Transcript: Introduction to Paid
Search Advertising
Video 1: The Advantages of Paid Search Advertising
There are a few platforms out there for search advertising. Google is by far the most used search engine out there. With
3.5 billion search queries a day, over 70% of the total searches made daily around the world are done on Google. How
does Google compare to Bing and Yahoo? Well, Google brings in six times more searches every day than Bing and Yahoo.
People conducting a search in Google are looking for something in specific and will click on the first result they believe is
going to be the most helpful to them.
You might be thinking: “I already appear in organic results on Google. Why should I pay to advertise on Google too?”
Advertising on Google is profitable. According to Google, advertisers make $8 for every $1 they spend on Google Ads.
Advertising on Google keeps you competitive. Your competitors might be bidding on your branded terms, which means
your organic results are being pushed down the page. Advertising on Google appears first in the SERPs. Search ads
appear first in the search engine results pages (SERPs) above organic results.
Paid search advertising gives advertisers the opportunity to capture the attention of their audience in a more targeted
way than with organic search alone.
Video 2: Exploring Keyword Research and Match Type
Search ads allow you to anticipate the wants, needs, and desires of your potential customers and serve ads to them that
are highly contextual. And over time, the analytics of your search ads can help you analyze and improve those ads to
reach even more people. But how does Google know how to deliver the right ad to the right person? That’s where
keywords come into play.
A keyword is one word or phrase that someone uses to describe what they need in search. Advertising on search
platforms takes the targeting capabilities available on social media platforms, like demographics and location, and layers
it with the addition of keywords. When a Google user types a query into the search field, Google returns a range of
results that match the searcher’s intent. Keywords align with what a searcher wants and will satisfy their query. You
select keywords based on which queries you want to display your ad alongside.
Keyword research is just as important for paid ads as it is for organic search. Your keywords need to match searcher
intent as much as possible. That’s because Google matches your ad with search queries based on the keywords you
selected. Each ad group that you create within your campaign will target a small set of keywords and Google will display
your ad based on those selections.
Let's say Mary is moving to a different house and is looking for a home mover. So she goes into Google and types "best
home movers." By searching "best home movers," she's going to see results for advertisers that targeted keywords like
"moving companies" and "top rated movers.”
How should you select keywords? Keywords typically fall under two categories: brand and non-brand. A brand keyword
is a word or phrase that includes a brand’s name or variations of a brand’s name.
Some of HubSpot’s brand keywords include:
• HubSpot
• HubSpot Free CRM
• HubSpot Marketing Hub
These are all variations of the HubSpot brand and the tools that we offer.
Transcript: Introduction to Paid
Search Advertising
Non-brand keywords include all other relevant keywords that do not include a brand’s name or variations of a brand’s
name.
Some of HubSpot’s non-brand keywords include:
• Inbound marketing
• Sales software
• Customer relationship management
While these keywords are not part of HubSpot’s brand name, they are relevant terms that allows HubSpot to reach
audiences that might be interested in eventually making a purchase.
How to decide between brand and non-brand keywords? They both have a role to play in your digital advertising
strategy. Brand keywords help you protect your brand from your competitor’s ads. Not running ad campaigns for brand
keywords can leave your business vulnerable to losing website traffic to the competition who is bidding on your brand.
Non-brand keywords still have a role to play, too. Non-brand keywords allow you to reach new audiences unfamiliar
with your brand. Use brand and non-brand keywords together. This can have the largest impact in your paid search
strategy.
There are a lot of tools out there, but a great and free place to start is with the Moz Keyword Explorer. To learn more
about how to use the Moz Keyword Explorer, check out the lesson on Creating Topic Clusters and Pillar Pages.
How do search engines deliver content based on keywords? When it comes to when your ad is displayed, you don’t just
want to pick a certain group of keywords and have the ad shown only when those keywords are entered into the search
engine. This is where match type comes in. Since there are an infinite number of ways that people can actually search
for one term, Google gives you four match types to choose from: exact match, phrase match, and broad match. Plus,
you can also use a broad match modifier and negative keywords to optimize where your ads are delivered.
Match type gives you a little wiggle room when it comes to your keyword selections. Match types tell Google whether
you want to match a search query exactly, or if your ad should be shown to anyone with a search query that’s related in
some way.
Exact Match Type: A keyword set to exact match will only display your ad if the search term includes that exact keyword,
or a very close variation. The keyword “red men’s tennis shoes” will not match with searches for “men’s tennis shoes”
since the search term doesn’t include the word “red.” Exact match keywords are surrounded in brackets: [red men’s
tennis shoes]
Phrase Match Type: A keyword set to phrase match will display your ad if the search term contains the same order of
the words, but it can also contain additional words. The keyword “men’s tennis shoes” will match with the search query
“red men’s tennis shoes” but will not match with “men’s red tennis shoes.” Phrase match keywords are surrounded in
quotes: “men’s tennis shoes”
Broad Match Type: A keyword set to broad match displays your ad when the search term contains any or some
combination or variations of the words in your keyword, in any order. The keyword “men’s tennis shoes” will match with
“red men’s tennis shoes,” “men’s red tennis shoes,” “women’s tennis shoes,” and so on. Broad match keywords don’t
include any symbols: men’s tennis shoes
Broad Match Modifier: Allows you to select keywords that must be included in the search query for your ad to be
displayed. To deliver an ad to people only searching for tennis shoes for men, you could modify your broad match
keyword to “+men’s tennis shoes.” Keywords with a broad match modifier use a plus sign: +men’s tennis shoes.
Transcript: Introduction to Paid
Search Advertising
In our men’s tennis shoes example, adding the plus sign in front of the word “men’s” guarantees that your ad will only
be shown to people who include that word in their search query. The general rules of broad match still apply to the
other keywords in the query.
Negative Keywords: Excludes your ads from being shown on searches with that term. Google allows you to set keywords
to a negative match type to help refine our keyword strategy. This allows you to avoid having your ad displayed when a
given search term is entered. If you set the keyword “used” to negative match, your ad won’t be shown for any searches
that contain that word, such as “used tennis shoes.” Negative keywords include a minus sign: -used
Pro Tip: If you’re just starting out and don’t know exactly how your persona will be searching, move from a broad match
to a narrower approach. This way, you can test which queries yield the best results. But since this means that your ad
will be ranking for many queries, some of which will be unrelated, you should keep a close eye on your ads and modify
them as you can gain new information.
With the power of intent on your side, running paid search ads can be an effective method for reaching your target
audience at a time when they’re already searching for information to answer a question or solve a problem.
Video 3: How to Create Remarkable Digital Ads for Paid Search
The core components of a paid search ad include up to three headlines, a display URL, and up to three descriptions.
The anatomy of a paid search ad. Google gives you 30 characters for each headline and 90 characters for each of your
descriptions. Headlines, shown in blue, are separated out by the vertical pipe ("|"). Display URL, shown in green, can be
a customized version of the destination URL. Description, shown in black, highlight details about your product or service
and serve as a CTA.
Pro tip: The organization of your search ad components will vary depending on the device they are being viewed on.
Keep this in mind when writing your copy.
For search ads, Google recommends best practices to follow that fall under two categories: ad copy and ad experience.
Successful marketers need to deliver the right messaging for the right moment. Better copy and visuals improve the
relevance your ad has to your target audience and will drive more qualified clicks.
To write the best ad copy:
• Include your keywords in your ad.
• Use specific language that matches the way your target audience speaks.
• Include a clear and direct call-to-action.
• Give people answers to their problems rather than posing questions.
To create the best ad experience:
• Include all ad extensions that make sense for your business (Google recommends at least three).
• Think about how your ad makes sense for users across devices (and create separate ad campaigns as needed).
• Align your landing page to the copy of your ad.
This search ad for Rover, a dog walking and care company, does a great job of taking the intent of the people searching
for their service into consideration. In this example, the search ad appears for the search term “dog walking services”
when searching from Cambridge, MA on a cellphone. The ad itself covers all of Google’s best practices. It includes a
variation of the search term “dog walkers” in the ad copy and it even calls out the location as Cambridge. The ad has
multiple ad extensions which offer even more information about Rover, and the landing page experience aligns with the
intent of the search — it allows you to immediately search for dog walkers in your location.
Transcript: Introduction to Paid
Search Advertising
While your bid plays a large role in determining whether or not your ad is served for a given keywords, Google also uses
something called “quality score” in making this decision.
Quality score: an algorithm that scores each of your ads for relevancy. It looks at how closely your keyword relates to
your ad and how closely your ad relates to your page content to ensure that you’re not buying keywords and directing
traffic to irrelevant pages. Google’s motivation for including quality score is to provide an optimal user experience for
their searchers. It used to be that ad placement was determined solely by bids, but then someone could easily bid on
“toothbrushes” when they were really selling lawn mowers. Google introduced quality score to make sure that the ads
they were displaying were always relevant to the search terms, and to keep their advertisers in check.
Quality score is on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest rating and 10 being the highest. What this means is that if
your competitor bids on a keyword at $5 and has a quality score of 4, and you bid on that same keyword at only $3 but
you have a quality score of 7, Google may give you the top position for the price you bid because your ad is more
relevant. It makes more sense to serve your ad because its higher relevancy makes it more likely that viewers will click
on it, which is better for Google, its searchers, and its advertisers.
Quality score can also help you determine what keywords are cost-efficient for you to use. Let’s say, for example, that
you have a site about fitness tips and you bid on the keyword “nutrition.” Reasons for a low quality score: the content
on your site is not relevant enough to compete in that space, and it’s not a cost-efficient channel for you. If you want to
set yourself up for a successful paid search campaign, show Google how well you can align your keywords, ad copy, and
the landing page experience.
As you can see, there’s a lot that goes into the performance of your social media and search ads. By following Facebook
and Google’s best practices when it comes to your own digital ads, you’ll be set up for success to launch campaigns that
stand out from the crowd and resonate with your target audience.
Video 4: Organizing Your Account Structure
The way that you organize your campaigns, keywords, and copy in Google Ads can dramatically impact how well your
ads perform. You have your keywords, you have the list of keywords that you’re buying, and then you have the ad that
you want to show when somebody types in one of those keywords.
How do you tie these all together? Your account structure includes two key categories: ad groups and campaigns. Ad
Group: One or more ads that share a common theme. Campaign: A set of related ad groups that is often used to
organize categories of products or services that you offer.
Let’s say that you are the digital marketing manager for an online clothing company called Orange Apparel. You have
two key product lines: shoes and shirts. These product lines become your campaigns in Google Ads. Within each
campaign, you have various ad groups that are specific to each type of product within each line. Under shoes, you can
have “tennis shoes” and “dress shoes” for example. Under shirts, you can have “athletic shirts.” Within each ad group,
you can include multiple keywords that all related to or variations of the ad group. So for tennis shoes, some keywords
you would include are “shoes for tennis” or “best tennis shoes.” Under dress shoes, you would include “shoes for work”
and under “athletic shirts” you would include the keyword “shirts for working out” along with all other relevant
keywords. This account structure can be expanded out to as many campaigns, ad groups, and keywords that are relevant
for all of the products or services that you sell.
Use ad groups and campaigns to keep your account structure organized. It’s important that you structure your account
in such a way that your keywords and your ad copy are tightly woven together. Then, you can use your ad groups and
your campaigns to keep them nicely bucketed together and better organized.
