If you’re about to launch a new Internet marketing campaign, you’ve probably been reading a lot about search engine marketing, or “SEM”, and how to make the most of it. Every web marketing guru will tell you how to succeed online, but here’s something you won’t see in most SEM pitches: the three most common mistakes to avoid.
1. Forgetting about negative keywords
It’s easy to target the customers you want…but have you forgotten to exclude those who are outside of your target demographic? Showing ads to those who aren’t going to click is a waste of your advertising dollars. If you sell custom desktop wallpaper, for instance, have you listed “free wallpaper” as a negative keyword?
2. Wasting money on Google display website ads
Google’s default setting (and their recommendation) for new advertisers is to display your ad on all available sites. This works well for Google, because it means niche sites that wouldn’t otherwise have much relevant advertising can be used to display any ad that chooses this option—but it doesn’t provide much benefit for advertisers like you. If you want to get the most from your advertising budget, you’d be wise to manually select relevant pages where you’re most likely to get clicks and conversions.
3. Skipping the testing phase
If your marketing pitch is ready to go, it’s tempting to click “send” and get it out there in the world right away…but this can be a mistake. Smart search engine marketers test their advertising in small batches before going live on a large scale.
Steer clear of these three common mistakes, and you’ll be well on your way to creating profitable interest in your products and business with smart SEM.