5 Common SEM Mistakes That Reduce Conversion Rates

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is an essential tool in the digital marketer’s arsenal. While effective SEM strategies can drive more traffic to your website and increase conversion rates, making mistakes in your approach can have the opposite effect. This blog post will discuss five common SEM mistakes that could be reducing your conversion rates and how to avoid them.

Ignoring Negative Keywords
One of the most common SEM mistakes is overlooking the importance of negative keywords. Negative keywords are those that you do not want your ads to show up for. They help filter out irrelevant traffic, ensuring that your ads only appear to potential customers who are genuinely interested in your products or services.

Failing to use negative keywords can result in your ads being shown to people who have no intention of converting. This not only increases your cost-per-click (CPC) but also reduces your conversion rates.

To avoid this, make sure you regularly update and maintain a list of negative keywords. Conduct thorough keyword research and identify search terms that are irrelevant to your business or that attract low-quality traffic.

Not Testing Ad Copy
Testing your ad copy is essential to find the optimal message that resonates with your target audience. Without testing different variations, you may never know if your ad copy is truly as effective as it could be.

A common mistake is creating only one version of an ad copy and assuming it will perform well. Instead, create multiple versions of your ad copy, experimenting with different headlines, descriptions, and calls-to-action (CTAs). Use A/B testing to determine which ad copy performs the best, and continuously optimize your ads based on the results.

Overlooking Landing Page Experience
The landing page is where your visitors arrive after clicking on your ad. A poor landing page experience can lead to high bounce rates and low conversion rates, negating the impact of your SEM efforts.

Here are some common landing page mistakes that can hinder your conversion rates:

  • Slow page load times: Visitors are likely to abandon your page if it takes too long to load. Optimize your landing page for speed by compressing images, minifying code, and using a content delivery network (CDN).
  • Inconsistent messaging: Ensure that your landing page message aligns with your ad copy. If visitors are promised a specific offer in the ad but can’t find it on the landing page, they may leave without converting.
  • Poor design and user experience: A clean, easy-to-navigate design is crucial for a positive user experience. Make sure your CTA is clear and prominent, and that your page is mobile-responsive.

Setting the Wrong Bidding Strategy
Your bidding strategy plays a crucial role in the success of your SEM campaigns. Choosing the wrong strategy can lead to increased costs and decreased conversion rates.

There are several bidding strategies available, including cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM), and cost-per-acquisition (CPA). Each strategy has its advantages and is suited to different campaign objectives.

To determine the best bidding strategy for your campaign, consider your goals, budget, and competition. If your primary objective is to drive conversions, consider using a CPA bidding strategy. If you’re more focused on brand awareness, a CPM strategy might be more suitable.

Failing to Monitor and Optimize Campaigns
SEM campaigns require ongoing monitoring and optimization to maintain their effectiveness. Neglecting this aspect can result in reduced conversion rates and wasted ad spend.

Monitor your campaigns closely to identify areas for improvement. Track key performance indicators (KPIs) like click-through rate (CTR), cost per conversion, and conversion rate. Use this data to optimize your campaigns, making adjustments to keywords, ad copy, bidding strategies, and targeting.

In conclusion, avoiding common SEM mistakes is crucial for maximizing your conversion rates and achieving your digital marketing goals. By utilizing negative keywords, testing ad copy, optimizing landing pages, selecting the right bidding strategy, and continuously monitoring and adjusting your campaigns, you can significantly improve your SEM performance. Stay vigilant and proactive in your approach to SEM, and you’ll be well on your way to reaping the rewards of increased conversions and a higher return on investment.

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Top 10 Best Practices for Google Ads Campaigns

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Are you trying to increase conversions with your Google AdWords campaigns? You can design extremely successful campaigns that draw in and convert your target audience by utilizing the appropriate methods and best practices.

We’ll be discussing the top 10 best practices for Google AdWords campaigns in this blog post, which you can start using right away.

1. Determine who your target market is.
Knowing your target market is crucial before you begin developing advertisements. You can build advertising that connect with your target audience and encourage conversions by being aware of their demographics, interests, and pain concerns.

2. Do a keyword search.
An essential first step in designing successful Google AdWords campaigns is keyword research. It enables you to generate ads that are extremely relevant to your target audience’s search terms by assisting you in identifying the keywords they use.

3. Produce highly targeted adverts
Conversion-boosting advertising must be very relevant. Your adverts should be customized for your target market and the search terms they use. Employ ad copy that emphasizes your value proposition and unique selling proposition.

4.- Use ad extensions
Ad extensions are further details that can be included in your adverts to increase their value and relevance. Callouts, structured snippets, and site links are a few examples of ad extensions. Ad extensions can improve your ads’ exposure and efficacy.

5.- Use negative keywords
Negative keywords are those for which you don’t want your advertisements to show up. You can prevent showing your advertisements to people who are unlikely to convert by utilizing negative keywords, which can enhance the performance of your campaign as a whole.

6.- Use location targeting
You can target a certain geographic area with your adverts by using location targeting. This is especially helpful for companies who operate locally or have a physical site.

7.- Use device targeting
You can target your adverts to appear to users of particular gadgets, such desktop computers or mobile phones. You can build ads that are optimized for the device that your target audience is using by targeting particular devices.

8.- Use remarketing
You can remarket to people who have already visited your website or engaged with your brand in some other way by displaying adverts to them. You can boost the likelihood that they will convert by presenting your adverts to people who are already familiar with your brand.

9.- Test and optimize your ads
Your advertising’ performance must be tested and improved over time in order to be effective. To determine what works best, experiment with various ad copy, graphics, and ad extensions. Compare various versions of your advertising using A/B testing to determine which ones result in the highest conversion rates.

10.- Keep track of the success of your campaign.
It’s crucial to keep track of the results of your campaign in order to spot potential improvement areas and make necessary adjustments to your adverts. Track KPIs like click-through rate, conversion rate, and cost per conversion with Google AdWords reporting tools.

In conclusion, successful Google AdWords campaigns require careful planning, meticulous attention to detail, and continuous improvement. You can build ads that draw in and convert your target market and meet your business objectives by using these best practices.

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SEM: Can Organic Referencing and Paid Search Be Complementary?

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If you’re a web specialist, you are probably aware of the latest vocabulary and acronyms. If not, as a novice, it’s time to become familiar with some of the terms frequently used in the digital world.

As a result of the merger between SEO (Search Engine Optimization), otherwise known as organic or natural referencing, and SEA (Search Engine Advertising), or paid search, the term SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is very often used when dealing with digital marketing.

Combining these two first techniques of referencing, the objective of this SEM strategy aligns in the development of visibility on the web by allowing the advertiser to appear in the first results of the pages of search engines, also called SERP (Search Engine Results Page).

What are the noteworthy differences between SEO and SEA? How do these two SEO techniques complement each other and form SEM? What is the real strength of this combination?

Amauta Marketing, an expert web marketing agency in Laval, with clients in the greater Montréal area and elsewhere in the country, answers these queries.

SEM: Everything You Need to Know About How It Works

What Is SEO?

SEO can be defined as a set of actions implemented by an advertiser in order to optimize its position in the organic results of search engine pages.

The term “natural referencing” takes on its full meaning because no advertising investment is necessary. The result is based on several factors such as the quality of the content, the keywords used, the external links (backlinks) leading to third party pages or the internal linking.

Consequently, this method emphasizes a meticulous and technical work. By its natural or organic aspect, a contrast is established with paid techniques.

What Is SEA?

Depending greatly on your advertising portfolio, this second SEO technique is aligned with the same main objective, which is to increase visibility on the web through a comfortable position on the results of various search engines.

SEA differs from SEO by its immediate but costly benefits. Indeed, as opposed to natural referencing, the principle of this strategy is based on a system of advertisements resulting from a principle of keyword submissions. In this situation, if the marketing campaign is well conducted, your ad can quickly land at the top of the search results.

However, keep in mind that the operation depends fully on the budget allocated to the campaign. Without investment, the traffic to your site will be nil.

SEM: A Global Web Referencing Strategy

SEO + SEA: A Winning Combination

If SEO and SEA appear as two techniques that are opposed in form but similar in content, a complementarity exists between them, giving birth to SEM.

Being perceived as a grouping of digital marketing techniques and not as a single method in itself, the goal of the Search Engine Marketing strategy is to develop the traffic of a website through SEO and SEA techniques.

Indeed, the principle of SEM is based on the fact of being positioned in a natural way in the first results of the search engines in the long term, while optimizing the visibility in a punctual way through paid campaigns and rigorously targeted, provoking an impact in the short term. The role of keywords, common to SEO and SEA, will be decisive.

SMO, The Contribution of Social Networks

Last component of this marketing ecosystem, SMO (Social Media Optimization) gathers actions implemented to increase the visibility of a brand or a company on the web through social networks.

Indeed, in the generation of traffic, social networks can have an impact. YouTube is particularly important in search engine results. It is common to see videos from the platform displayed in the SERP.

Also, let’s not forget that social networks are also responsible for brand awareness and, consequently, for search engine optimization.

Finally, it is possible to conduct advertising campaigns via social networks in order to develop its digital visibility. To do so, many tools exist.

Amauta Marketing, Web Marketing Agency Expert in SEO

Definitely, the control of SEO requires real in-depth skills and a certain experience on the subject. Every company has specific needs, depending on its positioning, its budget and its field of activity.

Amauta Marketing in Laval offers you a personalized accompaniment by setting up the best possible strategy to meet your expectations. Composed of digital experts, the web marketing agency, focused on measurable results, helps you develop your online visibility. These real SEO professionals are waiting for you!

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5 SEO Tools to Make Your Website Stand Out!

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You manage your own business, and every day, you hear more and more about using SEO to optimize your website and make it perform even better on the Web. In this blog, we examine the most important free tools available on the market, so that you can optimize your SEO activities (Search Engine Optimization).

Located in the heart of Laval, and with clients in Montreal, as well as throughout Canada and internationally, Amauta Marketing gives you the tools to improve your visibility and marketing strategies.

  1. Google Analytics

Google Analytics (GA) is a critical tool for businesses that collects data about the way users interact with your website and displays easy-to-read reports with visual graphics to measure your performance.

These reports include the number of visits to your site, where visitors are based or coming from, at what times they are visiting more often, which pages, etc. This platform also enables you to track activities on social networks and offers advice on how to improve your performance.

  1. Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO is an optimization tool used by nearly 15 million websites and gives you ways to maximize your SEO with WordPress (WP). It helps you optimize your website pages or blogs using keywords and suggests ways to adapt your content in order to make it more visible on search engines.

  1. Google Ads

With Google Ads, you can search for keywords and gain insight into how your audience searches the Web. Over the years, Google’s algorithms have evolved to the point where you now need to keep up with them to produce ever more effective content that draws in traffic.

Now, in 2022, these algorithms are being redesigned to give digital writers an even larger pool of keywords to choose from, as well as the ability to use them in their content. Google Ads not only makes it easier to identify the right keywords, it also presents you with statistics about how effective each of these words are or suggests some really powerful keywords to follow.

  1. Google Search Console (GSC)

The GSC search console provides an overview of what the major search engines think about your website. For most experts in the field, Google Search Console is regarded as one of the most powerful tools on the market. It offers solutions to improve your site’s appearance, site map and much more…

  1. Similarweb

By using Similarweb, you can monitor your competitors’ performance based on the amount of traffic they generate on the Web. It focuses in on the main sources of traffic to your direct competitors and displays the most frequently used keywords. It also allows you to correct your game plan in order to become more successful on all search engines.

Now let’s review the five tools discussed in this blog using the following chart.

Overall, these five tools help you enhance the performance of your website and suggest content strategies to improve your overall SEO. Obviously, there are other effective tools on the market which can also help make your site much more competitive and we’ve got a handle on all of them.

Amauta Marketing Is the Right Expert for Your Business Needs!

Whether you’ re launching a new business or have been operating your enterprise for several years now, Amauta Marketing, located in the heart of Laval, has the right tools to take you to the next level.

With its team of experts, effective strategies and innovative solutions, Amauta Marketing can boost your business activities on the Web.

Over the years, the team at Amauta Marketing has been specializing in Web marketing and helping clients make their websites much more accessible. Put your trust in a talented team, choose Amauta Marketing today!

 

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Not all web agencies are working in their clients’ best interests.

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Who you choose to be your Google Ads web agency is an important decision. Choose well and you’ll benefit from a growing business but choose poorly and you’ll end up wasting money and losing business opportunities.

Google Ads can be confusing, and some web agencies like to keep their clients in the dark. They hide behind technical lingo and web industry speak to justify exorbitant fees for little gain. Beware of those who waive setup or management fees just to hook you up. Make sure that they put the effort needed into setting up and managing your account from the start. Advertising is expensive, so you’ll need a sound strategy and a comprehensive set-up to ensure your account is tightly controlled to avoid wasted clicks. Investing in a quality set-up and management at the start can save you thousands of dollars in the long run. Here are some useful clues to know if your account is well managed or not.

Your Account. Make sure that the Google Ads account belongs to you and not your web agency. You should have access to your account at all times. Do not buy into the concept of monthly report in which you will be assured that it tells you everything you need to know. It’s a lie. Sometimes, those reports provide no cost information and focus on the number of clicks received but not what those clicks cost. Often, the majority of clicks are put to Display Advertising because it costs a lot less than Search Advertising where you should be putting the bulk of your spending so that you can get your company’s name in front of people searching for your products and/or services. Make sure your account is paid with your credit card. This way you’ll know how much money is invested in your advertising.

Search Terms. Your web agency should be putting the bulk of your advertising spending on top performing keywords that are highly valuable to your business by applying the 80-20 rule which is to assume that 80% of all traffic to your website will come from just 20% of your keywords. These are the keywords that are more likely to convert. You want to ensure that you often show for these keywords. This way, you won’t miss business opportunities.

Top Position. If you’re not seeing your ads until page two or even three of Google, you’re missing out on valuable business opportunities. You want to ensure your ads are showing in the top three positions. Ideally, in the second position which cost less money than first. The fewer competitors potential clients have to crawl through before they come across your company, the better!

Wasted Clicks. If you get calls that have nothing to do with your business, it’s because your web agency is being lazy and only bids on broad terms, irrelevant search terms or is not adding negative keywords. It results in wasted clicks that chew through your advertising budget.

Change History. There is a quick and easy way to find out how much work your web agency is putting into your account. It’s a feature called ‘Change History’ which tells you how many changes occurred in your account month by month or in other words, how much work is being done each month. Since you are paying a monthly fee, you should be seeing changes made to keywords, ads and extensions, bids and budgets, not just bids.

Account Management. No automation program can understand the competitive landscape and intricacies of your industry as well as an actual person who has experience and can formulate a strategy or game plan to differentiate you from your competitors. There is no substitute for hard work.

Traffic. Understand that focusing on bringing more traffic to your website doesn’t equate to bringing more business. Some web agencies will get you more traffic and they will deliver on their promise. But they won’t deliver on your expectations. Because what you really want is more leads and revenue. Not more traffic. And more traffic doesn’t naturally lead to more leads. It has to be relevant and qualified traffic to lead to more leads. More often than not, the money they are spending on Google Ads is wasted on irrelevant, invalid clicks that chewed through your advertising budget with very little to show for.

Quarterly meeting. It’s critical that you meet with your web agency on a regular basis to be presented campaign results, being able to add input, and change strategy if needed.

In a nutshell, Google Advertising can be an excellent source of leads, but only if your account is properly handled. Otherwise, you’ll waste a lot of money and end up with nothing. Don’t wait another month to call us for a free confidential audit if you think your account isn’t being properly handled. Because each month is another month of squandered funds and missed business opportunities.

Amauta Marketing

 

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Amauta Marketing reveals Espace Garage Plus new website

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Amauta Marketing has undertaken the complete redesign of Espace Garage Plus website. Established in 2006, Espace Garage Plus is the first company in Quebec exclusively specialized in the design and makeover of residential garages.

The new Espace Garage Plus website was designed to allow for the renewal of user experience from an ergonomic standpoint, content access and navigation by presenting services, products as well as a selection of makeovers designed and executed by the company. Besides a blog, the website also showcases a product and accessory catalogue easy to consult. Finally, Amauta Marketing is also in charge of the SEO strategy and management of the Google Ads campaigns.

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Amauta Marketing selected by MBA Research

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The new collaboration between Amauta Marketing and MBA Research looks promising. MBA Research is located in downtown Montreal and specializes in marketing studies, more precisely in quantitative and qualitative research. They have mandated Amauta Marketing to set up and manage its web advertising campaigns.

MBA Research employs innovative methodologies and tools to survey representative, stable and well-defined samples of the Quebec population to collect precise marketing information. Their clients get quick feedback from segments of the population on different topics, notably on consumer habits. This helps their clients establish appropriate marketing positioning and strategy to drive sales.

MBA Research is a member of the Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC), European Society for Opinion and Market Research (ESOMAR) a well as Insights Association, and fully respect practices and codes of conduct of these associations.

Amauta Marketing’s work will occur upstream and will consist of promoting the company on the web to generate interest of new panelists and to entice them to join the survey groups.

 

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Google liable for collecting QST

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As of June 1st, 2019, Google will collect and return sales taxes (QST) to Revenu Québec. Google is now treated like any international digital companies such as Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify, and others who sell intangible products and services.

For healthier competition

The announced objective by Mr. Legault’s Government is to provide a more equitable commercial framework to local companies who have never benefited from this dispensation while making their prices more expensive for consumers with the QST. It is also a way to recoup more than $150 million dollars until 2022-2023, as explained by the Quebec Government in 2018. Revenu Québec supplies a list of the 76 companies subject to these new rules. However, the Federal Government is not following in the footsteps of the Quebec Government and still does not impose tax payment of 5% (GST) on the web giants’ products and services.

Your invoice should be modified as of this Saturday

Either using Netflix video services, buying online products on Amazon, or using Google Ads services to analyse your clientele or managing your online ad campaigns, you will see your invoice modified to showcase the addition of the QST as of this Saturday.

If you have any question related to this, do not hesitate to call us up. As always, we will be listening and will try to make you life easier.

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5 tips to help promote your videos on YouTube

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Have you created a YouTube channel, but it only serves to store your videos which are mostly viewed mostly on your website or other social media? Are you ready to increase the number of your subscribers? Here are 5 tips to add value to your YouTube channel and develop your subscriber community.

  1. Create you subscriber community on YouTube

As you know, when it comes to the web, content is king, and your YouTube subscribers always want to see more quality content. Remember that your success on YouTube lies essentially on your subscribers since they will spend more time watching your videos than any other YouTubers. On YouTube, the time spent watching videos is paramount. The higher the time duration, the more your videos have a chance to appear in the first search results and in recommendations. Therefore, it’s important to develop a faithful subscriber community who love your channel and watch your videos.

Did you know when an Internet user subscribes to your channel, YouTube can send them a notification to tell them when you publish new videos on your channel? Your subscribers are usually the first to watch the content you put online which increases your views which then increases the visibility of your channel on the Internet. Your subscribers are the community of your brand so one must remember to interact with them through comments and dedications. You could reward your fans and interact with them to maintain a faithful community and reduce drop-offs.

  1. Optimizing the natural referencing of your videos
  • Insert your main keywords into the name of the file or title of your video (a 60-word maximum limit)
  • Download HD videos and insert credits at the beginning and at the end with a rebate or a call to action to encourage conversion.
  • Carefully choose your still image or mini preview to entice viewers to click to see the video. The first impression image is important as it is shown on search results.
  • Think about optimizing your video description by inserting keywords or expressions. You should also add a link toward your website to incite the Internet user to do something (Susbcribe, Visite our website…, etc.).
  • Share your video on other social platforms and on your website while watching that it is embedded in your YouTube parameters.
  • Geotarget your video with “Location on the Map” option and specify the creation date of your video

Added tip: Adding sub-titles to your video allows you to optimize the natural referencing of any video.

 

  1. Analyzing your audience with YouTube Analytics

Consult YouTube Analytics statistics to know the traffic source on your channel, your viewers’ profile and viewing time. It is important to know how viewers see your videos and what is the profile of your subscribers in the YouTube Statistical Report. By analyzing viewing of your videos, you should be better equipped to define subscriber’s personas, to know where your fans are coming from (other social medias, website, etc.) and which are their preferred videos. You can also compare your subscriber viewing timeframe with other Internet users since they are the one allowing you to increase the number of your subscribers. What are the main characteristics of this video? You should create more videos in the same vein.

Once your viewer persona is done, you could launch a targeted advertising campaign to get new subscribers.

Here is the data that you can collect from your audience:

–        Performance parameters: viewing time, number of viewings and gains for each video.

–        Engagement parameters: preferences, like, don’t like, comments, actions and preferred.

–        Your Top 10 YouTube content: channels, reading lists and conversions in relation to viewing timeframe.

–        Demographic: by type of viewers

–        Geotargeting statistics and the most important traffic sources by time zone.

  1. Boost your subscribers with a Google Ads campaign

Launching a promotional Google Ads campaign for videos can allow you to enlarge your subscriber community or to increase the number of viewings and the commitment rates of your videos (I like, I share, comments, etc.). So, for this, nothing is simpler, all you need is to connect your YouTube channel with your Google Ads account, create your ads, define a global budget and use targeting options (geotargeting, age, etc.). An ad with lots of impact should be original, trigger YouTuber’s curiosity and contain a call to action such as “Click here to subscribe” or “Discover other videos on (channel’s name)”. Use the Video Targeting Tool which allows you post your ads on certain channels with an audience similar to yours to better target your campaign.

Look for producers of video content similar to yours on YouTube, add it to your contacts and when you put online a new video, send them a message with the « Send a message » feature to notice them that your video might be of interest as they could relay your video to their own audience.

Here are the target features to promote your videos on Google Ads:

  • Demographic groups: age, sex, family status or family income.
  • Areas of interest: individuals interested by specific topics, even when visiting pages on other topics.
  • Audience affinities: Internet users already interested in topics that you cover
  • Audiences of personalized affinities: audiences more adapted to your brands.
  • Audiences having shown a need in your market: select among these audiences to find clients looking for products and actively considering buying a similar service or product to yours.
  • Video remarketing: A good way to increase your subscriber numbers to your channel is to target viewers who have already interacted with your videos, your TrueView ads or your YouTube channel.

Tip: If you link your YouTube account to your Google Ads account, personalized contact lists will be creating automatically.

  1. TrueView ads on YouTube

A TrueView InStream ad is considered a tv ad: it is broadcast before the beginning of a monetizable YouTube video. YouTubers see 5 seconds of your ad, then they can choose to watch until the end or to ignore it. This format allows you to pay “viewing cost” which means that you only pay when an Internet user watches at least 30 seconds of your ad.

Using Google Ads pay promotion for your videos, you will have the choice between different ad formats specific to YouTube. To start an ad campaign on YouTube, you need to think about a payment method for your ads, available formats and means to attract new viewers to your channel. Then, the ad that you will create should have a corresponding format to your advertising objectives established upstream. For example, you could use as a TrueView InStream, a promo video singing the praises of your channel to Internet users. Furthermore, you could also broadcast it as an official trailer of your channel i.e. a sort of welcome video in your YouTube community.

TrueView InDisplay ads are shown in miniature and appear on YouTube Reading pages, in the right column in which suggestions and recommendations on videos to screen are posted. To fully optimize Display Videos, entice your viewers to discover more content: to watch your playlists and other videos. The choice of a miniature (a screenshot of your video), is essential, it should be attractive, original and in one loop, easily understandable to make YouTubers do something either by clicking on your video to subscribe to your channel or viewing other videos.

 

So, are you convinced to invest in YouTube advertising? Amauta Marketing can walk you through the management of your advertising campaigns. Find out how at: https://www.amautamarketing.com/services/publicite-video-youtube/

 

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Amauta Marketing gets new Partner Certification with renewed confidence from Google

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As you know, Google Partner Certification cannot be taken for granted. In fact, it must be renewed regularly since Google verifies the competencies of an agency with such certification. It is with pride that our team has once again successfully passed the test, renewing our partnership with Google.

Furthermore, Amauta Marketing is proud to have obtained the following certifications for our expertise :

–       Search Engines Advertising
–       Display Ads
–       Video Ads
–       Mobile Advertising

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