11.14: Advantages and challenges

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There are many reasons why search advertising can be an excellent addition to any digital marketing strategy.

No to low cost barrier

You pay only for traffic, there are usually no setup fees involved, and all the tools you need to start out with can be accessed for free.

Tracking every cent

Search advertising allows you to track your advertising spend down to a keyword level, so you can learn what works and what doesn’t on a micro scale.

Targeted advert placement

You can make your advertising relevant by using filters, targeting your ads to specific users, or even in the way you use keywords and match types.

You’re giving your customers what they want

Search advertising lets you put your advert in front of users who are searching for your product. It lets you provide a solution, as opposed to creating an interruption.

Search advertising campaigns are quick to set up, can provide high volumes of traffic, and are highly trackable. But there are some pitfalls that you should be aware of.

Click fraud

Click fraud occurs when your advert is clicked on by users who are not legitimate potential customers. Because an advertiser has to pay for every click, sometimes unscrupulous competitors can click on the advert to force the payment. There are even automated bots that can click on adverts, costing advertisers millions.

Search engines have taken measures to combat this and click fraud is no longer widely prevalent. Advertisers can report suspected click fraud, and the search engines will refund invalid or fraudulent clicks after investigation.

What can you do? Keep an eye on your campaign. Any sudden leap in CTR should be investigated, and you should pay particular attention to see if the conversion rate drops, which would indicate potential fraud. Pause the campaign if you suspect fraud, and alert the search engine.

Bidding wars and climbing CPCs

High-traffic keywords are expensive, and the battle to stay on top means that the CPC of these keywords is escalating. Convincing yourself that it’s number one or nothing can result in burning through your campaign budget quickly with nothing to show for it.

Keep focused on your campaign goals and ROI, and keep investigating to find less expensive niche keywords that work for you.

Keeping an eye on things

Search advertising campaigns require a lot of monitoring and the bigger your campaign gets the more time this takes. Search advertising can provide a fantastic ROI, but you need to check in and tweak regularly to make sure that it continues to perform for you.