Keyword Advertising
Contents
Definition
Keyword advertising is a type of online advertising that allows businesses to target users based on the keywords they search for. This form of advertising is commonly offered by search engines, including Bing and Google. By bidding on specific keywords and phrases, businesses can get their products to the top of the SERPs for keywords their target audience commonly searches for.
A screenshot of a search page featuring a number of keyword advertising campaigns, taken from google.com
How keyword advertising works
Although there are many different platforms that offer keyword-based advertising, most keyword advertising works with auctions. This means that advertisers bid on a specific keyword, in order to get featured at the top of the SERPs for that keyword. Much of the bidding is automated, although advertisers do have control over their maximum spend and minimum/maximum bid amount. This allows advertisers to bid on hundreds or even thousands of different keywords simultaneously.
Quality scoring system
Although higher bids outperform lower bids when all else is equal, most major search engines also have quality scoring systems that play an important role in selecting the winning bid. These systems take various factors into account, including the relevance and quality of the landing page and advertisement. This results in a quality score that directly influences the winning bid, meaning that a lower bid could potentially beat a higher bid if there’s a big difference in quality score between them.
The term Quality Score is predominantly associated with Google’s advertising platform “Google Ads”. It's a diagnostic tool that provides insight into the performance of your ads. Microsoft’s “Bing Ads” offers a similar evaluation called Quality Impact.
Both systems evaluate several components, including the relevance of each keyword to its ad group, landing page quality, and the expected click-through rate (CTR). A higher Quality Score can lead to lower costs and better ad positions.
The essence of these scoring systems is to ensure that users are presented with ads that are most relevant to their queries, thereby improving their search experience. Advertisers with higher-quality ads are rewarded with higher ad rankings and lower costs. This incentivizes advertisers to tailor their content and ads to their target audience, which is beneficial for search engines, users, and advertisers alike.
Measuring the success of keyword advertisements
To effectively measure the success of keyword advertising campaigns, it's essential to use ad tracking and analytics tools. These tools provide access to various metrics that are important for evaluating ad performance.
Google Ads, for instance, offers integrated conversion tracking tools that can be used to assess the effectiveness of a keyword advertising campaign. Google’s pay-per-click model allows for the direct comparison of the cost of the advertisement against the returns, particularly in terms of new customers acquired. Conversion tracking plays a vital role here, as it can help compare the number of conversions with the cost-per-click and total number of clicks.
Google Ads also integrates with Google Analytics, providing a comprehensive platform for tracking all important metrics associated with an ad campaign and its landing pages. Bing Ads also integrates with its own analytics solution, offering a similar experience.
Common metrics used to measure how effective a keyword advertising campaign is, include:
Choosing the right keywords
Choosing the right keywords is one of the most important parts of a successful keyword advertising campaign. It's important to consider both the level of competition and the cost-effectiveness of a keyword, as well as its relevance to the product or service being advertised.
Tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner and Bing’s Keyword planner tool can be used to identify relevant search terms that align well with your campaign. These tool provides insights into search frequency and estimated bidding rates for various terms. Third-party tools like Seobility's Keyword Research Tool can provide a greater level of detail and improved insights and are often used to supplement the data provided by the search engine’s own keyword tool.
When selecting keywords, it’s important to aim for specificity, clarity, and relevance. Long-tail keywords, which are more specific and often less competitive, tend to perform better in keyword advertising. These keywords are also more likely to show a clear commercial/transactional search intent which can help improve the CTR and conversion rates.
Regularly reviewing and adjusting a keyword advertising campaign based on which keywords yield the best ROI is also crucial for ongoing success.
Importance of keyword advertising in online marketing
Keyword advertising is a cornerstone of online marketing. It's a highly effective form of advertising due to its timeliness; it places the ad directly in front of potential customers who are actively searching for the product/service. The success of keyword advertising depends significantly on the choice of keywords and how well they align with the target audience’s search patterns.
This form of advertising not only has the potential to increase website traffic but also to attract more relevant visitors. Typically, visitors who land on a website through a keyword ad are more likely to be interested in the products or services on the page compared to those who might see your advertisement through less targeted channels, such as billboards. This targeted approach is what makes keyword advertising a valuable component of a comprehensive online marketing strategy.
Related links
- Keyword Research And Analysis: How To Find The Best Keywords For Your Website - Seobility Blog
- https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/google-adwords-ppc
- https://help.ads.microsoft.com/apex/index/3/en-in/50813
Similar articles
| About the author |
 |