Search Marketing Make Ye "Arrr!"

Search engines gather and organize tons of information on the Internet. Their goal is to make this information accessible to users all over the world. But how? Users can go to Google’s homepage or other Google properties and simply enter a search query (terms related to the product or service they’d like to find) into the search field, and click “Google search.” Google then goes through its index of 42 billion web pages (this number changes daily) and returns a variety of search results that are most relevant to the user. The web pages in their index are spread throughout other Google products like images and news.

Google doesn’t charge for web pages to be placed in search results, but they do offer an advertising system called Google AdWords. This complex search marketing system delivers highly relevant ads to those looking to appear above or on the side of natural search results. AdWords gives companies the ability to create simple, effective ads and display them to people who are already searching online for information related to your company, products, or services.

AdWords has the ability to target, measure, and reach your online customers with the possibility of achieving a high return on investment. The three R’s of search marketing will help you understand the benefit of this highly effective advertising medium:

Reach. The average American spends 32 hours per month online - the web is an ideal place to get in front of them. When you invest in search marketing, you have the ability to capture any segment of that broad worldwide audience that’s actively looking for your company, products, and services. This means that you can target specific areas of the country, like the St. Louis Metropolitan area, for people that are searching for things that relate to your business. This targeting system even allows you to target and exclude specific zip codes all over the country. These relevant searches ensure that your product or service is visible in a crucial point in the customer’s buying cycle - when the user is actively searching for what you offer.

Relevance. One of the biggest benefits of search marketing is the ability to precisely target ads to users based on their interests, as well as a number of other factors like location, language, and demographic. This lets users see highly relevant ads that they’re more likely to click on. Search marketing advertisements target customers that are further along in the buying process, ultimately getting you in front of people who are more likely to convert.

Return on Investment. Search marketing is thoroughly measurable, making it easy to tell whether or not you’re meeting your advertising goals. Every users click is tied to a particular ad, keyword, and search query, all of which are trackable through live data and reports. If you spot a trend, you can easily delete, modify, or create keywords, ads, and campaign targeting selections within seconds. Search marketing allows you to be more responsive when it comes to improving your ROI.