
Hi there. In this video, you’ll learn why relevance is so important for search engine marketing campaigns. We’re also going to look at the structure of
SEM
campaigns, and show you how to build your campaigns in a way that helps you achieve that relevance. Ready to be one step closer to
SEM
success? Alright, let’s get started.
So why is it so important to have relevant ads when advertising on a search engine?
Well think about it from a user’s perspective. When someone does a search they’re looking for something very particular - and the links they click are going to be those that most closely match what they’re looking for. So having relevant ads helps users click your ads instead of the competition’s.
Now relevance is important to search engines - After all, it’s their job is to find relevant results for people’s queries, and this includes finding relevant ads.
In fact search engines reward relevant ads with higher positions on the search results page. And if your ads are more relevant than your competitors’, you might be able to get the same amount of traffic for a lower price.
So you can see how important it is to have relevant ads. But how do you achieve this relevance?
Well let’s do a search for wedding photographer, and take a look at some of the ads that appear.
Here we have three.
The first headline says Wedding Photographer, followed by information about pricing and selection. This ad is extremely relevant, because the headline matches our search, plus it has plenty of useful information.
The second headline says Candid Wedding Photoshoot. It includes some information about the types of wedding photo packages this business offers. This ad is fairly relevant, but less than the first because the headline doesn’t precisely reflect the search. As a whole, search engines might consider this ad less relevant.
The third headline says Wedding Photograph, but appears to be an ad for a site that sells posters. That’s not relevant to what we were searching for.
Now besides looking at your ad copy, search engines also consider the first web page people see after they click on an ad. This is called the landing page. And just as your ad should be relevant to the words a person just searched for, your landing page should be relevant to the ad a person just clicked on. For example, if you’re a photographer and someone clicks on your wedding photographer ad, you want them to land on a page that’s about your wedding services - not your baby photography.
Makes sense, right? Great, let’s move on.
Now let’s look at ways you can structure your
SEM
campaigns to achieve greater relevance.
Think of your
SEM
plan as an upside-down tree. At the top is your account, which you create with Google AdWords, Bing Ads, or another search engine.
Within the account are campaigns. Each campaign controls important decisions, like the daily budget, the areas or countries where ads can appear, and the advertising networks you want to use.
Within each campaign, you can create multiple ad groups. These are collections of keywords and the ads that go with them.
Structuring your account in this organised way helps ensure you show the most relevant ads to your audience.
Let’s go through another example with the photographer to bring this to life.
Imagine you’re the photographer, and you specialise in various types of photography. Let’s say weddings, baby photos and family portraits. Each of these specialities contain different products, so you decide to split them into separate campaigns.
Within each campaign, your next move is to create ad groups for each type of product. For example, within your wedding photographer campaign, you might create ad groups for engagement photos, bridal portraits, candid wedding photos, and more.
Within your baby photos ad group, you add keywords that someone would search for. For example, keywords like baby photography or newborn photos. Now you can write an ad that corresponds to the keywords, like:
Baby Photography
We Take Beautiful Newborn Photos
Affordable Rates, Book Now!
If someone searched for your keyword baby photography,this would be a relevant ad!
To sum up: No matter what type of business you have, your
SEM
campaigns should have a solid, well-thought-out structure.
By dividing your products or services into separate campaigns and ad groups, you can show ads that help customers find exactly what they’re searching for— which is win-win for everyone.
Key learnings
- how SEM campaigns are structured
- how to use that structure to achieve relevance
- the benefits you’ll get by focusing on relevance.