In search engine marketing, the question of how to optimize an SEA campaign arises time and again. The first campaign is quickly created with a tool such as Google Ads. However, continuous support and improvement represent a permanent challenge. The optimization options range from keyword selection to the wording of the ad texts.
SEA campaigns at a glance: Basics and how it works
Search Engine Advertising (SEA) aims to acquire customers via ads in search engines. The basis of ad placement is bidding on specific keywords. You determine the keywords or keyword groups on the basis of which the ad is displayed. Optimizing an SEA campaign therefore also means optimizing keywords.
As an advertiser, you typically incur costs when clicking on an ad. This model is called cost-per-click (CPC). By clicking on the ad, interested parties are taken to your target page, for example an online shop or a landing page.
The cost per click depends on several factors. The most important of these are:
- Competition for a specific keyword or groups of keywords
- Ad position
- Quality factor
The competition for a keyword increases the click prices. The search engine carries out permanent comparisons for every search query for an advertiser's keyword with the competition. Your competitors also want to optimize their SEA campaign. For each ad, a multiplication with the maximum CPC and the quality factor takes place in an auction. As a result, the ad with the highest result is placed in first position in the search results. This is followed by the ads with the second and third highest results.
This means that the highest bidder does not necessarily take the top position
Quality factor and ad position
Since the CPC is multiplied by the quality factor, the ad quality is very important. This means that you can achieve a better position even with a low budget if the quality is good.
As far as Google Ads is concerned, the following factors, among others, play a role in the quality rating:
- Keyword click rate
- Ad click rate
- Relevance of the target page for searchers
- Keyword relevance for ads and users
- Ad success in the target region
The keyword click-through rate indicates how often certain keywords resulted in a click on an ad. The click-through rate of the ad indicates how often someone reached the target page by clicking on an ad. As far as the quality of the landing page is concerned, the overview also plays a role in addition to relevance. Searchers need to find what they are looking for as quickly as possible. To optimize an SEA campaign, the results must therefore be suitable for the searcher.
Place value and relevance of Google Ads
When thinking about optimizing an SEA campaign, the first thing that comes to mind is Google Ads. As the most important provider in the field of search engine marketing, Google Ads has established itself. Anyone who does online marketing usually also has an Ads account. Here it is possible to place ads in various areas. These include the search engine itself, the display network and the partner search network of Google.
Depending on this, different forms of advertising can be distinguished. They all offer potential to optimize the SEA campaign. The best-known form is the placement of ads in the search results. They appear together with the organic search results, but can be distinguished from them. They are marked as ads and visually differentiated.
When advertising in the display network, the ad is placed on a member site. This is part of the AdSense program, i.e. the Google network. These ads can go beyond pure text ads and also enable banners and videos.
Another option is to place ads in the Google shopping results. Similar to text ads, these ads appear close to the organic search results. They can also be called up as a separate category. A click on the results leads directly to the product. As the operator of an online store, you send data such as images and product names to Google so that the search engine can display them in the shopping results.
In addition to Google, the search engine operators Yahoo and Bing also offer their own SEA tools. Bing and Yahoo use a shared advertising platform. In Germany, this is based on the Yahoo Search Marketing Network. This works in a similar way to Google Ads. The market share of ads placed via Bing and Yahoo is around 20 percent.
Optimization potential in SEA campaigns
Your Ads account is structured in different levels. Depending on the advertising goals, you can find different ways to optimize an SEA campaign. The numerous settings in Google Ads must be coordinated so that together they contribute to achieving the desired advertising objective.
Target setting
At the beginning of every attempt to optimize an SEA campaign, there is a precise formulation of the goals. Only with goals can the campaign be precisely optimized. Otherwise, even the best optimization will only be general. In online marketing, there are many different goals for you to consider. The most important ones are:
- Acquiring new customers
- Customer retention
- Generate conversions (e.g. downloads, subscriptions or sales)
- Increase brand awareness
- Increase the number of visits to the website
Keyword optimization
Keywords are the central components in search engine marketing and are the focus when it comes to optimizing an SEA campaign. In any case, keywords should be placed in a clearly visible position in your ad texts and on the landing pages. For example, headlines are suitable for this purpose.
Google Ads recognizes correlations between keywords and their use. The search engine rewards this by certifying a higher quality factor.
Keyword optimization is not static, however. New settings and improvements must always be made at keyword level in order to optimize the SEA campaign. These have a significant impact on the position and success of your ads.
For this reason, you should regularly check the performance of the keywords, especially for ongoing campaigns. Certain key performance indicators (KPIs) are particularly important here. These include the click rate (CTR). It is advisable to pay attention to a CTR of at least 1 percent. From this value, it can be assumed that the ad and keyword are sufficiently relevant. If the value is lower, there is a need for action.
Check whether the keyword appears in the text of the ad. The average position should be between 1 and 3. If this is not the case for certain keywords, a new ad with the corresponding keyword as the headline is recommended. If there are a large number of comparable terms, it may also make sense to create a separate ad group.
Keyword research
When it comes to selecting promising keywords, think about your own offer first. This determines the main and secondary keywords. Keywords can be combined with sales-promoting terms. These include words such as buy, rent or order. There are several tools that automatically create semantic links between keywords and matching terms.
Google also offers keyword tools ex works to help you find new and promising keywords. This includes the Keyword Planner, which is available in every Ads account. The tool provides an insight into the search volume for specific keywords.
It also provides a search query report. If you study this regularly, you can track which search keywords have led to your site. This will give you important clues for new keywords that can be used to optimize current or future SEA campaigns.
It is advisable to organize the search query report according to the most important indicators: Clicks and Conversions. Keywords that have a particularly high click-through rate (over 2 percent) should be added to your campaigns. It can also make sense to launch new campaigns based on these keywords. At this point, you should also exclude search queries that are not relevant for your company.
Optimize ad texts of the SEA campaign
Keywords can only have their full effect if they are embedded in good ad texts. The ad text is the first thing that catches the searcher's eye. It should arouse interest and offer added value so that visitors land on your landing page. In view of the high competition from other advertisers, the text must stand out effectively. Due to the brevity of the texts, it should contain the right components.
The most important components of ad text include:
- Keyword repetition in the text
- Addressing the target group appropriately
- Answers to the most important questions at a glance
- Highlighting the unique selling points (USP)
- Call to action
So check your ads regularly for CTR and conversion rate. If the KPIs are not satisfactory, pause the ad and create a new one with different texts. As a rule of thumb: at least 3 ads per ad group to be able to test the texts against each other.
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