What are the benefits of search advertising? Introducing disadvantages and recommended industries

Search advertising is one of the most popular types of web advertising, but do you know its benefits?

There are so many types of web ads that it can be difficult to figure out which ads have what effects and benefits.

However, if you do not understand the benefits of each type of advertising, you may not get the desired effect.

By understanding the benefits of search advertising, you can maximize the effectiveness of the same advertising cost and contribute to your business.

In this article, we will introduce the advantages and disadvantages of search advertising.

We also explain the difference with SEO and the industries in which search advertising is recommended, so please read it if you are worried about strategies to attract customers online or if you are unsure about using search advertising.

Four benefits of search advertising

Search advertising has four major benefits.

I will explain each.

1. Reach users with high purchase intent

Compared to other types of advertising, search advertising has the advantage of reaching users with a high purchase intent.

Search ads are ads that are displayed on search engines such as Google and Yahoo in conjunction with keywords searched by users.

Due to the characteristics of search advertisements, such as “the advertisement is displayed on the search results screen” and “users who view the advertisement are aware of the existence of the keyword/topic,” users who view the search advertisement may be interested in the keyword/topic. It’s highly sexual.

You can also display ads to users who are more likely to be interested and more likely to make a purchase.

For example, if you want to display ads to users who are thinking about buying a refrigerator, you can run ads linked to keywords that are likely to be searched by users who want to buy a refrigerator, such as “recommended refrigerators” or “cheap refrigerators.” .

On the other hand, you can also set up ads such as “refrigerator repair” to not display ads to users who are unlikely to purchase a refrigerator.

In this way, search ads are more likely to contribute to sales compared to other types of advertising because they can display ads to users with a higher purchasing intent.

2. Available relatively cheaply

There is no minimum amount for search ads.

You can place an ad for as little as a few hundred yen per day.

Also, since search ads are paid per click (CPC), they are cheaper to place than other types of advertising.

Pay-per-click advertising charges a fee based on the number of clicks.

In other words, if your ad is not clicked, it will only be displayed and you will not incur any costs.

Due to the pay-per-click feature, search ads are recommended even if you don’t have a lot of advertising budget, as they can be used at lower costs than other types of advertising.

Also, since you can change the budget on a daily basis, you can make adjustments such as drastically reducing the budget during the off-season and concentrating the budget on posting during the busy season.

However, if the advertising budget is too small compared to the market, the amount of advertising delivered will decrease.

Please note that if the amount of ad distribution is small, not enough user data will be collected, making it difficult to analyze and improve search ads.

3. You can post ads immediately

Search ads also have the advantage of being able to post ads in a short amount of time compared to other types of advertising.

There are three main materials needed to place a search ad.

If you decide on these three things and pass the screening, you can publish search ads.

Although there is an ad review, the review period is much shorter than pure ads, with the review period ranging from the same day at the earliest to 3 days at the most, so it is possible to publish the ad on the same day.

Also, unlike banner ads, there is no need to prepare images, so it takes less time to post.

However, some products may not be published, and in some cases, your advertising account may be suspended and you may not be able to place your advertisement.

As with any advertisement, there are screening requirements before posting an ad, so be sure to check them beforehand.

4. Effects can be improved immediately

Another advantage of search advertising is that you can quickly improve its effectiveness.

One of the features of search advertising is that the distribution results are immediately displayed in numerical form, making it easy to measure effectiveness.

As a result, you can analyze and improve faster and maximize your effectiveness.

Search ads are ads that are distributed with the assumption that they will improve.

Therefore, it is not always possible to get the best numbers from the beginning of advertising operations.

It is necessary to repeatedly verify the effectiveness and make improvements to gradually increase the effectiveness.

Specifically, we will improve the effectiveness by adding/excluding keywords, changing ad text, changing link destinations, etc.

Improved results can be seen numerically in a few days at the earliest, so it is possible to accelerate the speed of improvement.

Next, we will introduce the disadvantages of search advertising.

Get a deeper understanding of search advertising to further increase your company’s sales.

Three disadvantages of search advertising

Search advertising has some attractive benefits, but of course there are also some drawbacks.

There are three main disadvantages, so let’s understand them together with the advantages.

I will explain each.

1. Not suitable for expanding awareness

Because search ads are linked to keywords, they are not suitable for increasing awareness.

Awareness expansion is a measure to get users who are unaware of your product name, company name, etc. to become aware of it.

If your company name or product name is unknown, users will not be able to perform a search, and search ads will not be displayed.

Additionally, search advertising has a “specification in which advertising space is set up for keywords that have a certain number of search volumes.”

Even if you try to place a search ad with a keyword that has no search volume, there is no point in placing an ad because the ad may not be displayed.

These two aspects make it unsuitable for expanding awareness.

Before operating search ads, first check whether keywords such as “company name”, “name of company’s products”, and “related keywords” are generally recognized, and if not, expand awareness. Remember that you need it.

If you want to increase awareness with web ads, we recommend ads that can be posted without being linked to keywords, such as SNS ads and display ads.

2. More competition means higher costs

The more competition there is for search advertising, the more expensive it will be.

Search advertising is a system in which an auction is held based on “ad quality” and “set cost per click,” and the ranking is determined.

If there are many competitors, auction competition tends to be intense, so unless you set a high cost per click, it will be difficult for your ads to be displayed.

Additionally, industries and keywords with a lot of competition tend to have higher cost per click, which often results in higher advertising costs.

For example, industries and keywords such as credit cards and real estate tend to have high cost per click.

That said, keyword selection is important for search advertising because if you place an ad with a keyword that has a low number of searches or a niche keyword, you can reduce costs to some extent and attract customers from the ad even in an industry with a lot of competition. Let’s remember this.

3. It is becoming difficult to hold concurrent positions

Operation of search advertising requires advanced skills and specialized knowledge, so it is difficult to combine this with other duties.

In recent years, various functions have been added to search advertising, and it has become impossible to operate it effectively unless you update your skills and knowledge.

Additionally, search advertising requires repeated analysis and improvement based on operational results, so regular improvements are required.

If you are concurrently working on other jobs and end up neglecting search advertising because you are busy with other jobs, there is a good chance that the numbers will deteriorate and become ineffective.

It’s fine for small-scale operations, but when running large-scale search advertising operations, it is desirable to have someone in charge of search advertising.

If you cannot secure the resources in-house, you can expect higher advertising effectiveness by requesting an agency or outsourcing the operation.

Next, I will explain the difference between SEO and search advertising, which are often compared.

Both measures are carried out on the search engine results screen, but there are major differences, so if you make the wrong choice,

Difference between search advertising and SEO

SEO is a web marketing strategy that is often compared to search advertising.

The two measures are called SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and are often compared because they are both marketing measures carried out on search engines.

Which policy is suitable for your company? Which measures are more important? In order to make this decision, you must understand the difference between the two measures.

There are five main differences between search advertising and SEO.

Understand the differences between the two measures and check which one is suitable for your company.

Publication position

Search ads and SEO content have clearly separated positions on the same search results screen.

Search ads are placed in ad spaces at the top and bottom of search engines.

SEO is the natural search box below.

click rate

There is also a big difference in the click-through rate on the search results screen between search advertising and SEO.

The click-through rate for Google search ads is around 2-6%.
※Google Ads Benchmarks for YOUR Industry [Updated!]

On the other hand, when displayed on the first page with SEO, the click-through rate is around 1.5-21%.
※Announcing: 2017 Google Search Click Through Rate Study

Although not limited to search engines, ads are often disliked by users and tend to have low click-through rates.

cost

Search ads are paid ads, so there is a cost to place them.

On the other hand, with SEO, there is no cost to get your website ranked high.

Costs are required when outsourcing the website improvements and content production necessary for SEO, but if the website improvement and content production can be done by in-house human resources, there are basically no costs other than personnel costs. plug.

display speed

Search ads are often reviewed on the same day to 3 days, and ads can be displayed on the same day they are submitted.

SEO often takes time to take effect, and it often takes several months for the top page of a new site to appear on search engines.

Controllability

You can control the placement of search ads by adjusting the cost per click.

SEO determines the ranking according to Google’s algorithm.

Therefore, it is more difficult to control the placement with SEO, and even if you take measures, it is not guaranteed that you will be able to rank higher.

Industries where search advertising is recommended

There are several characteristics of industries that are suitable for placing search ads.

Please check whether the service or product you are considering posting applies to.

less competition

Industries where there are few competitors operating search ads are recommended for search ads.

When there is less competition, auction competition is less intense, so the cost per click tends to be lower.

If the cost per click is low, there is a high possibility that you can operate your advertising at a low cost.

On the other hand, industries with a lot of competition tend to have higher cost per click.

For example, credit cards, real estate, and law are typical industries where the cost per click tends to be high.

On the other hand, the following industries tend to have low cost per click:

• BtoB industry
• Sales of own products
• Community-based services

However, if competition increases in these industries, the cost per click will increase, so you need to carefully check your distribution results.

Special, niche, and urgent

Conversion rates tend to be high in niche industries and industries with a high degree of urgency, so we recommend running search ads.

In specialized or niche industries, there are fewer searchers.

However, search users tend to have high conversion rates because they are considering purchasing products.

In addition, search advertising, which easily appeals to users with a high purchasing intent, is highly compatible with industries with a high degree of urgency.

With search ads, ads are displayed in conjunction with search keywords, so you can make an effective appeal by placing ads on keywords searched by users who want to use your service right away.

Users with a high sense of urgency are in a hurry, so they are more likely to click on a search ad that appears higher than the natural search results, rather than searching in detail for the natural search results.

Special industries, niche industries, and industries with high urgency include the following.

• Sales of special parts
• Water repair
• key repair
• pest control

Taking water repair services as an example, you can effectively appeal to keywords such as “water leak” and “water leak repair” that are searched by users who want repairs done right away.

Search advertising is likely to yield results for niche and highly urgent occupations like this, so if you are in this type of industry and are having trouble attracting customers online, we recommend using search advertising.

Difficult to rank high in SEO

If it is difficult to rank high in SEO, you may be able to display higher than natural search results by posting search ads.

Search ads are advertisements, so the more money you spend, the more likely you are to be ranked high.

On the other hand, depending on the industry, the top SEO rankings are dominated by the websites of major companies, so it may be difficult for small and medium-sized businesses to rank high.

In particular, there are many major companies in the following industries, and it is likely to be difficult to rank highly in SEO.

• financial industry
• Human resources/education industry
• medical industry

Not only are there many large companies in this industry, but Google’s algorithms are also stricter.

Therefore, in an industry where there are many large competing companies, it is likely that it will take a huge amount of time and cost to rank high in SEO, and there are many cases where the budget runs out before the costs are fully recovered.

Therefore, if you are unsure whether to tackle SEO or search advertising in this type of industry, we recommend search advertising.

[Summary] Maximize the effects with advertising and measures that suit your company

Search ads are pay-per-click ads, so compared to other types of advertising, they can be placed at a lower cost and produce results in a shorter period of time.

Search ads have other benefits as well.

However, search advertising also has disadvantages.

Those are the following three.

Let’s understand the advantages and disadvantages and consider using search advertising.

Search advertising is especially recommended if you have increased awareness in your own business area.

First, weigh the advantages and disadvantages and consider implementing it.