Pro Tip: A look back at some notable tips from our Paid Search community in 2019

1. Where Google RSA inventory comes from may surprise you

“Just like broad match will eventually stop showing ads for related queries that fail to turn impressions into clicks, so will RSAs,” explains Frederick Vallaeys of Optmyzr. “Google makes no money from impressions; they make money from clicks. And Google is pretty strict about not showing things that seem irrelevant, i.e., RSA variations that never get clicked because these are a waste of space and a detriment to Google’s position as the provider of useful answers.” MORE >>

2. Use your video content on YouTube to enhance lightbox ads

“When creating a display campaign with the goal of ‘product and brand consideration,’ you can create custom lightbox ads which are actually pretty fun to build,” explains Joe Martinez of Clix Marketing. “You can customize these lightbox ads with a variety of elements such as images, a retail feed from your merchant center, messages, call-to-action buttons, stylization and videos. With a lightbox ad, you pay on a cost-per-engagement bidding strategy. When the ad is visible to the user, they will only see a thumbnail image. The user has to hover their mouse over the ad for a couple of seconds to see the content on the inside. Once the ad opens, then the advertiser will be charged. Any actions that a user takes after they are engaging with your ad are free. In addition to images, having a user engage with my videos and sending them back to my website to me is a more qualified user. They didn’t accidentally click on my display ad. They hovered over it, explored the ad, possibly watched my video content, then clicked to my website. I’d rather remarket to an engaged user first over a page visit audience, and videos can help keep users engaged.” MORE >>

3. Google Ads’ new ‘affinity audiences’ provide new options for ad targeting

“With Google’s new affinity audiences, you can connect someone’s search intent with their passions,” explains Matt Lawson of Google. “It’s not only that someone is searching; it’s that they’re searching for something they’re excited about and already into. There are over 132 segments are available across 12 categories and can be deployed by certain types of industries that may have written off audience targeting. Health care, financial and religiously-affiliated advertisers, and plenty of others, can use affinity audiences.” MORE >>

4. Search partner clicks convert at a lower rate than core search, but cost less too

“Looking at the conversion rate of search partner traffic relative to core search, partners clearly convert at a significantly lower rate,” explains Andy Taylor of Tinuiti. “In July and August, search partner conversion rate improved relative to core search across device types. This makes sense if Google’s image search change really did take a few months to roll out, since the transition of image search clicks from the partner network to core search would likely put downward pressure on core search conversion rate. Regardless, the disparity in conversion rate might be enough to send some advertisers running to Shopping campaign settings to shut down the partner network. However, looking at relative CPC, search partner traffic also consistently tracks well below core search in the price paid for clicks as well.” MORE >>

5. Stuffing your ad copy is a grave mistake

“After years of being betrayed by spammy search results, our brains have been trained to filter out keyword-stuffed ads as irrelevant,” says Jacob Baadsgaard of Disruptive Advertising. “In other words, if your ad copy looks generic, overly corporate or sales-heavy, your potential customers may skim past your ad without even realizing it – their brains will simply filter it out before they even have a chance to read it.” MORE >> 

Pro Tip is a special feature for SEOs in our community to share a specific tactic others can use to elevate their performance. You can submit your own here.