SEM – Leveraging Paid Search

If SEO is the secret to organic search success, SEM is just as important to paid search results.

Paid search accounts for nearly 50% of all online advertising budgets. Text ads are a huge part of SEM, and Google AdWords is the most commonly used online advertising venue. Tools to make SEM easier are the key to success, and Google makes it easy with their vast array of tools designed to make implementing Adwords into your campaign successful, such as Google Analytics, Website Optimizer and Conversion Optimizer.

Outside AdWords are a lot more tools, however. The Google External Keyword Tool (Google Help Center) allows anyone to search volume and trends on keywords, giving SEMs the data they need to formulate a confident campaign.

Advanced tips from the Google Help Center include:

# Find keywords based on your site content. Instead of entering your own keywords, try using the Website Content option. It lets you enter the URL of your business website, or of any site related to your business. The AdWords system will then scan your page and then suggest relevant keywords. (This feature is available only in some languages.)

# Create new, separate ad groups with similar keywords. We recommend creating several ad groups in each campaign, each with a small, narrowly-focused set of similar keywords. Use the Keyword Tool to discover relevant keywords, then divide them into lists of 5 to 20 similar terms. See examples of ad groups promoting a single product or service and multiple products or services.

# Identify negative keywords. The Keyword Tool can show you off-topic keywords that users may be thinking about. Suppose you sell cut flowers and you give the Keyword Tool the keyword ‘flowers.’ It may suggest the related term ‘gardens,’ and you may want to add that term to your ad group as a negative keyword. That will keep your ad from showing on searches for ‘flower gardens’ or similar terms. This helps make sure only interested customers see your ads.

# Find synonyms – or not. The Use synonyms box in the Descriptive words or phrases option is always checked by default. (This means it might suggest ‘bed and breakfast’ as a synonym for the keyword ‘hotel.’) If you uncheck the box, the tool will suggest only keywords that contain at least one of the terms that you entered.

# Specify a language and location. If you’re using the Keyword Tool while signed in to your account, you may see an option to tailor results to a particular location and language. If you happen to be targeting Spanish speakers who live in France, make sure you set the Keyword Tool to that language and location.

# Start broad and then get specific. Try broad terms like ‘flowers’ in the Keyword Tool first. Then try specific terms like ‘red roses’ or ‘miniature cactus.’

The Google Search Based Keyword Tool generates keyword and landing page ideas using your website as inspiration. Insights for Search shows you search volume pinpointing interest over time for your terms, and

* A breakdown of how the categories are classified
* Lists of the top searches and top rising searches
* A world heat map graphically displaying the search volume index with defined regions, cities, and metros

Google Trends allows comparison of to five topics and  how often they’ve been searched on Googleor how frequently they have appeared in Google News stories.

Google Ad Preview Tool (APT) enables viewing of ads as they would appear on a regular Google search results page, without accruing extra impressions.

Google Traffic Estimator (Google Help Center) ballparks keyword search traffic and cost estimates at a glance. This is now available outside the AdWords platform, accessible even without an AdWords account.

Google Ad Planner is another great tool; it

* Define audiences by demographics and interests.
* Search for websites relevant to your audience.
* Access aggregated statistics on the number of unique visitors, page views, and other data for millions of websites from over 40 countries.
* Create lists of websites where you’d like to advertise and store them in a media plan.
* Generate aggregated website statistics for your media plan.

Google Alerts (Google Help Center) sends out email updates of the latest relevant Google results  based on choice of query or topic; ‘News’, ‘Web’, ‘Blogs’, ‘Comprehensive’, ‘Video’ and ‘Groups are allowed to let webmasters keep an eye on the competition and buzz and current search trends.