Search marketing: the importance of signposting your website

The web is a competitive marketplace where brands face fierce competition to gain the attention of consumers. Building an exciting and engaging website is of course a crucial step in gaining brand awareness but all too often once the build has been completed, brands forget that they still need to attract visitors. Building a website without a search marketing campaign in place is the online equivalent of building a shop in a back alley and then forgetting to put a street sign in place to direct potential customers. You simply wouldn't do it in the physical world, so don't make the mistake in the digital one.

One of the most effective ways to direct potential customers to your website is to ensure it is prominent on the first page of search results related to your service/product. This can be done organically through SEO practices (where Google's algorithms do all the work) and also through a paid search marketing campaign - also known as pay per click or PPC. Implemented correctly, PPC can be an efficient and cost effective way to drive traffic and increase sales. Just make sure you get the basics in place first.

It's a matter of 'pull', not 'push'

The first important thing to remember is that PPC is a 'pull' not a 'push' marketing technique. You're tapping into demand that already exists, you're are not trying to persuade people to buy a certain product or service they've never heard of, but rather you're responding to their request and trying to persuade then that you're the best solution for their need. A 'searching' consumer is already engaged in purchase process - meaning they are more likely to convert into a sale. This is very different to buying a page ad in a magazine where most viewers aren't in buying mode for your product. With this in mind, it is important that you spend time thinking about the types of searches that fit your offering (keywords) and then create meaningful adverts that demonstrate to the consumer that you a) understand their request b) have the necessary product available to buy

The keywords you choose are those that you bid on in the competitive Google auction - so the more popular the word, the more you will pay for it. For example, if you are selling hi-tech consumer products, the price of keywords such as 'DVD player' and 'Smartphone' will be high but the price of technical specifications (e.g. '1080p resolution') will be considerably less. Consumers bidding on the more technical queries are also more likely to have done all their research and will now be looking to purchase - the smart money is therefore to bid on these keywords which are lower cost and higher converters because of their higher purchase intent.

With the correct keywords in place, you have the foundation for a profitable search marketing campaign which will ensure your website starts to bring in the revenue for which it was built.

*Forward3D is an award-winning agency that specialises in fully integrated online solutions.