Not doing the right thing: What Google’s changes mean for your business Ben Gutkin VP Marketing Services Warm Thoughts Communications Google. God bless ‘em. In February, Google once again shook the search engine snow globe, making changes to its Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) that have big implications for your online marketing strategy. Knowing how to respond to these changes could make or break your online marketing campaigns— and possibly your business. What changed, and what it means for you The SERP no longer shows ads on the right hand side. Your desktop or laptop search now looks the same as your mobile search—a completely vertical column. The changes Google made— removing “right rail” ads from SERPs on its desktop platform and showing four rather than three ads at the top of SERPs—seem innocent enough. However, consider the implications of the changes: Less available real estate means more cut-throat competition for top-of-the-page paid search results, which will make the most desirable AdWords more expensive than ever. It also means that organic listings will be pushed farther down, even further reducing the likelihood they will be seen. The bottom line: your online competition just got tougher and now, more than ever, you need to get your internet marketing strategy right. Four Keys to Success Warm Thoughts manages more than 70 websites and has executed hundreds of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns. In our experience, to come out on top in the leaner, meaner search engine world, you should follow these three strategies: 1. Raise your AdWords Quality Score Having a high quality score (QS) means that Google’s systems think your ad and landing page are useful to their customers—users who have searched on keywords that are relevant to your business. (Google created the QS to prevent irrelevant sites with big budgets from hoarding choice keywords). If you have a high quality score, you’ll rank well on organic searches. How do you improve your quality score? Understanding how online marketing works—particularly for your industry—is crucial. QS success comes from matching the keywords, text ads and landing pages to create a positive experience for the user. Having keyword-rich content on your site is critical. 2. Button down your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) SEO was always important, but with competition rising for prime SERP real estate, and Google’s inevitable intertwining of organic and paid results, it’s more important than ever. To win the SERP game, you need to know not only what keywords people are using to find your business, but also how to place those keywords so a search engine can find them (hint: there’s more to it than just writing keyword-rich copy). If your keywords aren’t executed properly on your site, Google will more than likely pass it by. 20 ICM/July/August 2016
ICM July-August 2016
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