It seems not a week goes by that we don’t field a call from a worried client who has realised that a competitor is trumping them in search results. While most of these calls tend to relate to organic or free traffic on websites, there is a growing number of our valued Dmac customers reporting their competitors are ranking higher than them on their branded search terms and loosing would be customers to competitors pay per click (Adwords) campaigns.
Let’s start off by explaining what I mean by branded terms. Take ourselves, Dmac Media, as an example. We’d like to believe that our brand has become instantly recognisable to our customers. However people who are not yet our clients may be unfamiliar with us, but may have a small inkling about who we are, what we are about and our services. So let’s say someone searches for “Dmac Media
Website Designers”.
You’ll notice I have highlighted the words “Web Design.” The likelihood is that our competitors will have included the keywords “web design” in their own pay per click campaigns as they will want to be found when someone searches for “Web Design Company” or “Website Designers”. In turn their paid ad has the potential to serve above our own organic or free result and effectively hijack potential customers.
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Branded Search - Paid Ads drive Organic Result Down the Page[/caption]
So, we then have to put ourselves in our customer’s shoes. If we were researching a list of
Web Design providers and a very compelling ad promoting a discount or intriguing call to action, the likelihood is we are going to click on it and become distracted and possibly never return to our initial search.
Now if your business can afford to let customers choose a competitor at the final hurdle, stop reading now. The reality however, is most businesses can’t. Lost enquiries lead to lost revenue, and without revenue where would we be?
The solution – running a small, low budget branded adwords campaign serving on your branded search terms i.e. Search terms that include your brand name.
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Branded Ad Campaigns ensure your customers find you.[/caption]
When we say low budget, we really mean low budget. For most small and medium enterprises in Ireland the volume of branded terms is quite minimal, meaning costs are kept low. Adwords has its very own signals for determining what ads to show and how much to charge called Quality Score. Brand based campaigns drive quality scores up thanks to the following three elements which your competitor won’t be able to rival.
1 – Ad Relevancy to Keywords
2 – Expected Click Through Rate
3 – Landing Page Experience
For branded adwords campaigns, getting a 10/10 quality score should prove to be no trouble at all. Are your ads relevant to the keywords chosen? Well yes, because the individuals are searching for your brand and in turn are being shown your ad. This also drives up your expected click through rate. Finally, ticking the boxes for landing page experience such as high page-speed, limited pop ups, easy navigation and good links then your well on your way to Branded Adwords Success.
