BUSTED: 5 Search Engine Marketing Myths

By Blane Vik

I was recently discussing the pros and cons of Pay–Per–Click (PPC) advertising with a dealer, and I realized that there are a lot of myths about Search Engine Marketing (SEM) out there. By the end of our conversation, we were both surprised by how many of the following five myths he believed to be true.

How many of the following five myths do you think are true and, more importantly, how many have you been following in your SEM campaigns?

Myth #1 – Keywords: The broader, the better.

THE TRUTH: Too many dealers focus on using broad, generic keywords like “lawn mower” or “chain saw.” Using keywords like these will drive a lot of traffic to your website, but they won’t generate qualified clicks and, ultimately, many buyers.

The best searches are local and specific. When compiling a list of keywords for your campaign, in addition to using generic keywords, you should use specific keywords (“Toro Lawn Mowers Springfield Illinois”), as well as long–tail keyword phrases (“Cub Cadet RZT S Zero Turn Riders). The more modifiers you add to your keywords, the more targeted your clicks. Using specific and long–tail keyword phrases also opens the door for you to dominate your markets because competition for specific keywords isn’t as tight and, as a result, is more affordable. Plus, the clicks they generate are more qualified and have a higher conversion rate. It’s also a good practice to use a variety of keyword match types – broad, phrase and exact. Broad match keywords will provide the most traffic and exact match the fewest; however, using the exact match type will result in more targeted traffic.

Myth #2 – Set it and forget it.

THE TRUTH: This is a common myth when it comes to PPC. Most dealers don’t have the time to constantly make adjustments to their PPC campaigns, but they should. Just as you make changes to your website to keep it current and representative of what is going on at your dealership, you should make changes to your PPC campaigns. Competition comes and goes, which will affect your ad positioning. Your business changes season to season. In spring and summer, you focus on lawn care equipment; in winter, you switch to snow removal products. What specials are you running? Spring Tune–up Special? End–of–season Winterization and Storage? Are you having a customer appreciation event? Are you introducing a new product line? The list goes on and on.

Myth #3 – Being first is best.

THE TRUTH: Many dealers assume that the top position is what they should strive for — at least until they experience sticker shock when they find out how much it takes to be — and stay — at the top. Instead, you should shoot for the No. 3 or No. 4 spot. Contrary to what many believe, consumers don’t have to scroll down far on the first page of results to see the third or fourth paid ad. That means you don’t have to pay a premium for the first position to guarantee a high click–through rate. By targeting the No. 3 or No. 4 spot, you can save money and still get excellent results. For example, with a budget of $500 per month, you will likely see 100,000 impressions that generate 1,000 clicks a month. That’s only $.50 per click to generate 1,000 potential buyers!

Myth #4 – Driving traffic to my home page is good enough.

THE TRUTH: In this mobile world, consumers demand instant access to information. If they can’t find what they’re looking for within three clicks, they move on to the next website. That’s why it’s important that when a consumer clicks on your ad, you direct them to a page on your website that most closely matches their original search, not your home page. For example, if your PPC ad is for Toro Lawn Mowers, anyone who clicks on your ad should be taken immediately to the Toro product page at a minimum and, if possible, to the page featuring lawn mowers. No extra clicks, no endless navigation on your website to find what they’re searching for.

Myth #5 – No need for PPC when I have good Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

THE TRUTH: There’s a good reason why combining SEO and PPC is the way to go. Research shows that 60 percent of consumers will bypass paid advertising and click on organic results. Why miss out on the 40 percent that click on paid listings? Even if your website has high organic rankings for your most popular keywords, utilizing PPC will allow your website to show up twice on the first page of the search engine results — once in the paid ad area and once in the organic area! PPC also allows you to target keywords on your website that are producing high organic search engine rankings. (More about SEO in next month’s article.)

Research shows that 87 percent of search engine users don’t navigate beyond the first page of results on Google, Yahoo, Bing or other search engines. Investing in Search Engine Marketing is essential to drive new, qualified traffic to your website and store. Used correctly, PPC advertising will get you noticed and ensure that buyers, who are looking for the very products you sell, find your website.

 Blane Vik is Search Engine Marketing Manager at ARI, a provider of technology-enabled business solutions for dealers, distributors and manufacturers in the outdoor power equipment, powersports, automotive tire and wheel, marine, RV and white goods industries. Products and services include eCommerce-enabled websites, lead generation, lead management, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, and eCatalogs (parts, garments, and accessories). Vik can be reached at vik@arinet.com or (414) 973-4346. For more information, visit www.arinet.com.