Keyword marketing has become a huge part of the Online Marketing industry, allowing search engine owners to charge per-click premiums based on the combination of keywords that your industry finds the most responsive. Companies find themselves bidding for clicks on these keywords directly against the competition, driving up the cost per click. Getting a handle on the life expectancy, conversion return, and market reach of your keywords can help keep your advertising costs down.
Life Expectancy
You may pay for your ad to be placed on certain keywords in a search engine, but you don’t own those words. You’re buying a set number of impressions or clicks related to those keywords depending on your budget. It’s in the search engine company’s best interest to return as many clicks from those keywords as possible over the shortest duration possible. Even when you’re purchasing impressions instead of clicks, the life span of your paid advertising can sometimes be measured in minutes. If your ads are in high demand, consider purchasing smaller impression blocks and matching them with targeted, time-sensitive advertising efforts that will maximize both exposure and conversions.
Conversions vs Click-Throughs – There is a difference
A conversion is essentially an action that a visitor took when they visited your page. It might be filling in an enquiry form, purchasing an e-book or downloading a report. Using call tracking software, it might be making a phone call. Click throughs or ‘Clicks’ on your ads are merely representative of a visitor on the page. Given advertisers have both sets of data it is much more useful to measure the campaign based on conversions rather than solely clicks.
Reaching the Market
Search engines only generate results from the market that is actually using that search engine. Placing your ads with the right search query will help to bolster the validity of your results and generate more effective responses. Once again, the emphasis is not on the overall reach of the search engine, but on the ability of the search engine to place your brand in front of the right consumers. Placing your brand in front of the right market means learning about advertising patterns and matching your key word placement to the behavior of the consumers. Search results that place your ads in front of the wrong audience make you pay for wasted advertising.
