A digital marketing agency is familiar with CTR as its one of ways to measure how effective is their pay-per-click (PPC) marketing strategy. Whether or not a site utilizes PPC with the help of Google Adwords is out of the question. Understanding the difference between individual CTR and the average CTR of the website helps marketers and site optimizers to do their job.

Utilizing Average CTR for Data-Driven Decision Making

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The average CTR is crucial in finding if a digital marketing campaign works. It’s the most important metric to monitor in regards to PPC advertising. It on contributes to a keyword’s expected CTR which is a component of AdRank. Each ad and keyword has their CTR in GA. The data will help you analyze its relevance to the what you advertise and which networks.

The average CTR is an indicator of performance. A high CTR shows that the link or ad pays off as it draws traffic to your site. Meanwhile, a low CTR may be the result of ineffective content, targeting the wrong audience, reaching an indifferent demographics, and using the wrong keywords. Still, other factors influence a site’s average CTR that is out of one’s control. Industry, ad format, ad position, and channel are some of the factors or benchmarks that can raise or flunk the CTR.

CTR Benchmark and its Effect on the Data

Based on the updated benchmarks per industry from Wordstream, the field for search network and display network became competitive as the average CTR for all industries on both networks decreased its percentage. Still, the CTR for ads on the search network remains greater than Google Display Network.

The reason behind these data stems from user behavior. Those on the search network are actively eyeing for content related to keywords, so the links and pages get high CTR. Meanwhile, the ads on the display network allow users to skip past the ads. Thus, they become passive and revert their attention to click on the ads or links. Some users also find ads annoying as it disrupts their overall viewing experience.

Display ad format and its position on the search engine results page (SERP) are also CTR benchmarks. The position of the ad or link in the results page can result in a high or low CTR. For instance, belonging to an industry with a high CTR doesn’t guarantee the same result. The site ends up with a lower CTR if it does not rank in the SERP. If the keyword is in high rank or top one, the site can have a higher CTR even if the industry average is low.

Last but not the least, channels significantly influence CTR. Users from different platforms vary in behavior. Those coming from Facebook comes into the site for a different reason to those from Google search. Looking into which channel a page gains the highest CTR is a way to utilize the “last-click wins” approach. That way, the site makes the CTR SEO factor to conversion.

CTR as Part of SEO

Sample CTR data of GreatBikers.com

These are guiding principles to utilize the CTR as an essential SEO and PPC metric. Impressions form a great part of the CTR, but it won’t be complete without the clicks. Engaging users is the key to earning a high CTR. Take note that CTR and SERP ranking are inversely correlated. At the same time, some users prefer to use different channels.

As a webmaster or digital marketer, it’s essential to determine a baseline CTR and goal. Doubling SEO efforts to be or stay on page one of SERP can become the first task. Analyzing data is also crucial to become skilled in tracking the CTR by a selected period. CTR is one of the several data to get from GA for applying data-driven decisions.

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Writing an ad copy

After determining the right keywords for a campaign, the next step is to write the ad copy. Ad copies have 5 basic elements, and these are:

1. Headline – maximum of 25 characters
2. Description line – maximum of 35 characters
3. Description line 2 – maximum of 35 characters as well
4. Display URL – maximum of 35 characters
5. Destination URL – maximum of 1,024 characters

The target keyword or key phrase must be in the headline since this is the first line that the users will see. This is also the text that Google and other search engines will show. Make sure that a relevant title is chosen.

The product or service (or both) details must be on the description lines. Product or service benefits are usually on the first description line while the price points are on the second line. Description lines are a must so the ad will stand out among the competition or pool of ads that the engines show.

Possibly, put all the relevant targeted keywords on the ad. Don’t overdo it, however. It still needs to read natural in the eyes of the users otherwise no one will click on it.

Notice the two URLs – display URL and destination URL. Don’t be confused. The destination URL is the real one while the display URL is not clickable. Nonetheless, it is wise to put the real domain name on the display URL followed by the category after the ‘/’ symbol. The category must be relevant to the ad itself.

According to Google, “display URLs are meant to appear in your ad to give people a clear idea of what page they’ll arrive at when they click an ad while a destination URL is a specific location within your site where you want to take someone who clicked your ad.”

Don’t forget the three most important elements of an ad copy namely keyword relevance, call to action (CTA) and value. Of the three, the last one will entice the prospects to click on the ad.

Creating a landing page

Making a prospect clicked onto the ad is one thing; making him or her stay, read and explore the landing page is another. The goal of the landing page is to convert a prospect into a paid and satisfied customer. The two most important factors in the landing page are keyword relevance and ad copy.

The tendency for some advertiser is linking the ad copy to the homepage. There’s nothing wrong with it though as long as the contents of the homepage is relevant to the ad copy. For example, a user clicked a ‘cheap PPC services Philippines’ link. However, the homepage is cramped with all the digital marketing services the digital agency offers.

As such, the potential customer should be brought directly to the specific offer in lieu what the ad copy is all about, giving the user all relevant information that the user needs.

The landing page must be actionable as well. The perfect landing page gives a prospect a general idea and further information on a particular product or service. Ultimately, there should be buttons to hit or link to click when the prospect is ready to purchase or make an inquiry.

It takes a while to create a winning PPC strategy, but the points highlighted above are a good place to start. Use the tips to create strong ad copies and landing pages. Good luck!

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Persona #1 – Content marketer

Content marketers, who usually have a marketing background, are strategists. They capitalize and build on content assets that are specifically created for a particular audience. Are you a content marketer? Answer these questions.

• Are you in the know various online and offline marketing channels?
• Do you often go to sites like Marketing Prof, Marketing Land and Content Marketing Institute?
• Do you get invites to attend marketing conferences?
• Do you prioritize high-value metrics in Google Analytics?
• Do you know Seth Godin?
• Do you understand branding and how content marketing can help boost its growth?
• Do you heavily rely on social media in promoting your contents?

Persona #2 – Data junkie

Data junkies have technical and analytical background. They tend to be logical thinkers who depend heavily on data and what they mean. They are mostly concern in creating new SEO approaches and establishing SEO best practices. Are you a data junkie? Answer these.

• Do you consume data on Google Webmasters, KISSmetrics and Searchmetrics?
• Do you prefer organic search over paid search?
• Do you often go to search marketing conferences?
• Do you mostly consider content strategy-related actions from the search perspective?
• Are you rubbing elbows with the web analytics guru?
• Do you consider white hat SEO only and nothing else?
• Do you rely on social media to determine the impact of search results visibility?

Persona #3 – Decision maker

Decision makers are often in the upper tier of the organizational chart; mostly CEOs. The main concern of decision makers is how SEO in general will affect the business’s bottom line. Decision makers make calls on the strategies implemented and should be implemented whenever needed and possible. Are you a decision maker? Answer these.

• Do you visit Forbes and the like on a daily basis?
• Are you warier about multiple marketing channels and the budget for each?
• Do you often get invited to leadership forums as a participant or speaker?
• Do you perceive marketing in general based on its relation to the overall business outcomes?
• Do you know Jim Collins?
• Do you favor business decisions that affect priority and impact?
• Do you use social media randomly?

To continue, majority of the SEO personalities are either content marketer or data junkie and only a few are a decision maker. Nevertheless, here comes another SEO persona that does all the dirty work. Such persona is like a combination of the first two personas. And that is…

Persona #4 – Content optimizer

1. Understands that an in-depth research is required in coming up with a highly informative and valuable content.
2. Understands the importance of an editorial calendar and brainstorming the contents of such calendar with other SEO staff.
3. Understands and complies with the best practices and sometimes, experiment on the impact of new approaches.
4. Understands content marketing and yet focuses equally on technical and non-technical SEO requirements.
5. Understands the balance between organic and paid search marketing.
6. Understands the need to draw insights from data on Google Analytics.
7. Understands the marriage between SEO and SEM and why they cannot be separated.

While some characteristics overlap, these are just some of the dominant personas in the global SEO industry today. Expect some more personas as offshoots of the already established one. Nonetheless, let’s end the discussion by asking can you tell which persona best fits you?

Image credit: LeadZillion.com

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Search advertising explained

In digital marketing, search advertising refers to the method of placing ads on search engine results page (SERP). Search ads usually appear at the top, beside and below the organic search results. Search advertising is possible through the advertising services offered by the search engine. A common example is Google AdWords. See below.

Search ads are highly targeted wherein Google displays the ads to match the search terms entered. Consumers can use Google, for instance, in identifying and comparing purchasing options before deciding to buy. As such, Google presents online marketers an opportunity to display ads that are tailored to the immediate buying interest of the consumer. Such targeting capabilities make search advertising more attractive for online marketers.

The study in a nutshell

As Google puts it, search advertisements are for direct response. After the study, Google confirmed that search advertising impacts brand perception and awareness. In fact, those brands that appear on displays become the top-of-mind brands among the users by 6.6 percentage points on average.

Google tested the impact on branding on different categories from automotive to retail. In the consumer packaged goods category, the percentage points are even higher (11.1 percentage points).

The meta-analysis involved 61 studies across 21 verticals, and 800 qualified consumers. Participants are shown a Test and a Control SERP with the test brand at the top position of the ad displays.

What does this mean for brand managers?

Simple. Don’t forget that users searching for a particular brand, product or service are already on a highly receptive mindset. If your brand appears at point of search, there is a strong likelihood that this user will remember your brand name. So, the more you will expose users to your brand, the more they will recall your brand.

Search listings above the fold receive most of the attention based on eye tracking studies. Good thing search ads are visually presented, so that you would know which are ads and which are organic results.

Possibly, strive to be at the ad displays above the fold. Unfortunately, brands has no control over where they will appear in the SERP (above, on the side or below). The reason for stronger recall is seeing the brand at least twice in one viewing: one on the ad display and another on the organic search. That is, if the website appears on the top 10. Nonetheless, they will still see your brand even if it doesn’t appear on the organic search.

Brand awareness increases by up to 30% when the brand appears on both ad displays and organic search compared to when the brand only appears in organic search (10%). Unless your brand is satisfied with the 10% increase in brand awareness increase, there is no need for search advertising. However, if you think your brand will benefit more with 30% increase (which it surely will) then consider doing search advertising.

With over 3 billion searches occurring on a daily basis, it is high time that you take into consideration further increasing brand awareness by appearing on ad displays. Simply, search advertising must now be included in your marketing portfolio. Integrating search advertising could be one of the most strategic decisions you will ever do for your digital marketing initiatives!

The post Search Advertising and Branding: What You Need to Know appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

Recap of Part 2:

STEP THREE – Evaluate the first impression

STEP FOUR – Determine the emotional resonance

STEP FIVE – Craft a compelling value proposition

STEP SIX – Reinforce the message through images

STEP SEVEN – Integrate social proofs and testimonials

By now, you must already have social profiles. Now, what you can do is to track brand mentions on the social web so you’d know what your target market is talking about and why they talk about your brand. Afterwards, use tools to discover which high authority websites are linking back to your landing page.

Reach out to your target market armed with the stats especially those sites that your target market deemed high authority sites. We call this implicit egoism where we naturally gravitate towards people, objects or places that provide favorable self-association.

Send emails to your users if they can give a short testimony about the brand and publish it on the landing page. This is brand advocacy that, according to study, increases awareness by 12%. Did you know 63% of the online users are more likely to purchase from a site with reviews and ratings?

STEP EIGHT – Communicate a clear call to action

A call to action (CTA) must clearly say what it actually does aside from triggering a response. The design of the CTA should contrast with the rest of the site, but still within the same aesthetic frame as the website and other marketing collateral (same color, same wording, etc.).

Treat your CTAs as the gateway to conversion. It is the culmination of all the steps discussed above. Whatever pain point they experience before coming to your landing page must be solved immediately or later, depending on the kind of solution.

STEP NINE – Check the copywriting

Read and re-read the content of the landing page. There is no such thing as ‘over-edit.’ After proofreading, read it again then ask yourself: is the content compelling enough to draw visitors to read more? Can you honestly say that it is compelling enough? Self-score the page. If it below five, you might as well consider suggestions.

Ask your friends and colleagues to conduct a simple peer review of the page. Solicit feedbacks. Remember that your visitor only has a second to decide if the site (and thus your brand) is trustworthy or not. If they decide you are, then they will naturally consume the contents of your page. If you want visitors sinking their teeth in, don’t forget the tone and mood you have already established with the headlines and images. Resonate with the visitors in the way they can relate.

STEP TEN – Start an A/B test

Create alternative landing pages and form hypotheses whether these will work too on the web or not or if they will perform better with your current landing page or the landing page that you have just created.

Documentation is a critical part of the process. Through this, you can have a record of which works and which not. Some of the ideas will end up wrong and thrown out, but at least you have a document which you can refer to from time to time.

Make the most of your time by winning customers in less than a second. Treat your landing page as a venue where you can present and pitch ideas on how can you make your customers lives better with your product and services. Create a ‘hook’ that makes your prospects get to want more. For us, optimizing landing pages is one of the few ways to tell stories that feel better every time they are told. Stronger ROI awaits those firms which can choose the best SEO provider for them.

Source: Search Engine Journal | MOZ | ConversionXL

The post Steps in Optimizing a Landing Page (Part 3) appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

Recap of Part 1:

STEP ZERO – Understand the target market

STEP ONE – Set up actionable goals

STEP TWO – Match the ad message with the landing page

STEP THREE – Evaluate the first impression

Andrew Grant said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Indeed.

Do a simple search of your best performing keywords on Google. Click on the landing pages of your competitors. No, this is not about copying what your rivals are doing with their landing pages. Observe their landing pages. Can you immediately tell the first impressions that your rivals are trying to make?

Now, compare your landing page with that of your competitors for the same keyword. How do you feel? Look at your landing page? What impression is it trying to make? Is this the same first impression that you have when you are creating the page? Your answers are important.

See, it only takes less than a second to make an impression. In fact, our brain can process images in 0.013 seconds. This means a user can form his or her opinion regarding your landing page in just 0.05 seconds! Such an opinion will inform the user whether to stay in the page or move out and proceed to the next available landing page.

Strong first impressions are the main reason why message matching is vital in creating a landing page. Also, this is the same reason there should be an apparent degree of familiarity.

STEP FOUR – Determine the emotional resonance

Apart from building a profile of who your buyers are (buyer personas), there should be emotional triggers. These emotional triggers are what will resonate with the readers of your landing page.

Emotional triggers are very different from first impressions. First impressions are about the perceived level of familiarity, at least in our context, while emotional resonance is about enhancing the familiar elements for them to build momentum, hook the user and draw him or her deeper into the landing page.

Joy, horror, shock, pleasure and surprise are just some of these emotions that you can design the page for. After picking the mood, you can start incorporating colors, fonts, images, etc. Of course, you should not deviate from the brand’s color palette.

If you haven’t had a color theme, you can refer to this as your guide. Remember that the overall mood of the landing page is mostly about the coordination of the elements on the page.

STEP FIVE – Craft a compelling value proposition

Value proposition is what sets you apart from the competition. Focus on your product and service offerings and how they can improve the quality of life when prospects use any of them.

The value proposition should directly address the target market. It should include information on what can your product or service do. Tell them why your brand is unique. Show what the direct benefits are.

After reading the dominant headline of the landing page, the user will decide whether to continue reading or not. The first question is: Can this site solve my problem? There are just two answers: YES and NO. If your site doesn’t have the solution your user is looking for, he or she will look elsewhere.

Truth hurts, but what hurts more is when your site has what the user needs and yet the user still looked elsewhere. This is the reason value propositions must be direct and precise and answer all the questions a user have in mind. When this happens, you have a higher chance at keeping the interest of the user down to the last line of the page.

STEP SIX – Reinforce the message through images

In the same way that you cannot just pick any color or font that you want, you cannot just put images onto the landing page. Speak directly to your target market by selecting, designing or capturing images that strongly reinforce the mood of the page.

Images must be representative of the brand’s target market. Beyond that, however, the goal is selling the emotional value of the product or service especially those that your customers will get post-conversion.

There are basic journalistic rules where to place images (pyramid, inverted pyramid, etc.). Nonetheless, they should be utilized to hack the user’s natural viewing pattern. Some images can be also used in directing the user to where he or she should look next.

Bonus: Landing pages may also include explainer videos only when static images and texts cannot deeply explain the benefits of your products, for instance. Explainer videos are great if the product requires demonstration to use properly.

It is rather easier to create an image-rich landing page. What is more difficult is to build a landing page that will resonate with the readers emotionally, drawing them closer to devising a favorable first impression. There lies the challenge for the optimizers.

Source: Search Engine Journal | MOZ | ConversionXL

The post Steps in Optimizing a Landing Page (Part 2) appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

STEP ZERO – Understand the target market

A major step, you need to get to know your target market. Understand their pain points. If you have to conduct surveys and interviews then so be it. You can even go the extra mile to list websites that your market is exposed to. Build a scenario of the typical online experience of your market.

Some questions worth answering are:

• Who are you?
• Why are you using our products?
• How did our products/services improve your life?
• Do you consider other products/services? Why?

The questions can uncover the recent trends in your niche that analytics cannot reveal. The biggest problem in designing landing page is they it doesn’t truly reflect who the page is for. It doesn’t directly reveal the level of online exposure the page is created for. This is the very first thing that SEO specialists must understand – the level of appeal of the landing page is not universal.

Remember that landing page design is not a game that SEO companies in the Philippines are battling to win over. Landing pages manifest themselves as opportunities to tap into the conscious decision-making of the prospects. A landing page is a venue to connect with and communicate value to the prospects. Accept that the connection is on the prospects’ terms and not yours, a necessary step in making better landing pages.

By virtue of customer development, you can devise a simple questionnaire so your landing page will resonate with the needs and wants of future traffic. This is the secret to designing a landing page that follows the expectations of the target market, thereby reducing friction it takes for a prospect to convert.

STEP ONE – Set up actionable goals

Google Analytics is an indispensable tool in the SEO world. Metrics provide actionable insights. As simple as it may seem, by analytics tend to intimidate and overwhelm even the experts. Actionable analytics are critical in creating highly-optimized landing pages. Making the most of the analytics is the secret.

Conversion goals need not be quantitative. In fact, only a few experts know the use of action-completed goals. An example is the total number of pages a user visited on your website. Google Analytics can be set up to reflect less than, equal to or greater than a specified number of page visited. Evidently, the goal is mapping out landing page conversion goals based on the performance data.

STEP TWO – Match the ad message with the landing page

Ad copies and landing pages must be synergized. If you already have landing pages, check the bounce rates on such. If the bounce rates are too high and the conversion rates are too low, then there is a message mismatch.

Next, check the ad copies directly pointing to which landing pages receiving the highest CTRs (click-through rates). Are they using the same language and voice? Are the images similar or synchronized? If NO and NO are your answers, then your landing pages are destined to fail. Apologies.

The reason? The landing pages do not correspond to the ad messages. Nine in 10 users expect the same headlines and images when they click the ad. Most feel ungrounded when they land on a totally different page. They will look for the headline that actually grabbed their attention, generally speaking.

Here’s a bonus: Users expect the same keywords to be apparent on the landing page as these are on the ad copy. As opposed to creating a landing page and having loosely targeted ads pointing to it, create targeted pages that focus on a group of related keywords.

Evidently, any digital marketer cannot do the first and second steps without a good grasp of who the target market really is. Next, we will discuss the importance of first impression, emotional resonance and value proposition.

Source: Search Engine Journal | MOZ | ConversionXL

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