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Tag: sem

Google Display Network for Brand Awareness

When getting started with digital marketing tools, chances are you’ve probably already heard of Google Ads. What not a lot know though is that they branch out into two – Search and Display. While a search campaign shows text ads on search engine results (Search Network), a Google Display campaign is the more visual approach of showing banner/video ads in over 2 million partner websites, videos, and apps (Display Network).

A valuable marketing platform, Google’s Display Networks reaches over 90% of internet users and it takes the form of visual banner ads as seen below.

Google Display Network

Search Ads vs. Display Ads

What sets both networks apart?

While the Search Ads taps into users directly and actively searching into Google’s Search Engine or other partner search sites. This means that there is already intent in the minds of the users to search for that particular item.

Display Ads, on the other hand, are more passive as they usually appear when users are just going about their usual internet activity such as skimming through a news article, watching video clips, and the like. These ads are mainly small banners or boxes following you around as you scroll through a site. This means that the primary interest of the user is the website content itself and the display ads are just merely secondary. The main difference is that the users aren’t directly on ‘shopping mode’ and may not be familiar with your brand at all. This is because the Google Display Network is a tool that can be used for prospecting and brand awareness.

Due to the low-intent nature of the users when encountering Display Ads, the click-through-rate (CTR) and conversion rate are often below 1%. But the advantage here is the wide array of targeting options that go beyond keywords, and the ability to access a good portion of internet users due to the numerous website placements. The result is finding a tighter network audience with more relevant targeting.

Prospecting and Remarketing

There are two ways to target using Google Display Ads:

(1) First is through prospecting which happens when internet users who may have no previous knowledge of your brand, product, or services are targeted.

(2) The other is through remarketing, which targets users who have engaged with your website in some form previously.

The latter is often referred to as the best way to optimize Display Ads, this option makes use of the audiences found in Google Analytics to help find your target market. These remarketed audiences take place in many forms such as website visitors, users who downloaded content or submitted forms, users who signed up for free trials or other offers, and users who have completed transactions previously. This is why it is said that remarketing completes the circle of engagement as it helps keep past visitors who took interest in a certain product or service to see targeted ads and eventually lead them to make that purchase.

 

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We have laid out the basic need-to-knows about Google’s Display Network, perfect for any business that wants to get their brand or service out there to wider audiences. While Search Ads target those actively looking for products, who knows if you might bag the right market with you through the more passive Display Ads.

In the end, it all depends on your company’s marketing goals and knowing what type of ad or strategy to utilize. While it may seem scary to venture into Google Ads alone, there are always agencies out there to help you with your marketing goals. iManila is a Google Partner agency that can help you navigate Google’s diverse marketing platforms to reach your audience and deliver optimal results! Feel free to drop us a message at [email protected] and kick start your digital marketing journey with us.

SEO and SEM: The Perfect Online Marketing Tandem

The continuous rise of mobile and online users all over the world has definitely led to more and more companies venturing into digital marketing.

With its fast-paced growth comes constant (and sometimes abrupt) changes in algorithms and features, in which most business owners can’t help but be lost in a sea of digital platforms, strategies, and skills required to run an effective marketing campaign.

Among the most important aspects of digital marketing is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

While these two generally share the same goal of directing visitors to your website, it is essential to note the differences in running each type of campaigns.

To walk you through SEO and SEM, here are some basic insights to differentiate the two:

While there are identifiable differences between the two, companies, especially those with new websites are highly advised to do both at the same time. Running an integrated SEO and SEM campaign provides businesses an opportunity to build visibility and direct traffic to their website faster and more efficiently, which can later on, potentially generate more sales or conversions.

Need a hand in running SEO and SEM campaigns?

Let iManila be your partner in running effective SEO and SEM strategies for your brand. As one of the leading full-service web and digital marketing agencies in the Philippines, iManila has successfully delivered and is continuously running effective SEO-SEM campaigns for both local and international clients, and has, in the process, received the prestigious Google Partner badge.

To learn more about our digital marketing services, contact us through our website at www.imanila.ph.

Website Must-Haves: How to Reach your Full Potential Online

You can’t deny that modern technology has affected the way companies do business. Today, most successful businesses have grasped the importance of having an online presence. While a website is good place to start, it is not enough, and you definitely shouldn’t stop there.

To help you out, here are some factors that you should be keeping an eye on to make sure that your business will thrive in the digital age.

Site Security

Imagine that your website is your house. Now, you don’t want intruders easily accessing and coming into your house, right? So you put up a gate and filter what comes in and out of your house. That is precisely what an SSL Certificate does. SSL or Security Sockets Layer is the standard security technology that functions to establish an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. The link ensures that all the data or sensitive information that have been submitted or collected through the web server and the browser will remain private, confidential, and secure. You have to keep in mind that security builds credibility among your website visitors, thus, making your business look more legitimate and trustworthy. It is best that you secure your website by purchasing an SSL certificate from an authorized provider.

Better Google Ranking through Paid Ads

Aside from frequently uploading relevant content on your website, another factor that Google uses to help your website rank is PAID ADS. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) plays a vital role to reach a wider audience, drive more traffic to your website, and can potentially generate leads. The catch is making sure that your ads are relevant to your target audience. Google’s algorithm pushes your ads to users who are more likely to engage with it. Meaning, your ad should target a specific need of your audience so they will really click on it. Make sure you use the right keywords so you also reach the right audience.

Digital User Experience

Is your website user-friendly? Does it take less than a second to load? If yes, then great job on providing users with a good digital experience! Forbes defines ‘digital user experience’ as something that encompasses all aspects of person’s interaction with your website, including behavior, actions taken, perceptions, and satisfaction. However, if you are experiencing high bounce rate because your site is taking too long to load, then there might be a problem with your web host. On average, a user will leave your site if it takes more than 10-20 seconds to load. A good hosting provider will help you beat that time and successfully retain your audience.

Going digital has opened so many opportunities for businesses to reach their full potential. It’s important that you invest in the right marketing tools and strategies to keep your online presence afloat.  Now it’s all up to you. Will you just wait in vain while your competitors surpass you, or will you take the leap and go digital today?

Partner with a reliable digital marketing agency to cater to all your digital requirements. Here at iManila, we provide services that will help your business succeed in the digital world. We offer Web and App Development, Digital Marketing, Hosting Services, and 24/7 Technical Support. For inquiries, visit our Contact Us page or get in touch with our team at (02) 490 0000 or (+63) 917 845 6005.

 

Understanding the key terms on Google AdWords

 

Have you been into your Google AdWords dashboard and saw the terms that seem complicated? No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. AdWords can be really confusing especially if you are not familiar with the terms that you’re seeing on its dashboard.

Google AdWords is Google’s online advertising platform. Through this, you will be able to create online ads to reach people and encourage them to buy your products or services.

As a search engine marketer, understanding the vernacular of AdWords is important in order to create campaigns that are suitable for the marketing objectives of your client and easily make some tweaks if needed. Having the knowledge on the definition of these jargons and being able to explain it in layman’s terms will help you in creating valuable and effective performance reports for your clients.

Since there are hundreds of terms that you may see on your AdWords dashboards and insights, we will only be dealing with the most common encountered key terms upon implementing ads and those that are normally included in your reports.

 

AdWords Basics

  •  Campaign – A campaign on Google AdWords is the set of ad groups that share budget, location targeting, and other specifications depending on the marketing objectives of your client.

 

  • Ad Group – An ad group is consisted of one or more ads that contain a shared set of keywords. Through Ad Groups, you will be able to distinguish and organize your keywords depending on their theme.

 

  • Keywords – These are the words, phrases, or terms that best describe your products, services, or your website itself that will help on determining when and where your ad may appear.

 

  • Daily Budget – This is the amount that you will set for each ad campaign. You can specify the average amount that you would like to spend for each day. To determine your Daily Budget, divide your monthly budget by 30.4 which is the average number of days in a month.

 

  • Maximum CPC Bid – or Maximum Cost-per-Click. This is the highest amount that you are willing to pay for each click on your ad.

 

  • Final URL – This is the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of your ads landing page (in green font color). Meaning, this is where the online users will go upon clicking your ad. You must remember that the approval of your ads also depends on the site where the users will land upon clicking which is called the Destination Experience. The landing page or the website itself must adhere to the Google Advertising Policies, otherwise, your ads will be disapproved. (See the Destination Requirements here.)

 

 Google AdWords Metrics

  •  Clicks Column – This column generally counts every click on your ad. Know that a click is still counted even if the user doesn’t reach your website due to downtime or internet problems. Highly-relevant ads are more likely to receive clicks.

 

  • Impressions Column – The number of impressions is equivalent to the times your ad was served or seen on Google Search results. Even though an impression is not guaranteed to turn into clicks every time, this is still valuable on calculating your ad’s click-through rate to test its effectiveness.

 

  • Click-through Rate – Abbreviated as CTR, your click-through rate determines the effectiveness of your ad. It is derived by means of dividing the number of your acquired ad clicks by its acquired number of impressions.

 

  • Average Cost-per-Click – This is the average cost of each click on your ad. It is derived by dividing the amount that you pay for your ad by the total number of your acquired clicks.

 

  • Average Position – This metric shows your ad’s position among other advertisers.

 

  • Quality Score – This is the estimated rating of your ad made by Google AdWords based on the ad quality, its keywords, and the landing page.

 

As you can see there are a lot of terms that you need to know and understand. Some terms may take you some time to digest, but, just keep in mind that these are all beneficial for your own learning and search engine marketing skills development.

To further have an idea and complex knowledge on all of these, try engaging yourself to Google Academy for Ads. This will not just help you understand the terms mentioned above but will also give you some in-depth details on how AdWords works.

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#Achieve: The road towards a successful SEM campaign

 

On an average, Google processes over 40,000 search queries every second. If you do the math, this means that 3.5 billion searches are made per day and more than 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide. Given these numbers, how do you think can your business manage to compete online? How can you make your business be seen on search engine results? The answer is simple: Use search engine marketing.

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Search engine marketing is an internet marketing strategy that is utilized to improve the position of a website in search engine results through online paid advertising. It’s a big competition. You cannot just shoot and pay Google to get your online ads visible on search engine results. It needs precise planning like any other marketing strategy. In case you are planning to give SEM a go for your business, we laid out a few things you can contemplate on before launching your online campaign.

  • Know what your campaign goals are
    There are many reasons why you want to put up an ad campaign. You might want to increase brand awareness, increase web traffic, or increase your sales. Each goal requires different approach that leads to different directions. So, for you to prevent the incident of mismanaging your campaign specifically your budget, you must deliberate your campaign’s objectives.
  • Use the best and the right keywords
    In SEM, keywords are your bread and butter. It is important to select the most relevant keywords for your campaign. When this step fails, all else will. It is also important for you to think like a client searching for your business. Think what keywords and terms they might be using in the possibility of looking for your products or services. You can use Google AdWords’ Keyword Planner tool to have an idea and an estimate if the keywords you have selected fit perfectly for your campaign.
  • Optimize your landing page
    Another crucial facet of creating an SEM campaign is the optimization of your landing page. Google’s algorithm also considers the landing page of your ad. The relevance and coherence of your ad to your landing page is one factor that Ad Rank takes into account. Start with putting up informative website copy that viewers can view and visible call to action buttons that will lead the web visitors to your contact page outright.
  • Set the right bid for your campaign
    Of course in any marketing campaign, budget is significant. You should determine the period of your campaign and allocate budget for how long you planned it to last. You have to bid strategically with your desired keywords to stand the pace with your competitors.

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  • Evaluate results
    One of the advantages of online ads is its capability of showing immediate results. You can monitor your campaign on a regular basis to know its performance. See if you are really meeting your goals or ensure that you are gaining high ROI from it, because it’s what this is all about. Moreover, since you have the full control with your campaign, you can also make certain adjustments if necessary.

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These are but basic factors in achieving success with your SEM campaign. There are many other strategies you can experiment with. But if you experience trouble in making your own campaign, better opt hiring a professional help. For more than two decades, iManila have helped many businesses reach their marketing and business goals through its experienced and knowledgeable digital marketing team. Want to know more about SEM? Contact iManila now, give us a call and we’ll be happy to accommodate your concerns.

 

Reference: SVM E-Marketing Solutions