Targeting Usage Demographics to Increase Paid Search Conversions
During conversations with web business professionals about pay-per-click search engines, "traffic volume" is always a hot topic. Over the last year or so, Google Adwords has emerged as the pay-per-click (PPC) search engine most enamored for driving "traffic volume". Indeed, with Google Adwords providing paid listings for Google Search, the #1 search engine in the world, as well as American Online (e.g. AOL), Ask Jeeves and MySearch.com, the fourth, fifth, and seventh spots, respectively, for the most popular search engines per a 2004 study by Neilson/NetRatings, it deserves strong recognition. However, successful web marketers understand that "driving traffic volume" is only a means to an end - the "end" being website conversion. Website conversion is when a visitor takes action (ideally your most wanted action) on your website after clicking through your ad. It is important because it leads to financial results for your web business and generates a return on your advertising spend (ROAS). Every web business consists of unique characteristics created by their market demographics, psychographics and product/service benefits. A PPC search engine that generates visitors who convert well for one web business may fail miserably for another. Therefore, when developing your PPC strategy consider the search engines' "usage demographics." Usage demographics are the profiles of Internet users who prefer one search engine over others based on their perceived functionality, content, and search result placement and relevance. By understanding usage demographics for the search engines Google Adwords and Overture supply paid listings to, a web marketer can develop a relevant message and target an ad placement that most effectively connects and converts their most qualified buyers. Although Google Adwords and Overture's partner networks consist of thousands of content and search-based websites, the highest percentage of their traffic originates from the five most popular search engines. Among these, Google Adwords supplies paid listings (i.e. Sponsored Results or Listings) to Google Search, Ask Jeeves and American Online (AOL) while Overture supplies Yahoo! and MSN. Below are the primary search engine usage demographics to consider when developing your PPC strategy: A. Gender: Male versus Female A May 2004 study by Hitwise showed that "55% of women prefer MSN Search while a majority of men favor Google Search". Yahoo! Search was split even on gender with a greater focus on people 18-34 in age. A 2004 MarketingSherpa study indicated that MSN's user profile consisted of time-limited, married females who searched less frequently yet performed greater e-commerce searches. While Google Search was favored by professional males who performed greater news, media, entertainment and education searches with a lesser intent to purchase. For AOL and Ask Jeeves, AOL is favored by women with less buying intent than MSN Search while Ask Jeeves is preferred by children. Furthermore, an April 2004 iProspect study uncovered that, "women found paid ads to be more relevant than men did when searching across Google, Yahoo!, MSN and AOL." These statistics are startling when considering their influence on your PPC strategy since women represent roughly 75% of major household purchases and as stated in a Women.com study, control 80% of all purchasing decisions. B. Relevancy: Paid versus Organic Listings Another usage demographic to consider for your PPC strategy is "perceived relevancy" of paid versus organic listings. Ads perceived as having greater relevancy lead to higher website conversions. The iProspect study referenced earlier also discovered that "Internet users are more likely to click on an organic search link on Google, and a paid search result on MSN." Organic listings on Yahoo! were considered 61% more relevant than paid listings while AOL was split 50/50. C. Age: Young versus Adult versus Seniors A third usage demographic to review is age. Preferences among the top five search engines are fairly mixed among age groups; Yahoo! is a strong favorite with 18-34 year olds; while MSN and AOL have a stronger preference among the 35-55+ age group. As stated earlier, AskJeeves is favored by teens and adolescents which is growing in their buying power within American households as stated in a recent BusinessWeek research study. So what does this all mean for your PPC strategy? First, it is highly recommended to run Google Adwords and Overture campaigns concurrently using keyword-level tracking systems to determine which PPC search engine generates the most cost effective and best converting visitors. Usage data generated from your website is the best market research. Second, consider your writing style. By understanding the common characteristics of your customers and writing PPC ads best suited to the search engine's usage demographics, you will increase your probability of connecting with your audience and improving your website conversion. Also make special note that women have a stronger propensity to buy AND a higher "perceived relevance" for paid listings on MSN Search. Third, although Google Adwords accesses a larger traffic pool, Overture's partner network, mainly MSN Search, has the highest perceived relevancy for paid listings and the highest propensity for purchasing. Although counter-intuitive to current conventional thinking, Overture may deliver better "converting visitors" than Google Adwords. In closing, a greater focus on the search engines' usage demographics when writing your PPC ads, targeting PPC channels and developing corresponding landing pages will enable your marketing strategy to ultimately achieve stronger financial results for your web business. Kevin Gold is a writer, speaker and co-founder of Enhanced Concepts, Inc. Enhanced Concepts specializes in turning website visitors into leads or sales through web conversion strategies and ROI-driven search engine marketing. If you want to increase your leads or sales and get, a free copy of "Understanding Your Conversion Rate" and "12 Surefire Ways to Increase Your Website Conversion" visit http://www.enhancedconcepts.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Articles and Adsense Google Adsense is a hot topic in the Internet Marketing arena these day's and rightfully so. Adsense is drastically increasing the income generated from content driven websites. Profit from Adsense with Adwords Here's a feisty trick where you can profit from Adsense with the use of Adwords. First you need to find a high paying keyword. PPC Search Engines Revealed - 5 Things You Need to Know The pay per click (PPC) search engines have created a new way for websites to advertise and increase traffic to their sites and it is very affordable. There are a variety of things about PPC search engines you should know so read the following suggestions and educate yourself on PPC advertising. Seven Tips To Getting The Nost From Your Google Ad Word Investment With Google Ad Words . . MSN PPC Advertising Behavioral and Demographic Targeting: Killer App. or Achilles Heel? Examining the failures of the web content design of many enormous consumer corporations.When you think of the world's most successful businesses, what names come to mind? Most likely, consumer-oriented giants such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Sheraton, Disney, IBM, General Electric, and IBM. The One Simple Trick That Can Double Your Adsense Revenue I've been working with Google's Adsense program for a while now. If you're not already in the program, why not take a look at it now at https://www. Adsense or Affiliate Programs? As my sites get more and more search engine traffic, I am faced with trying to figure out how to best monetize my traffic. I am currently using mainly Google Adsense ads, but since I have added more affiliate programs to pages that are getting traffic I am noticing a very nice increase in my monthly income. Maximise Your AdSense Earnings As a blog or site owner, you can make some cash with Google's AdSense pretty easily. To maximise your potential earnings, here are some tips that may help you: 1. Pay Per Click Advertising Can Be Very Risky Business Click fraud is an unfortunate byproduct of the pay per click advertising business. Many people with an online business spend large amounts of money on pay per click advertising only to discover that many of the people clicking on their ads weren't really interested in their products or services. Is Pay Per Click your Best Marketing Bet? You may already have heard of this method to get people to your web site. From my point of view and experience it turns out to be expensive and you have to write the ads yourself, pay for them, and change and maintain them to be the correct ones to work and be the right price in competition with many others. How to Boost Your Adsense Revenue? By using this tutorial you will learn how to increase web traffic and click-through rates. In short you can increase your Adsense income by increasing Impressions, Click-through and Effective CPM. AdWords Campaign Set Up Tips It's easy to overlook the basics of a strong AdWords campaign. Without them though, your AdWords campaign can be doomed from the very start. Irresistible Click-Me Tools for Marketing Never mind the irritating, but effective, pop-up window. There is another type of interruption advertising that is much more subtle, much less annoying, and just as effective. Click Fraud - Threatening the Internet Economy One of the most popular forms of Internet advertising is pay-per-click (PPC). Merchants place ads with search engines like Google or MSN and the ad appears whenever someone enters a relevant search. Disguise Your ClickBank Affiliate Links Using Status-bar Faking Many surfers are savvy enough to identify ClickBank affiliate links, simply by glancing at their browser's status-bar before clicking. The status-bar reveals the familiar ClickBank hoplink URL, which frequently alerts the surfer that an affiliate referral is about to take place. Another Advantage To Pay-Per-Click Marketing Web marketing has taken on many different shapes during the last 5 years. It has gone from banner advertising to e-mail campaigns, and now we are in the age of pay-per-click systems like Overture and Google Adwords. AdSense Secrets - Joel Comms Google AdSense Guide Reviewed Joel Comm is the best-selling author of a book called "What Google Never Told You About Making Money with AdSense!"Some may wonder why Google never told you these AdSense secrets, but the reality is that Google tightly controls & denies their publishers from sharing specific click through, page views, and other internal metrics. It's probably a good thing that Google controls this data as it stops a whole series of events that would only cost time to contain. Advertising And Generate New WebSite Traffic Here's a simple way to use "No Results, No Pay" radio advertising and build traffic for your website.Step #1 - Understanding "PI" - Per Inquiry Advertising. 5 Critical Pay-Per-Click Tips Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a good supplement to natural search engine optimization, IF you keep a few tactics straight.1. Buying Your Way to the Top with Pay Per Click Advertising Imagine if you could advertise ONLY to people who have actually expressed an interest in doing business with you? That's basically what happens whenever a prospective customer or client types a phrase into a search engine that's relevant to your business. But how do search engines decide which sites are worthy of top placement in their search results? It turns out that some of the results are ranked by the search engine's computers while others are simply paid advertisements from companies willing to buy their way to the top using Pay Per Click Advertising.
|
Copyright © 1998-2007 All rights reserved.