Search engine marketing is one of the most cost effective ways to generate leads which is why it is so popular with small and large business alike. Below are a few best practices to building a successful search engine marketing machine.

Select Keywords that Drive Traffic

 When selecting keywords to drive prospects to your site make sure they:

• Accurately reflect the products/services being offered
• Match what your audience is looking for
• Capture a large audience without being too general

When choosing your keywords, keep in mind that customers search differently in the different stages of the buying cycle. Early in the purchasing cycle they may be looking for feature comparison information vs. later in the cycle they may want pricing information. Be sure your keywords accommodate for all stages in the sales/buying cycle.

Don’t forget to add plurals and synonyms to your keyword list. These variations are seen as new keywords by the AdWords system and could potentially bring you more targeted traffic. Also, adding them as separate keywords also lets you track the performance of each keyword separately.

Not sure where to start? Check out the keyword tool on the AdWords site:
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Write Compelling Ad Copy

One of the most important elements of writing effective ads is including your keywords in the ad title or somewhere in your ad text.  Since keywords are bolded in ad text, incorporating them in your ads will make the ad stand out even more.

You don’t have much room in the ad copy so concise communication, appearance, and style are important in getting prospects to click. Be sure to have a clear call to action in the text. Simply saying “Click here” doesn’t give the prospect any indication as to what you are going to provide, where are “More Info” or “Free Demo” is much more descriptive and will have higher click rates. 

Design Landing Pages that Convert

I’m always shocked at how many businesses out there are still driving paid search traffic directly to their homepage or to a generic product page. Designing specific pages for your search engine marketing campaigns is a must!

Keep your landing pages simple. Start with an eye-catching headline, and a very clear call to action.  Be sure to embed a web form inside the landing page so prospects know exactly what their next step is.

Also, take the time to do some A/B testing on your landing pages, the results will surprise you! Changing things like font size, color, or placement of your brand on the page can increase conversion rates by a significant amount.

Track Google AdWords ROI with Salesforce

Now that we’ve gotten these lead inside Salesforce, don’t forget to track them through the sales cycle. With pre-built dashboards you can see how your different ad groups, ad headlines and keywords are performing. And as always, you can customize the dashboards to slice and dice the information however your organization desires.

For more search engine marketing resources check out “Secrets of Search Marketing Success” Webinar that is posted on the Salesforce for Google Adwords Blog.
http://blogs.salesforce.com/adwords/2007/10/secrets-of-se-1.html