategy.
If you’re not sure how to approach your Google Search ads strategy, the following are some tips for guiding your efforts as you complement SEO campaigns with pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
Target Search Terms That Offer the Most Value
One of the best ways to get the most from Search ads campaigns is to go after the terms that will drive the most sales. You can do this by taking a few key steps.
Begin by reviewing your current analytics and see what types of terms have gained the highest amount of traffic and the most conversions for you. In most cases, these will include branded terms and other bottom-of-the-funnel terms that people will enter when ready to make a buying decision.
You can then prioritize keywords based on their ability to convert people from leads to customers. You’ll want to bid the highest amount of ad spend on the ones that convert the most while investing a smaller amount on those low-priority keywords that people enter at the top of the funnel.
Finally, you should take the time to build a negative keyword list for each group of keywords, which will ensure the different campaigns aren’t targeting each other’s terms. For example, you should include all terms you want to target in the lower levels within your negative keywords list for those urgent, top-priority campaigns. Meanwhile, keep those converting keywords out of your lower-level campaigns. In turn, you’ll create an efficient Search ads campaign that moves people along the funnel from top to bottom.
Keep New Users Separate from Remarketing Audiences
Your campaigns will target two main groups of people: new visitors who’ve never encountered your website before and those who’ve visited and you’ll want to retarget. As such, they’ll be at different points along the customer journey.
Ensure you have ads designed to target people who might be more familiar with your brand and offerings, along with ads that target new users. Keeping these campaigns separate will make things easier to manage. For instance, you can determine which landing pages to link to each campaign based on whether the visitor is new to your brand or has visited your site before.
In separating these campaigns, you can maximize their efficiency as they move more people down the sales funnel.
Optimize Search Ads for Mobile Users
Mobile shoppers are beginning to outnumber people who buy products online using other devices, with the e-commerce market growing every year. In 2022, the mobile e-commerce market comprised around 42% of all e-commerce sales. That number is expected to rise by at least one percentage point every year from there.
If you’re not optimizing your Search ads campaign for mobile devices, you’re missing out on a huge audience. Keep in mind that it’s more than just maximizing reach—people who search for e-commerce brands and items on mobile devices often do so in different contexts from desktop users.
Find out which keywords drive the most traffic and conversions from mobile users and ensure you’re targeting those in your mobile campaigns. You can follow the same approach you’d take in the first tip we provided above, prioritizing keywords and grouping them according to value.
Deep Link to Your Best-Selling Products
Take a look at your analytics to find your best-selling products. These are the items you’ll want to include deep links to within your Search ads. You might consider linking to broader category pages, but you’ll likely get better results when you link to specific high-value product pages.
Set up deep links to a group of your top sellers and keep track of your ad campaigns to see which ads perform best. If you can shorten the journey from search to purchase with this strategy, you’ll be able to increase your ads’ ROAS while simultaneously boosting your Google Quality Score, which is equally crucial.
On the other hand, you may be better off linking to some category pages if you don’t have any best-sellers yet that you can measure.
Run A/B Tests on New Ad Campaigns
One of the most helpful tools for any ad campaign is A/B split testing. Using this testing method, you can run two different ads with one variable element, such as different images or calls to action. Run these ads together and see which ad does the best.
If you find that one ad does poorly, you can either eliminate this ad to reduce wasted ad spend or try optimizing it to complement the ad that did better. The more testing you do, the more you’ll be able to perfect your ad campaigns over time until they yield the best achievable results.
Continue Optimizing Your Campaigns
Even if your campaigns do well and you’re seeing numbers in your analytics that far exceed your goals, you can still get even better results with continued optimization. You’ll also prevent those campaigns from stagnating over time if you regularly engage with and maintain them.
You might find that there are better keyword opportunities or that your budget allows you to invest even more in those high-performing ads. As you continue developing your campaigns, you’ll maximize their longevity and value.
Turn to Kore Media to Get the Most from Google Search Ads
While you may recognize the importance of a good Google Search ads strategy behind your e-commerce brand, you might be unsure of how to approach it or simply not have the resources to successfully launch a campaign on your own. If you need some assistance with building your paid advertising and other digital marketing strategies, consider working with Kore Media.
Want to learn more about our capabilities and get started on a strategy with us? Reach out to us today, and we’ll connect you with an expert to discuss your unique marketing needs.
