5 Ways to Improve Your Paid Search.

Paid search is an important piece of your digital media strategy. It allows you to get in front of consumers while they are actively in search mode, drive traffic to your website, easily optimize budgets and test out different keywords.

Here are five best practices to help you get even better results from your paid search efforts. 

1. Improve your ad copy.
   Focusing on your copy is an easy way to improve the quality of your ads. It helps the search engine place your ad at the top of the page’s search results and provides consumers with the information they need to act. Whatever you do, don’t forget about your keywords. It’s easy for brands to default to familiar phrasing. Incorporate variations on keywords to improve your ranking and boost your performance.
2. Utilize as many text fields and extensions as possible.
   This sounds like a no-brainer, but you might be surprised at how many advertisers don’t do this. Responsive Search Ads (RSA) have made it easy to create one automated ad that finds the best-performing copy combinations for text-based ads. Search advertising platforms will allow you to fill in the bare minimum of three headlines and two descriptions; but don’t do that. Give the algorithm enough different, relevant content to maximize its usefulness. The same goes for ad extensions like callouts, sitelinks, structured snippets, etc. They’re quick and easy to create and they help maximize the actual space that your ad takes up, ideally pushing your competitors’ ads “below the fold.”
3. Use Call Ads.
   Do you run search campaigns where the primary goal is contact conversions? If so, you’ve likely added call extensions where the phone number is added below your ad copy. Call Ads are different because they prioritize phone calls over landing page traffic. When you run Call Ads and a user searches your keywords on a mobile device with call capabilities, they can be shown an ad that’s tailored toward call conversions. These ads can be the only ad type in a campaign or run alongside your Responsive Search Ads within the same ad groups. Relevancy to user intent is key within paid search. Call Ads maximize your relevancy to a user who is searching your keywords with the intent to do business over the phone.
4. Use manual CPC bidding for branded keyword campaigns.
   This year inflation raised the price of just about everything, and CPCs are no exception. For some campaigns, rising CPCs can’t be helped. After all, you have to outbid your competition to win the ad auction and show your ad. However, one area where you have a competitive advantage is campaigns where you’re bidding on your own brand keywords. If your brand name is unique, then you’ll easily be the most relevant advertiser in the auction for those terms. Meaning you can set a relatively low max bid (less than $0.99) and still be competitive in the auction with competitors who are bidding substantially more. Automated bidding is powerful but these strategies sometimes bid incredibly high amounts if they consider a particular user to be extremely likely to convert. Additionally, search advertising platforms are disincentivized from keeping your costs down since they pocket that spend as revenue. Try a manual CPC strategy on your branded terms to capture more search volume for less spend.
5. Look at your landing pages.
   The user experience doesn’t end when they click your ad. Look closely at the landing page you are driving them to. Does it meet their expectations? Is it easy to navigate and add value for consumers? By making sure the landing page works as hard as it can, you will improve the overall brand experience.