Often, companies simply do not put enough thought into the keywords that they are using, whether it is on their onsite content or on the ads that they are using for ecommerce marketing. They keep working on their campaigns with the same tactics and keywords, never realizing just how useless it might be for them. The cost for every sale that they make keeps going up and they simply aren’t getting the return on their investment that they need. It’s important to realize that pay per click ads aren’t meant to build your brand. They are supposed to sell products.
Once you really take the goals of selling to heart, it can be easier to find the right keywords that will actually help sell your products and business. Here are some tips that can help you get onto the right path with your ecommerce marketing.
Know Your Competitors
What are your competitors using in terms of their ads? You want to look at the good and the bad of what they are doing and learn from it. What meta tags are they using in their search results? What keywords and phrases are they using in their ads? You do not necessarily want to copy what they are doing, but you want to learn from it so you can find ways to make your products stand apart from theirs, thus garnering a stronger hold in your niche. Researching competitors is nothing new, and in the online world it is simply easier to do.
Evaluate Your Keywords
As you are coming up with your own list of keywords for your online ads, be sure to use keyword tools, such as those from Google, to gain actual insight into those words. Learn how popular they are and what the competition is for those words. One of the mistakes that many companies make is choosing words and phrases that are simply far too common. They make no effort to differentiate them from other ads, and thus they are lost in the shuffle. You need to narrow your list of keywords and focus on the ones that represent your products and niche the best.
Get Help from the Outside
Sometimes, it is difficult to see the forest for the trees. If you aren’t a good marketer, but you have a good business, seek outside help. Having another company step in to help with your marketing, including developing your keywords and taking over for your Internet marketing, can be a good idea. However, you don’t want to use the words that people rarely search for, either, even though the price of using them on pay-per-click ads might be cheaper. You need to strike a balance so you can stand out from the competitors and still find enough of your audience to get a good ROI on your ads.
One of the ways to do this is by being more specific with your ads. Here’s a very simple example, but it will give you a good idea of where you need to focus and what you need to do. If you sell luxury watches for example, the term luxury watches would likely have many results. Narrow that down by creating an ad for “luxury women’s watches”. You could narrow it down further by creating an ad with the keyword “luxury diamond women’s watches”, and you could even add a brand name if you like.
You also need to understand that keyword popularity can change. Just because a certain keyword might work well for your ads today doesn’t mean it will be a good option six months from now. You need to be flexible enough to make changes as needed.