Google Ads will automatically pause low-activity keywords, starting in June, according to an email sent to advertisers by the Google Ads team.
What is low activity? Campaigns that were created more than 13 months ago and that have had zero impressions in the past 13 months.
Why we care. Navah Hopkins explained it well on LinkedIn: “Keywords with no impressions in your account are dragging down your account performance. We’ve seen documentation from the DOJ trial highlighting an account Quality Score – what do you think having hundreds/thousands of zero impression keywords does to the account?”
Unpausing paused keywords. If you unpause a paused keyword in Google Ads, Google will automatically pause it again if it receives no impressions over the next three months.
Why the change. So advertisers “focus on keywords that drive results,” Google said.
If you’ve ever tried using avatars or buyer personas to write a Google Ads headline, you know it can be frustrating and fruitless.
You try to define your target market, only to be told, “Our audience is anyone who wants our product – we don’t exclude anyone.” Persist a bit and you might refine it to “Ages 25-45 in metropolitan areas.”
Eventually, you craft a detailed persona: Alex, 37, from Chicago, who enjoys protein smoothies, drives a Lexus and dreams of traveling to Asia.
The problem is that going ultra-deep in a psychographic profile doesn’t actually help you craft a 30-character headline for fleet management software.
This article tackles the steps to successfully transform your PPC ads just by focusing on the people who click them.
Your ad shouldn’t be for everyone
Targeting a specific client avatar, like “Alex from Chicago,” doesn’t translate to an effective headline. Aiming your ad at everyone interested in fleet management software isn’t the solution either.
What you really need is an ad that smartly qualifies each click.
You want your ad to attract and convert your ideal clients while encouraging everyone else to pass by your ad.
Not only does this approach prevent unnecessary clicks – saving you money – it also boosts your conversion rates by focusing on those most likely to convert.
Here’s how to create headlines that attract the right audience and repel the rest:
Identify who should and shouldn’t click your ad using target and anti-audiences.
Tailor your ads for these specific groups, directly addressing your ideal clients’ needs and desires while subtly deterring others.
Measure your success using the right metrics to know if your ads are effective.
Ready to refine your approach? Let’s dive in.
Step 1: Decide who’s in and who’s out
In this first step, we’ll go through several exercises to help you identify and distinguish between your audience segments.
It might feel new at first – most marketers were never taught this – but it’s a skill that will help you throughout your career.
Know your TAM, SAM and SOM
When you target “everyone” interested in fleet management software, you’re addressing your total addressable market (TAM) – this includes all potential buyers in the category.
Here’s a simple diagram to illustrate TAM, SAM and SOM:
We’re not using this framework to estimate market sizes but to clarify who we are and aren’t targeting.
Your TAM is much larger than the segment of the market that will actually choose your company, and it’s certainly larger than you’d want to target in terms of pay-per-click costs. The same applies to your serviceable available market (SAM), the segment of the TAM you can actually serve.
Your serviceable obtainable market (SOM) includes prospects who are most likely to convert and who you should be targeting.
Identify your target audience and anti-audience
Target audience (SOM): People actively seeking the specific benefits, price points and features your product offers. You want this audience to engage with your ads.
Anti-audience (TAM and SAM): Everyone who’s left becomes your anti-audience. They are searching within your keyword category but aren’t looking for what you’re specifically offering. Your anti-audience will click your ad but won’t convert.
To define your anti-audience, think about who’s least likely to say “yes” to your offer:
Who doesn’t resonate with your unique selling points?
Who clicks your ads but doesn’t become a lead or make a purchase?
Who fills out a form but never follows through to become a client or customer?
Most businesses running ads already know who the “problem clicks” are from.
A high-end art print company attracts visitors looking for cheap movie posters, the last-mile delivery service receives more job applications than customer leads and so on.
If you’re stuck, an AI tool like ChatGPT can help identify who’s in your category but not an ideal prospect for you, given the specifics of your offer.
Compile your target and anti-audience lists
Once you understand who to target and who to dissuade from clicking your ads, it’s time to create detailed audience lists.
These two lists will essentially be mirror opposites.
Your target audience list includes attributes of your ideal customers, while your anti-audience list includes attributes of people who won’t convert.
Include qualities that relate to your offer, such as:
Location
Scope of service
Compatibility
Requirements
Style
Consider a Japan-based real estate investment company using Google Ads to attract investors. They realize many of their leads come from people looking to buy their first home, not from potential investors.
To combat this, they craft their audience lists to differentiate between those they want to attract and those they’d rather avoid:
Target audience
Anti-audience
Real estate investors
Looking for low-cost housing
Interest in properties in Japan
Looking for properties outside of Japan
Wants real property
Wants REITs
If your lists feel obvious and even redundant, you’re doing it right! Once your audience distinctions feel self-evident, writing effective headlines and ads becomes much easier.
Step 2: Tailor your ads to attract and repel
How do you write a headline that discourages the wrong clicks?
Don’t worry, I’m not suggesting you write a headline that says:
“If you don’t have the budget for our services, don’t click this ad.”
Fortunately, there are ways to make your ad specific without being off-putting.
Example 1: America’s ‘non-woke’ job board
This ad shows for the keyword “career opportunities,” targeting job seekers disillusioned with “woke culture.”
The headline is straightforward: “America’s Non Woke Job Board.” It appeals directly to its target audience while naturally deterring those not aligned with this perspective.
Target audience: People upset about “woke culture.”
Anti-audience: People who aren’t looking for “non-woke companies.”
What if, instead, they had used the headline:
“Find a good job that respects your values.”
Interestingly, that’s the headline on their homepage.
It might work well there, where visitors know the context and ethos of the company. However, for a Google Ad, including “wokeness” is a better filter to pique the interest of the right job seekers while keeping click costs down.
Example 2: Only for accredited investors
In finance, advertising to the right audience isn’t just a matter of efficiency – it’s often a legal requirement.
Target audience: Accredited investors.
Anti-audience: Anyone who’s not an accredited investor.
A headline clearly stating “Only For Accredited Investors” immediately clarifies who the ad is for, discouraging ineligible investors from engaging with content they legally cannot access.
Example 3: Binge-watch your way to fluency
For a language learning service, standing out in a crowded market requires a unique approach.
Target audience: People looking for an edu-tainment learning style.
Anti-audience: People in a rush or who want an academic experience.
Lingopie’s ad, “Bingewatch your way to Fluency,” perfectly promotes its offering. It attracts learners who prefer a more entertainment-based method, while those in a rush or seeking a rigorous academic structure look elsewhere.
Take your ad through two passes to make sure your headlines are:
Uniquely appeal to your target audience.
Discourage clicks from your anti-audience.
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A higher CTR doesn’t correlate with business growth.
Conversely, attracting fewer but more targeted clicks can significantly enhance performance.
Here are the results from a client after we refined their ads to better target their audience:
Average CTR: Decreased (-3%)
Conversion rate: Increased (+71%)
Lead costs: Decreased (-47%)
Despite fewer impressions and clicks, actual leads went up 42%.
Does this mean you should aim for a lower CTR?
Nope! It just means that if your goal is to increase leads and sales, you should measure your ad against its ability to drive leads and sales, not its ability to drive more clicks.
Instead of only tracking click activity, prioritize post-click metrics:
Conversions and conversion rates: Measure how effectively your clicks are driving leads and sales.
Cost per lead (CPL) and return on ad spend (ROAS): Evaluate your ads’ cost efficiency.
These indicators give you a clearer picture of your ad’s true impact, so you know if your ads are reaching and resonating with your intended audience.
Walkthrough: Optimize Google Ads with anti-audiences
Now that you’re familiar with the concept of anti-audiences, let’s put it into practice by optimizing an ad from start to finish. This exercise is adapted from Magnetic RSAs, my course on crafting effective responsive search ads.
We’ll analyze an ad from Inflate Clarksville, a local business (not a client) specializing in stylish bounce houses and inflatable party decor rentals in Middle Tennessee.
Here’s a screenshot of one of their ads:
Define the audiences
If the total addressable market (TAM) is all bounce house renters, the serviceable available market (SAM) could be defined as bounce house renters in Middle Tennessee, which is who the ad’s headline is targeting.
However, this ad should target a more niche market.
Inflate Clarksville’s offerings are distinct, with an upscale aesthetic suited for stylish events, setting them apart from typical neon-colored children’s inflatables.
The ad must emphasize these upscale options while deterring those seeking traditional styles.
Here’s a simple TAM/SAM/SOM diagram for visual aid:
Using this model, we define the target and anti-audiences by aesthetic preference and location.
Here are the specific traits and attributes that could appear in the audience lists:
Target audience
Anti-audience
Heavily engaged with social media, potentially influencers
Bargain hunters looking for discounts
Locals in the middle Tennessee area
Out-of-area prospects
Seeks elevated aesthetic for parties for children or adults
Prefers traditional, neon-themed children’s party styles
With clear target and anti-audience lists, we can fine-tune the ad.
Optimize the headlines and message
Optimizing an ad involves enhancing what works and minimizing ineffective elements.
The current ad effectively notes the service (bounce house rentals) and location. It misses the unique value proposition (UVP) of the upscale bounce houses. It also highlights water slide rentals, which don’t specifically appeal to the ideal customer base.
A revised ad should spotlight Inflate Clarksville’s high-end inflatables, appealing to local, style-conscious consumers and subtly deterring those looking for conventional or economical options.
Google Ads headlines: Before and after roundup
Before: “Bounce House Rentals TN – Inflatable Water Slides”
Fails to differentiate
Does not target the specific audience
Gives no reason for the anti-audience to avoid clicking
After: “Aesthetic Bounce House Rentals – Stylish Middle TN Inflatables”
Incorporates “aesthetic” and “stylish” to set clear expectations
Attracts customers looking for upscale bounce houses
Deters those seeking basic or discount options
This focused rewrite helps to attract the ideal customer, reduce irrelevant clicks and improve the ad’s efficiency.
Time for action
To further refine your skills in crafting Google ad headlines:
Review existing ads: Assess whether your current ads clearly identify and communicate with the target and anti-audiences. Edit or create new versions to sharpen their focus.
Craft new ads: When starting new campaigns, define your target and anti-audiences upfront to guide your ad creation process.
Practice material: If you lack a product or service to advertise, use existing Google ads as practice material. Analyze, critique and rewrite ads to better specify their target audiences.
Happy writing!
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The Google interface we know today will be gone in less than three years.
As ridiculous as this prediction may seem, I remember back in 2004 when Google.com finally overtook Yahoo.com. For eight years, no one thought that would ever happen, but it did.
Why?
Simply put, Yahoo had the best user experience on the web for 10 years, but Google provided a better one.
Now, think about this. Let’s say you have all kinds of questions about the world:
Do I need to wear a jacket out today?
What’s the best sushi restaurant near here?
Give me a hint to today’s Wordle.
And what if you had a butler who was brilliant at every subject in the world and could give you the best answer to any question you had, not just an accurate answer but helpful, friendly and thoughtful?
“It’s a little chilly out, so wear a light jacket in the morning. You can probably take it off around noon.”
“Sushi Kingdom is a 15-minute drive from here, but they have the most amazing fatty tuna shipped in from Japan.”
“Think of a five-letter word that means ‘tired’.”
Oh, and your butler refuses to take any money from you. It mainly wants to compete with your dog to be your best friend without all the licking.
If you had someone at your beck and call every minute of every day, would you ever go to a Google Search box again?
True ‘zero click’ is coming
Five years ago, Rand Fishkin was one of the first to sound the alarm on the rise of “zero-click searches,” when Google introduced featured snippets and universal search results.
At the time, we all decried it as a land grab from Google. It had the effect of “trapping” users on Google’s sites so they would click more paid ads and visit more Google properties.
However, in fairness to Google, they really were looking to improve the user experience. They knew that the vast majority of people who search for something don’t want to wade through listing after listing. They just want an answer.
Every SEO professional knows this, too. Nearly 70% of searchers don’t even click past the first three results.
In the search landscape of the future, yes, people will still use the Google interface we know today for things like research and exploration. But expect the 70% of searchers who don’t click past the first three Google results to flock to AI for answers.
Is SEO dead?
Those of us who’ve been in SEO for a while have lost count by now of how often the mainstream media has declared that “SEO is dead.”
My response to this has always been: as long as there are humans in the world and those humans are searching for something, SEO will never be dead.
Sure, the definition of what a “search engine” is will change over time. At one point, it was called “the Dewey Decimal System.” Then it was “Archie,” “Yahoo” then “Google.”
What will it be called next? “ChatGPT?” “Gemini?” “Grok?” Or something else entirely?
Or will multiple large language models (LLMs) arise, each trained in different areas of expertise?
Only time will tell what the exact landscape will look like, but one thing is for sure: the world will need a lot more “SEO.”
What does SEO look like in an AI-driven world?
To answer the question of what SEO will look like in the future, we need to think about what search itself will look like.
As every SEO knows, today most people search for head terms. A recent Semrush study said that 69.8% of searches use 1-4 keywords in the Google Search bar such as “weather tomorrow,” “restaurants near me,” “nfl scores.”
It’s a terribly awkward way to communicate, but it’s what we’ve all been conditioned to do since the 1990s.
That’s about to change.
Let’s think back to our aforementioned butler. Why would you say “restaurants near me” when you can have a conversation:
You: “Where should I eat tonight?”
Butler: “What are you in the mood for?”
You: “I don’t know. Maybe some Italian. Do you know a good place to get pasta around here?”
Butler: “Yes, Luigi’s Pizzeria is about a half mile away and has pretty good reviews.”
You: “What do the reviewers recommend?”
Butler: “A lot of them recommend the rigatoni with bolognese sauce or the grandma slice.”
You: “I never heard of this place. Have they been around very long?”
Butler: “Yes, they’ve been in business for 15 years, although they recently moved to this location.”
Search is going to the extremely long tail.
In other words, the search demand curve we all know and love will be changing. The fat head won’t be going away, but the curve will flatten as people get used to asking more specific questions to AI and getting more specific answers.
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If you’ve tried a generative AI, you’ll probably have observed something for now. It’s great at solving math problems and translating. It can win any bar bet at trivia.
But go just a little deeper and you’ll see how far from “intelligent” AI really is.
My sister is one of the top veterinary pathologists in her field. I recently introduced her to one of the popular AI chatbots. She typed in three advanced questions and found that not only were the answers incorrect, but in some cases, they were dangerously wrong.
The technology behind AI is revolutionary, but AI doesn’t magically have knowledge from the get-go. Someone needs to teach it.
Right now, most LLMs are being trained on whatever data they can find on the public Internet, which, let’s face it, has largely been shaped by a quarter century of Google and SEO to focus on superficial content and head terms.
What can brands do to prepare?
In Aesop’s Fable “The Grasshopper and the Ants,” the grasshopper enjoys the warmth and food of summer while the ants work hard to prepare for winter.
Over the last few years, there have been some companies whose first move when the economy turns sour is to lay off or offshore their employees in “cost centers” like customer service and content teams.
These companies are looking at the coming AI revolution and likely asking themselves, “how do I best exploit AI so I can save even more costs and further boost my short-term profits?”
Those are the grasshoppers. They’re in for a rough winter.
On the other hand, the wise companies of the world are the ones that never stop putting their customers’ needs above everything else. These are the companies that look at the coming AI revolution and ask, “How do I become the place where AI (and, more importantly, my customers) come to learn?”
These are the ants, and they’re the ones who will thrive in an AI world.
If you’d like to be prepared, here are some basic things you should do.
Take online customer service seriously
Hire and retain the best customer service agents with empathy, expertise and experience.
Build a knowledge base of every question your customers ask and write in-depth answers that mirror what your best customer service agents would give, both in terms of knowledge and delivery.
Create deep content that shows true thought leadership
Stop chasing head terms. Go deep.
What do you as a brand have to bring to the world that no one else can?
What are nuanced questions about your industry that you’re uniquely able to answer, whether it’s about a highly specialized topic, a unique geography, or anything else unique that you bring to the table?
What are underserved niches in your industry?
Tap experts in your company and your industry to write true thought leadership, whether it’s brand new knowledge or old knowledge presented in a fresh, accessible way.
Embrace every form of media your customers use, whether it be social posts, podcasts, videos, TV or radio broadcasts – AI will be able to access them all in its thirst to learn.
Invite expert user-generated content
Find ways to get experts from among your customers and internal staff to share expert user-generated content (UGC), whether through discussion forums, comments sections, reviews and so on.
UGC has long been the “secret weapon” of companies who wish to rank for long-tail searches. Now that all searches will be going long-tail, it’ll be more important than ever, especially since AI will be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Embrace openness and transparency
Long-time SEOs probably remember a time when search queries were often followed by the word “wiki.” These days, queries are more often followed by the word “reddit.”
Why?
Put simply, while both Wikipedia and Reddit were built on UGC, one is developing a reputation for encouraging open, honest and detailed conversations while the other is not.
Amazon’s review section is another example of the power of transparency: ask anyone you know who buys on Amazon what part of the product page they read first and invariably many will tell you the review section. If users are going to these sites to learn, AI will too.
As a brand, you will need your voice on these sites, not as a corporate shill but as an expert voice participating in the discussion.
Preparing your brand for AI-powered search
There’s really nothing new here, it’s the same E-E-A-T that Google has been preaching about for years.
The difference is that AI is getting so close to how our brains work that the line between “optimizing for search” and “optimizing for the human brain” will become close to indistinguishable.
Companies that optimize for knowledge and empathy will be the ones controlling the narratives for their industries and ultimately helping to lead the AI revolution.
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Google has replaced First Input Delay (FID) with a new Core Web Vitals metric called Interaction to Next Paint (INP). This change aims to better measure a website’s responsiveness and overall user experience.
This article explains what INP is, why it has replaced FID, how to check your site’s INP score, and various techniques to improve INP and enhance website responsiveness.
What is Interaction to Next Paint (INP)?
Google uses INP to assess your site’s overall responsiveness. If you click on a drop-down menu and there’s a delay with its opening, this latency shows poor responsiveness and relates to INP.
If there are issues with INP, user experience suffers because the user may continue clicking on your site’s menu, waiting for a response.
INP is the time it takes from the initial user interaction and when the next frame on the site is painted.
Why did INP replace FID?
Google previously announced that INP would replace FID because the latter was a metric that had its limitations, which SEOs had known about. INP is the “new iteration” of FID in that it will measure a site’s responsiveness in a more complete manner.
Your Google Search Console report will no longer show FID. Site owners should, as they have for a long time, focus on improving the user experience.
Your Core Web Vitals are just a small part of a site’s SEO, but it’s one of the areas that you should spend time on optimizing because it can make a big difference (e.g., conversions).
A well-functioning site that loads and responds quickly will outperform a similar site where user experience is poor.
How to check your site’s INP
You can check a site’s INP in two ways:
Google Search Console
PageSpeed Insights
Navigate to Search Console > Experience > Core Web Vitals. If you want to run PageSpeed Insights on your own, go to PageSpeed Insights. Enter the URL or domain you want to check, and hit the Analyze button.
Navigate to the Desktop tab and you’ll see the site’s INP listed. The INP is 50 ms, so it’s still in the green and doesn’t need optimization.
You can judge if the INP needs optimization on your site based on its score:
> 200 ms is “Good.”
200 ms to 500 ms “Needs Improvement.”
< 500 ms is “Poor.”
PageSpeed Insights will allow you to view reports you can filter to find recommendations to improve your site’s INP. If you focused on FID in the past, you’ll find many of the improvements you made will help the site’s INP, too.
Work through the recommendations in the report to try and improve your site’s INP.
You can also implement some basic INP optimizations that all sites should incorporate to focus more on responsiveness and ensure that the user experience remains high.
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Focus on what your site lacks in the report and fixing known issues before taking a “one-size-fits-all-all” approach. If your site’s JavaScript isn’t an issue right now, focus on what is impacting your users.
Address JavaScript-related issues
JavaScript is how many sites go from static to interactive. If your site uses JavaScript intensely, you should begin with optimizing it. You may want to work with your dev team because fixing scripts can become complex.
A few basic tasks that will certainly help are:
Use a content delivery network (CDN) to improve file loading times and reduce your INP by a few milliseconds.
Minify all of your JavaScript files and CSS, too. Smaller files load faster and will help speed up INP.
Long tasks
Long tasks are considered those that take longer than 50 ms to process. Your browser has a “main task,” which can only process a single task at any given time. If your JavaScript takes longer than 50 ms to process, all other tasks are put on hold until the process is down.
What can you do?
Break these long tasks into much smaller runs so that they take less time to run and process.
Web.dev has a great guide on this lengthy topic, but the idea is simple:
Split calls to multiple methods into multiple functions. JavaScript treats all functions as a single task, so if you have 10 sub-functions in one main function, the main function will quickly turn into a long task.
Defer code execution, which will take the help of a developer if you don’t know how to do this already.
Create a dedicated API scheduler, which is outlined in the guide linked above.
If you use setTimeout and requestIdleCallback, you can also break up long tasks into shorter ones.
Input readiness
You want your site to be ready for user input and respond as quickly as possible. One way to do this is to defer code like in the last section or use passive event listeners.
Narrowing down what’s causing INP issues
INP issues are tricky to pinpoint, but there are tools that you can use to help with diagnosing issues. I’m still experimenting with new tools to identify issues with INP, but the following work well:
Real user monitoring (RUM)
RUM is something that you should be using to your advantage, especially if you run ecommerce sites. Slow interactions seem to be much higher in the ecommerce sphere than they are on content sites.
Tools that can help with RUM are:
DebugBear
Akamai mPulse
Chrome’s DevTools
If you’re a Chrome user, the DevTools (hit F12 on PC) can help. You’ll want to go to Performance and Start Recording. From here, navigate to an interactive element on the site and the performance will be logged.
The tool can help you better understand what’s causing a site delay and determine how to fix it.
Monitor your site’s Search Console or PageSpeed Insights periodically to stay on top of your INP.
Since extensive JavaScript optimization is required, if the site you’re working on uses extensive JavaScript, work with a developer to optimize it.
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The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) now has 111 potential concerns over Google’s Privacy Sandbox, according to its April Q1 2024 report. That’s up from 72 in the CMA’s Q4 2023 report, released January.
Why the concerns? The CMO and the U.K.’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) are concerned the Privacy Sandbox could make Google even more dominant, giving them an unfair advantage that could hurt advertisers, competing ad platforms, publishers and users.
Multi-touch concerns. One addition to the report is around concerns over Google’s approach to attribution:
“Stakeholders have expressed further concerns around Google’s approach to multi-touch attribution, arguing that ‘single touch’ attribution is likely to advantage Google.”
“For example, a current user journey may involve seeing an ad several times on different properties (e.g. a publisher site, their social media feed, etc) before the user takes an action. Users may also act on their intent to convert by searching for the advertised product. Stakeholders are concerned that Google is likely to be the ‘last touch’ and therefore capture more of the value from conversions than other market participants.”
“We have shared this feedback with Google and await its response.”
What is Google’s Privacy Sandbox? Google is introducing the Privacy Sandbox program as an alternative to third-party cookies to enable advertisers to deliver targeted ads in Chrome while minimizing improper cross-site and cross-app tracking.
“We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem. It’s also critical that the CMA has sufficient time to review all evidence including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June. Given both of these significant considerations, we will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4. We remain committed to engaging closely with the CMA and ICO and we hope to conclude that process this year. Assuming we can reach an agreement, we envision proceeding with third-party cookie deprecation starting early next year.”
Microsoft’s AI assistant Copilot is now available for all advertisers across the Microsoft Advertising Platform, a month after they increased the testing pool, the company announced today.
Why we care: Microsoft touts CopIlot as a way for advertisers to save time on routine tasks, focus on strategic decision-making and improve overall performance. We’ll be watching closely to see whether these claims are actually true for advertisers.
What’s new. Copilot offers several AI-powered capabilities within the ad platform, including:
Natural language conversational chat to get answers and synthesize info.
Recommendations for ad creative assets like images and copy.
AI-generated images and other assets on demand.
Integrated throughout the platform UI and workflows.
What it looks like. Here’s a screenshot of what it looks like in the Microsoft platform:
And what Copilot looks like answering a question about campaign performance:
What’s next: An upcoming pilot will allow advertisers to use Copilot to summarize the performance of specific ad campaigns via chat automatically.
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B2B lead generation through paid search is constantly evolving. Today’s effective PPC strategies differ from previous years. B2B marketers must adapt and zero in on:
Hyper-personalization using first-party data.
Leveraging account-based marketing to target high-intent audiences.
Engaging and educating prospects with interactive content.
Developing compelling video assets for Performance Max and beyond.
Using AI-driven automation.
1. Hyper-personalization using first-party data
Focusing on hyper-personalization to engage our target audience is necessary, but it has become even more difficult as Google cracks down on personalization policies in Google Ads.
This strategy involves leveraging your company’s data analytics and advanced segmentation techniques to deliver tailored content and offers to individual prospects based on your preferences, behaviors and demographics.
Break out your campaigns in Google Ads by industry, job title or other ways to best segment your audiences. Analyze vast datasets to gain deeper insights into your audience’s needs and pain points. With this knowledge, you can create highly targeted campaigns that resonate with prospects personally, driving higher engagement and conversion rates.
Successful B2B lead generation campaigns will prioritize hyper-personalization, delivering customized content across various channels, including email, social media and PPC. By addressing each category’s unique challenges, you can establish stronger connections and foster trust, ultimately paving the way for long-term relationships with prospects.
2. Leveraging account-based marketing to target high-intent audiences
To find these prospects, account-based marketing (ABM) continues to gain momentum as a powerful strategy for B2B lead gen, especially in complex, high-value sales environments. Unlike traditional lead gen approaches that cast a wide net, ABM targets specific accounts or companies with personalized messaging and experiences.
Consider embracing ABM tools to collect audiences to target within Google and Microsoft Ads. The shift to first-party data demands better audience lists for targeting on Display, Demand Gen and Video Campaigns. These signals are also necessary for effective audience signals on Performance Max campaigns.
Without strong audiences these tools can offer, you may be wasting money on campaigns that deliver to the wrong audiences. Using ABM tools is especially important, as many ads could land in front of consumers rather than businesses, wasting precious ad spend or driving low-quality leads.
Tools, including 6sense, ZoomInfo and Hubspot, can create contact lists, integrate with Google and Microsoft Ads and personalize landing pages and email sequences.
These advancements in marketing technology let you scale your ABM efforts effectively, leveraging automation and predictive analytics to identify and prioritize high-potential accounts.
By investing resources in strategic account targeting and personalized engagement, your B2B organization can drive meaningful conversations and win new business in 2024.
3. Engaging and educating prospects with interactive content
With shorter attention spans nowadays, use interactive content to grab your audience’s attention. Instead of using static assets like whitepapers and ebooks, which have been the norm for lead generation landing pages for years, interactive content gets people actively involved, leading to better engagement and understanding.
From interactive quizzes and assessments to calculators and configurators, there are myriad ways to create compelling interactive experiences that educate and entertain prospects while subtly guiding them through the buyer’s journey. Incorporating forms into interactive content keeps PPC campaigns effective for lead generation while offering value.
Leverage interactive content formats to stand out and engage your audience while gaining data, finding qualified leads and boosting conversions efficiently.
4. Developing compelling video assets for Performance Max and beyond
Creating effective video content is to level up your B2B lead gen efforts. Video is now a key component in Google and Microsoft Ads, incorporated into various campaign types like Demand Gen and Performance Max. If you’re not producing compelling video content, you risk lagging behind in your marketing efforts.
This also includes short-form videos. Since Google now offers ads for YouTube Shorts, remember to create vertical video content that can be served on as many channels as possible.
If you’re investing in expensive ABM tools to collect audience lists, put your best content forward to entice your audience to interact with your content. Video content is essential to a strong PPC B2B strategy today.
5. Streamlining processes and driving efficiency with AI-powered automation
Amid data overload, you can rely on AI and automation to streamline lead generation and boost efficiency. AI simplifies tasks like data analysis, ad copywriting and emailing prospects, simplifying PPC processes.
AI-powered automation is central to B2B lead gen campaigns, allowing you to deliver personalized experiences at scale while optimizing resource allocation and campaign performance. Google also enables AI within Google Ads through “AI Essentials,” so you can quickly launch campaigns or create deliverables to integrate into your interactive content or ebooks on landing pages.
The keys to successful PPC lead gen today and beyond
As data privacy restrictions tighten and buyer expectations shift, B2B companies must adapt their paid search approaches accordingly. These strategies blend cutting-edge technologies with customer-centric experiences to capture attention and drive conversions.
From personalized ads to interactive content and AI optimization, these tactics are crucial for staying ahead of the curve in 2024’s lead generation landscape.
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Getting international SEO right is hugely important for global brands. And one of the most fundamental optimizations is the domain and URL structure you choose to use.
At the very least, we wanted to understand how popular different domain structures were. We also hoped our analysis might reveal some secrets about how Google’s algorithm responds to different domain structures internationally. Below are our key findings.
1. 56% of the top three positions are held by ccTLDs
Our data reveals that ccTLDs are the most prevalent website structure in the top three ranking positions globally. This suggests those who favor ccTLDs are right to do so.
However, ccTLDs can be expensive and inefficient to manage, so take this into consideration and choose them only if you are confident they are the right solution for you.
2. The prevalence of ccTLDs and gTLDs in SERP positions are inversely correlated
gTLDs with no market subdomains or subdirectories are inversely correlated with ccTLDs as you go from position 1 to 100.
Perhaps this is just a coincidence, but it indicates that Google does not favor websites with no discernable geotargeting for that market.
3. Subdirectories are the second most prevalent website structure in the top three positions
Subdirectories appear in over 20% of Google’s top positions and account for around 20% of all SERP positions, reflecting that they are a popular choice.
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4. Subdomains account for just 3% of domain structures in SERPs but are only prevalent in top positions in multilingual markets
Switzerland represented the only multilingual market in our study, and it’s the only country where subdomains are prevalent in the top three positions.
For French keywords in Swiss SERPs, subdomains outperformed subdirectories. For Italian keywords, the opposite was true.
5. Portugal is the only market where subdirectories are more common in the top three positions than ccTLDs
Portugal bucked the global trend and was the only market where subdirectories more commonly ranked in the top three positions than ccTLDs.
“This data reflects the fact that there aren’t many very big Portuguese brands who are able to compete with multi-national brands who are using subdirectory structures. For example, brands like Pull and Bear, Zara and Calzedonia all perform incredibly when it comes to fashion keywords with subdirectory structures.”
6. Czechia has the highest rate of ccTLDs in Google SERPs
Of all the countries analyzed, ccTLD websites dominate Czechia’s SERPs. Almost 90% of the top three positions were taken by .cz ccTLDs. Even combining .us and .com together in the U.S. results in fewer ccTLDs (83%) than in Czechia (84%).
“Many big brands tend to either choose not to translate their content into the Czech language or use poor translation services, which we can see right through. And this is such a shame, suggesting that there is a big opportunity for multi-national brands to translate their content better into an optimized format for the Czech market.”
7. In Austria, .AT ccTLDs inversely correlate with German ccTLDs
German ccTLDs (.de) account for almost 20% of all top positions in Austria. By contrast, Austrian ccTLDs make up less than 1% of all domain structures in Germany. We only found three Austrian ccTLDs in the top three positions of German SERPs.
“Given the size of the populations and their economies, this data comes as no surprise in general. Lots of German brands sell directly into Austria via .DE domains, but there are nuances in language and we’d always recommend localizing content into an Austrian dialect as best practice.”
8. The popularity of .com means the U.S. is a statistical anomaly for gTLD use
The overwhelming popularity of the .com domain in the U.S. market means it is very rare to see the official .us ccTLD in use.
Melina Lyraki, an SEO specialist from the U.S., said:
“.com domains are ubiquitous in the U.S. market, and many people just assume .com is U.S.’s ccTLD. Given how popular it is, it is probably the only market where we would ever recommend using a gTLD (.com) ahead of the country’s ccTLD when advising brands who are only targeting the U.S. market.”
What does this data mean for your international SEO strategy?
This data supports those who think ccTLDs are the best for International SEO. If you choose that route, just remember that they require more resources to build, maintain and optimize than other options.
Evidence from the Swiss market suggests that subdomains can be just as effective as any other domain structure. Perhaps we shouldn’t always be so quick to discount the long-maligned subdomain.
That said, it’s clear that subdirectory structures are more commonly used and found in the top organic positions than subdomains. Whichever strategy you choose, remember that this is just your starting point for success.
Study methodology
GA Agency worked with our partners at SE Ranking to analyse 20,000 keywords across 15 different markets, counting how often each website structure appears in each Google position from 1-100. In total, over 1.7 million SERP positions were analyzed.
We looked at ccTLDs, gTLDs with subdomains, gTLDs with subdirectories and gTLDs without evidence of market-specific subdomains or subdirectories.
We did not include website structures using URL parameters in this study, as they are not recommended.
We analyzed ~1,400 keywords in each market.
We used transactional or purchase intent e-commerce keywords across all languages (defined as such by analyzing the sites ranking in the top 10 positions).
Markets analyzed: Austria, Switzerland (German, French and Italian-speaking regions), Czechia, Germany, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.
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