If you sell products and services to other countries, creating a foreign-language PPC campaign can be a great way of reaching out to brand new customers. According to Harvard Business Review, 72% of customers are more likely to buy with information in their own language.
If you do this, keyword research is critical. Not only are you researching keywords in a language that you may not speak, but you need to be aware of any potential issues that could result in negative publicity for your business.
With this in mind, here are some ways to carry out high-quality PPC keyword research.
Use native speakers
As tempting as it is to research your keywords in English and then run them through Google Translate, this is a bad idea. Automatic translation tools do not take slang and alternative regional terms into account.
For example, let's say you want to translate 'discussion' into Spanish. If you use Google Translate, this may translate into 'discusión'. This means to have an argument, which may change the tone of your content completely.
By using native speakers of the language, they will be aware of which words are the most appropriate.
If you use native speakers in other countries, be mindful of their time zones. They may be in bed when you are in the office!
The most common word might not be the best to use
When researching keywords in the English language, you are always looking out for the keywords that will give you the best results. The same applies to keywords in a foreign language.
For example, a typical Spanish term for car insurance is 'seguro de auto'. However, 'seguro de carros' is more frequently used by search engine users.
Take culture into account
When doing your research, be aware of any cultural issues that may cause problems with your advertising. Specific colors, words and iconography may be problematic.
For example, Friday the 13th is seen as unlucky in the English-speaking world but in Spain, Tuesday the 13th is the unlucky date.
Do your research before you pull together your keyword list and ad copy. Alternatively, ask a native language speaker for advice.
Start small
As tempting as it is to set up all your ad groups and keywords and launch them straight away, it's best to launch one ad group on its own to start. That way, you can test your keywords and make sure they work.
If your impressions, click-through rate and conversions are lower than average, you can troubleshoot the issue before you launch for real.
As an example, someone we know launched a Google Ads campaign for people in Spain. It turned out that click-through rates were low to the point of being non-existent. Upon further investigation, it turned out they had forgotten to change the location targeting to Spain!
So, when you are planning your foreign language PPC campaign, the best advice we can give you is to hire a native speaker or translation agency to do the keyword research on your behalf.
If they have experience of PPC… all the better!
If you are responsible for the digital marketing for a software as a service (SaaS) company, using PPC can be a great way to drive clicks to your website.
Here are five tips for optimizing your PPC account and ensuring a great return on investment.
1. Test your ad copy regularly
On Google Ads, it's recommended that you have at least three different ads for each ad group, two extended and one responsive search ad. This will allow you to experiment with different ad copy to see which content resonates with your prospective customers more.
We recommend A/B testing your ads on a regular basis. Create your ads, let them run and see which have the best click-through rates and conversion rates. You can then replace the worst-performing ads with new copy and repeat the process.
You can also test your ad extensions to see which additional pieces of information are most popular with search engine visitors.
2. Use SKAGs to target your campaigns
SKAGs are Single Keyword Ad Groups, when you have variations of only one keyword in each ad group. For example, you can have [open source], open source and "open source" in one ad group. This will allow you to focus your ad copy and landing page on this specific keyword.
SKAGs can take a while to set up, but they are worth the effort. One agency saw a 28% increase in click-through rate by utilizing this technique!
3. Consider remarketing display ads
If people previously visited your website, remarketing is a great way to encourage them to come back.
With remarketing, you can serve a display ad to people who visited a particular page of your website. This advert will follow them across the web, reminding them to return and convert. All you need to do is set up a remarketing list and create your display ad.
4. Consider targeting your competitor's keywords
The software market can be extremely competitive, so bidding on competitors' keywords can be an excellent way to entice customers to come on board with you.
Word of warning, this can be an expensive strategy. Your competitors will have a high quality score for their own brand name, while you will have a low quality score by comparison. This means you will end up paying more for these keywords, but if one of these customers purchases your services, the return on investment will be worth it.
5. Don't forget your website UX and UI
When prospective customers click on your ad and go to your website, you need to make sure it is easy for them to convert. Look at the usability and interface of your website to make completing tasks as easy as possible.
For example:
· Is your page copy clear and simple to understand?
· Does your page load quickly?
· Is your call to action easy to find and in a prominent as possible?
· Is your page optimized for mobile and tablet?
Follow these tips and see conversion rates for your SaaS website grow!
Automating essential tasks through the use of machine learning and AI can save several hours of time a week. Imagine bringing in brand new customers while you're working on other things!
If you're looking to automate your marketing processes, PPC is a great place to start. There is a large amount of data available that can be used to optimize your campaigns and ensure that you are getting the best value for money.
Here is our guide to the different ways you can bring automation to your PPC advertising.
Before you begin
Before you start looking into PPC automation, know what your goals are.
Do you want more brand awareness? Do you want more leads? Do you want more web visits?
Knowing your end goal will help you to choose the right automation strategy for your requirements and ensure that you don't spend money on things you don't need.
Automation with Google Ads
Google Ads has varying degrees of automation available. For example, you can:
· Use enhanced cost per click (eCPC). This will allow Google to increase or decrease your keyword bids by up to 30% in order to maximize conversions
· Use an automated bid strategy. Alongside eCPC, there are several other bid strategies you can implement. Some of them include:
o Target cost per acquisition (CPA). This strategy helps maximize your conversion rate
o Target return on ad spend (ROAS). This strategy will help maximize the money you make using Google Ads
o Target outranking share: This strategy will help you to outrank your competitors
· Create dynamic search ads. This will pull wording from your website to create ad copy that will encourage people to convert
· Create responsive search ads. This will create ad combinations from phrases and sentences you have selected. Google Ads will serve the combinations that web users respond best to
· Create dynamic display ads. This will create combinations of different wording, photos, and videos to develop enticing ads across the Google Display Network
· As well as search and display, there are also automated options in place for app installs and shopping
Even if you do have automation set up in your Google Ads account, do check in at least once a week and see that everything is working as it should.
Choosing the wrong automation strategy could result in paying too much for keywords, or a drop in conversions.
Automation with third party systems
There are many different platforms out there that can automate your PPC processes, with lots of additional features that aren't available on Google Ads.
For example, Click Report will monitor your account for potential click fraud, automatically alerting you to suspicious web visitors and duplicate click activity.
There are other platforms out there that will automate your PPC across multiple advertising platforms, meaning that you enhance your online exposure!
How will you incorporate automation into your PPC strategy?
If you have a marketing budget, you may wonder whether it is best to spend your money on PPC advertising or to improve your SEO.
Although both may have different purposes, they can be used together to improve your presence in the search engine results and encourage people to visit you.
How can you make the most of both strategies? Here are three ways you can get the best of both worlds when it comes to PPC and SEO.
What is SEO, and what is PPC?
Pay per click advertising (PPC) is when you use paid platforms like Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising to show your ads at the top of the search engines.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is when you optimize your website content so it organically appears as high in the search engines as possible. For example, you may look at adding particular keywords to your web pages, or encouraging other websites to link to yours.
Use SEO to play the long game and PPC to play the short game
SEO is an excellent way of getting your website to the top of the search engines, but it takes time. It generally takes about six months for changes you make to take effect.
On the other hand, PPC allows you to automatically get to the top of the search engine results as long as you are willing to pay for the privilege.
This means you can use both marketing strategies to your advantage. Use PPC in the short term to get eyes on your page. After a while, SEO will take effect, and organic traffic will start to roll in.
Use PPC to power your SEO strategy
PPC can provide you with a wealth of data that you can use to determine what prospective customers want to see on your website.
For example, take a look at your search terms report to see what people are looking for. If there are a lot of people searching for specific search terms, you can look at adding new content to your website.
Use SEO to get people to your site, and PPC to bring them back
Remarketing is a great strategy that incorporates both SEO and PPC.
It works like this. You write great SEO-optimized content that gets visitors to your website. You then set up a remarketing strategy on your PPC channel of choice to serve a display ad to visitors, reminding them of your site. This encourages them to come back to your site and convert.
Most people won't convert on your website on the first attempt. In fact, according to HubSpot, customers go through nine points of contact before they eventually make a purchase. Remarketing will help get prospective customers back to your site sooner.
In conclusion, you don't have to choose one over the other. Implementing a strong PPC and SEO strategy into your marketing mix will help your business become more efficient, and result in a better return on investment.