UVA Digital Marketing Science

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) vocabulary: Return on ad spend

(ROAS) Formula to determine the profitability of your campaign (Revenue/Cost)

Targeting: In-Market

- Show ads to users who have been searching for products and services like yours.

Google My Business is

A free tool businesses and organizations can use to manage their online presence across Google Search and Google Maps.

SEM optimization best practices: Use a few similar keywords in the same ad group

A good way to torpedo your Google Ads account performance is cramming too many diverse keywords into a single ad group. This prevents you from serving highly relevant ads and landing pages for different queries. For example, if an online shoe store puts men's shoes, women's shoes, Nike shoes, and stilettos into a single ad group then the ads and landing pages cannot be specific or relevant.

Main digital marketing channels: Social

A group of channels that puts conversation and social interaction at the center. Think of likes, comments, and shares as just a few ways for users to express interest.

Google Business Profile

A local listing that lets you manage how your business appears in the "Local 3 Pack(opens in a new tab)" in Google Search results and on Google Maps

Metric

A specific data point, generated by a user interaction. For example, "video views" refer to the number of times a specific video has been viewed.

Keyword match types: Negative Match

A type of keyword that prevents your ad from being triggered by a certain word or phrase a user has included in their search query. For example, when you add "free" as a negative keyword to your campaign or ad group, you tell Google Ads NOT to show your ad for any search containing the term "free." Example format, -free.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) vocabulary: Quality score

A value calculated by Google which takes into consideration your CTR, conversion rate, keyword relevance and more. A high QS is good

The unique features of SEM: Controlled & Efficient

Advertisers select the keywords they want their ads to appear on, set a max CPC, and can turn specific keywords on or off based on performance. You can be in full control of your advertising strategy and budget, which is not always typical of all digital marketing channels.

SEM optimization best practices: Use the correct keywords match types

Another factor used to define the success of your ads is using the right keyword match types. The most dangerous match type being Broad match. If your account consists primarily of broad match terms then you're playing a dangerous game. Instead, expand your keyword list and use more phrase and exact match to better control the types of keywords in your account.

Crawler

Automated software that crawls pages from the web and indexes them.

SEM optimization best practices: Disable the display network

By default, Google Ads will activate the Display Network with each new campaign. You want to be sure to disable Display Network and only run Search Network in your campaigns. If you decide to run Display ads later, they should still be in their own separate campaigns.

Main digital marketing channels: Display

Channels built on showing (or telling, with things like digital radio) a specific message, served up based on targeting data so the message is more personal. Anything from a web page to a banner ad.

How to use SEM: Capture Interested Prospects

Channels like social media and display can create awareness and interest, which drives a user to search for a product or service to buy or learn more. SEM typically is focused on the "bottom of the funnel" supporting other digital channels.

Main digital marketing channels: Search

Channels that meet the right person at the right time because they're looking for an answer to a question. These channels show, tell, or do both to provide utility.

Targeting: Customer Intent

Choose words or phrases related to the people that are most likely to engage with your site and make purchases by using "custom intent audiences." In addition to keywords, custom intent audiences lets you add URLs for websites, apps, or YouTube content related to your audience's interests

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) vocabulary: Click-through rate

Clicks/impressions - this is a measurement of how your ad is performing. A strong click-through rate (CTR) is a good thing

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) vocabulary: Conversion rate

Conversions/clicks (effective measurement of your landing page)

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) vocabulary: CPC

Cost Per Click - the amount you pay when someone clicks on your ad

Google discovers URLs by reading sitemaps and following links. They use links on those sites to discover other pages. This process is known as

Crawling

It is better to focus on getting links to your general domain than to get links to specific pages.

False

Optimizing a website is something you can do once every year or two. Once you map out the structure you're good to go.

False

True or False: You can only have one KPI for your entire marketing plan.

False

Understanding bid strategies: Manual CPC

For the more experienced SEM manager, this is the most used bidding option. It gives you control over how much you will pay for each click although it will require more hands-on management. With manual CPC, you will set a max CPC for each ad group or keyword and then adjust that max bid based on ROAS. This allows you to pay more for top-performing keywords and less for those that do not perform.

Google Trends lets you

Google Trends lets you see the topics people are searching for, almost in real time. You can use this information to explore what your audience might be thinking about and figure how to adjust your ad campaigns to meet their expectations.

SEM optimization best practices: Create compelling, highly relevant ad copy

If you have an efficient CTR but low ROAS, it may be that your landing page isn't converting. This usually occurs when your landing page isn't relevant enough to the search. There are other considerations for landing page optimization that we will cover later in this lesson.

SEM optimization best practices: Drive traffic to a relevant landing page

If you have an efficient CTR but low ROAS, it may be that your landing page isn't converting. This usually occurs when your landing page isn't relevant enough to the search. There are other considerations for landing page optimization that we will cover later in this lesson.

Understanding bid strategies: Enhanced CPC

If you'd like to introduce some automation and AI into your bid while still maintaining a high degree of control. This setting gives Google the right to increase or decrease your bid amount based on the likelihood of driving the sale. Google will attempt to average out bids to achieve your max cost per click settings.

SEM optimization best practices: Optimize for mobile

In addition to making your ads mobile-friendly, you should not forget about your landing page. You want to make sure your landing page is also mobile-friendly in order to maximize conversions and make your customer's mobile experience as seamless as possible. Also, consider that laptop and tablet users convert at a higher rate so it's smart to bid more for those devices and less for mobile traffic. For high ticket B2B products, you may even consider disabling mobile traffic or setting lower bids.

Intent

Intent should assume that your audience is now actively considering purchasing your product or service. Now is the time to show and tell them why your brand does it better than anyone else on the market. Provide them with key reasons to believe (such as testimonials, case studies, white papers, etc.).

Google Knowledge panels

Knowledge panels are boxes of information you see on Google when you look for people, places, organizations, and products that are in the Knowledge Graph.

Awareness

Lighter-touch tactics that should emphasize attributes or the key value proposition of your brand. At this stage, you should assume that the audience knows little to nothing about your products or services.

SEM optimization best practices: Mine your search reports, and add negative keywords

Negative keywords are one of your best defenses against irrelevant clicks. Be sure to utilize negative terms to block unwanted traffic. For a complete guide to negatives, check out Neil Patel's post here(opens in a new tab).

Remarketing

Now that someone has done something once, tap into what you know about that action to get them to do the same thing, or something complementary, again. Think about things like how much time should pass before it's reasonable for them to take another action, as well as how their needs may have changed.

SEM optimization best practices: Use ad extensions

Often advertisers spend a lot of time crafting a perfect ad without paying attention to extensions. But sooner or later it becomes clear that ad extensions can be highly impactful when it comes to PPC campaign performance. Ad extensions are a great way to enhance your ads and help boost your CTR. Extensions can be as important as ad copy and should always be customized for every ad group. In fact, according to Google, enabling new ad extensions typically increases CTR by 10-15%. (Source: Google 2019)

The unique features of SEM: Immediate Results

Once your ads are activated, they appear within minutes. You can start collecting data very quickly. Depending on your budget and volume, you can start to see traffic and conversions taking place in a matter of hours.

Keyword match types: Phrase Match

Phrase match lets a search trigger your ad when someone searches for your exact keyword phrase, or close variations of your exact keyword phrase, with potentially other words before or after that phrase. Phrase match is indicated by quotes around a keyword or phrase, e.g., "women's Nike trail running shoes." Close variations include misspellings, singular and plural forms, acronyms, stemmings (such as floor and flooring), abbreviations, accents, synonyms, etc. Word order is important with phrase match, meaning that your ad won't appear if someone enters an additional unrelated word in the middle of your keyword. Words in the phrase keyword can be reordered as long as the meaning of the phrase is maintained. For example, when you add "adopt a kitten" as a phrase match keyword, you tell Google Ads to try to show your ad only when someone's search includes "adopt a kitten" or close variations of "adopt a kitten" such as "where to adopt kittens in Nashville," "how to adopt a baby cat," or "local kitten adoption events."

How to use SEM: Test Keywords for SEO

Ranking for a keyword in organic search results (SEO) takes a lot of time, effort, and resources. You can use SEM to test keywords to confirm their value prior to deciding which specific terms you want to target for SEO.

How to use SEM: Direct Response Marketing

SEM is a direct response marketing channel, meaning we can quickly turn prospect searches (demand) into leads or buyers (conversions) and effectively measure the results of our ad spend.

How to use SEM: Rent vs Buy Your Placements (SEM/SEO)

SEM is similar to renting ad space on a search engine results page (SERP). With a pre-determined monthly budget, you can advertise on page one of Google quickly, where ranking for organic search (SEO) can take months, or even years to accomplish. The ideal is to have real estate in both locations!

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) vocabulary: SERP

Search Engine Results Page - the screen or page you see after you perform a search

What is search engine marketing (SEM)?

Search engine marketing is a form of digital advertising that helps a company or organization increase its visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs) through pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Search platforms include Google Ads, Bing Ads, and other smaller players such as Baidu and Yandex.

Targeting: Ad Scheduling

Set the days and hours you'd like to run ads or adjust bidding. For example, if you're business to business (B2B) marketer focused on an enterprise-level customer, you may only want to run your ads from 9 am to 5 pm.

The unique features of SEM: Measurable

Since search engine marketing (SEM) is a "direct response" channel, users click and buy, often in the same session. You can measure your KPIs very quickly and determine how best to allocate your future advertising spend.

Targeting: Remarketing

Target users that have already visited your website. This is a great audience because they've already started their customer journey with you. If you have a longer conversion cycle, remarketing can be a very effective tool for keeping your product or service top of mind.

Targeting: Demographics

Target your ads based on how well your products and services trend with users in certain locations, ages, genders, and device types.

Googlebot

The generic name of Google's crawler.

Main digital marketing channels: 1:1

The most personal collection of channels, because they require personal interaction. Chats, emails, and texts allow a one-to-one connection between the brand and individuals within the audience.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) vocabulary: Impression

The number of times users see your ads

Crawl

The process of looking for new or updated webpages. Google discovers URLs by reading site maps, following links and many other methods

SEO

The process of making your site better for search engines and the job title of a professional who does this for a living

KPIs

The single most important metric that measures whether or not you were successful in meeting your SMART objective. (In other words, it's the "M" in SMART!) For example, if your SMART objective is to increase website traffic from new users by 25% over the next 3 months, your KPI might be "new sessions" because it directly indicates how many new visitors your website receives.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) vocabulary: Conversion

The user takes your desired action. A conversion could represent a purchase of your product, a sign up for an email list, etc.

Understanding bid strategies: Maximize Conversions

This is a good option to increase your automation after you have accumulated significant conversion data. This can typically be activated in high performance, low competitor campaigns such as your branded terms.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) vocabulary: Max CPC

This is the maximum amount you're willing to pay for a click

Interest

This is where your marketing starts to educate your audience, though it's not always an education in the academic sense. How do you start to introduce more about your products and services? Pay off the key benefits you provide? Build on your initial brand awareness?

Action

Though action is meant to represent where the sale happens, it's important for marketers to understand how this experience will unfold. Does the prospect buy through a website? Do they engage via a phone call? Or typically transact after a 1:1 consultation?

Index

To index is when Google fetches a page, reads it and adds it to the index.

The unique features of SEM: High Conversion Intent

Users are actively searching for the product or service the advertiser is marketing. Through search engine marketing (SEM), you have an opportunity to reach someone who is actively searching and likely looking to take some action. Your goal as a search marketer is to make sure you're delivering the most applicable ad message and landing experience to convert those high intent users.

VAVA

Volume: Your number of backlinks should increase over time. Authority: The sites that link you should have authority Velocity: there should be a new flow of backlinks Anchor Texts: Use your Brand name and Target Keywords in Anchor Texts Links

Keyword research for SEM

With SEM you're looking at cost-per-click and how much you expect to make from that click. With SEO you evaluate the term based on how much effort it will take to rank and how much traffic you can get over time.

Keyword research for SEO

With SEO you evaluate the term based on how much effort it will take to rank and how much traffic you can get over time.

Keyword match types: Exact Match

With exact match, you can show your ad to customers who are searching for your exact keyword or close variants of your exact keyword. Close variants include searches for keywords with the same meaning as the exact keywords, regardless of spelling or grammar similarities between the query and the keyword. Exact match is indicated by brackets around a keyword, e.g. [women's Nike trail running shoes size 7]. Whether someone is searching for "running shoes" or "shoes for running," what they want remains the same; they're looking for running shoes. Of the four keyword matching options, exact match gives you the most control over who sees your ad and can result in a higher clickthrough rate (CTR).

How to use SEM: Efficiently Reach Niche Audience

With search, you're not typically casting a wide net. Because you control the keywords and ads, you're able to very effectively reach your niche audience. For example, I sell products for dogs and more specifically Golden Retrievers. I can reach Golden Retriever dog owners by targeting specific related keyword searches.

Keyword match types: Broad Match

You can use broad match to ensure your ads reach a wider audience. Some advertisers start with a broad match strategy to gain learnings quickly and see what search terms or phrases are converting (or not!). But you have to be careful. Broad match is likely going to be the most expensive because it is the least targeted. If you start with a broad match approach, the key is active management and optimization of your account so that you don't end up spending too much money on irrelevant search terms or phrases. The best way to capture early learnings is to structure some lower budget tests (with SMART objectives) and analyze the data. Every approach is going to be a little different for the type of business you're managing.

Local search marketing is

anything you do on the web to promote a physical business that makes face-to-face contact with its customers. It applies to single-location small and medium businesses (SMBs), national enterprise brands, and chains.

The metric in the Keyword Magic Tool you could use to determine how hard it would be for a new website to rank on the first page of Google for a specific keyword is called:

keyword difficulty