When In Buy Mode I Click On Nothing But Google Sponsored Links

I’ve been in hardcore research and development mode these past few months for several large projects.

While in this mode I’ve spent considerable time pounding away at Google and as there are two stages with R&D, research & development, there are two different ways I use Google.

During research mode I strictly only use Google organic search results. I could spend several days to several weeks jumping through Google’s organic search results trying to come-up to speed for a process or solution I am trying to solve. In my quest I could go through dozens of keyword combinations.

You don’t realize how far off Google’s Organic Search Results are and how much work needs to be done with Google’s algorithm until you need to seriously research a method and attempt to bring yourself up-to speed on a variety of areas.

During my research stage I am looking out for several things while clicking away at the organic listings. First of all, are the pages on topic for what I am looking for and secondly are there additional industry terms I am failing to type into Google to refine my research.

This part is key, “Industry Terms”.

Somewhere along the line, it could be a few hours to several weeks, where the information I have been researching suddenly clicks in my brain. Once I have educated myself on the specific topic I have no problem pounding in the industry jargons and pulling on high quality search results.

As it turns out, the majority of sites out on the web still have no clue and use their inside industry terms to describe their products and services. Perhaps this is more of a problem with Google and not those businesses. Reading these sites is as fun as ease dropping on a conversation where people are conversing using nothing but industry acronyms. But, thats where we are still at. The majority of website fail to use basic terms, but those websites offer solid services I might be interested in.

Once I have become a pseudo expert on my researched topic the only websites I want to visit now are those that have a service offering for me. This is where I find value with Google Sponsored Links.

I am currently doing some research on “Managed Email Autoresponders” (See previous post). And when I type in my keywords I see that there are 10 advertisers who have a managed services offering.

At this point, thanks to tabbed browsing I will click on every single one of these ads and open them in separate tabs. Then I will take some time to review each website and narrow down a potential service provider. I could care less that these business spent money advertising and my click cost them because I am now ready to buy and it is comparison shopping time.

I believe my Google search habits represent a lot of users and as someone who advertises products and services via PPC it is important to understand what is happening here.

Users who click on PPC advertisements are probably ready to buy or just need a little priming to click that Buy Now button. Being that as it is a smart PPC campaign should lead a visitor to a page that shows the user only the specific product or service they were looking for and the ability to buy it right then and there.

This may seem like common knowledge but do some searches for some “Managed Service Offerings” and notice how many PPC ads lead the user to the businesses home page.

Hey, I’ve already done my research and I am ready to buy. That’s why clicked on your ad. Take me directly to the product or service I am looking for and tell me how much and show me where I can buy it. Otherwise I will tab over to the 9 other businesses in my browser window and never return.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 at 3:57 pm and is filed under SEO / Internet, Shandy Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.