The past year has brought transformative shifts for digital marketing, and specifically in SEO — from algorithm updates that emphasise user experience, to the growing influence of AI-driven content strategies.

The continuing drive to find a competitive edge in the digital landscape means marketers have had to stay on top of the trends to ensure visibility, relevant leads, and conversions. 

Let’s dive into the major SEO trends and explore the impact they could have on SEO in 2025!

Where are we at?

There was a lot to get to grips with in the SEO space in 2024! With six Google algorithm updates in total, including two in the month of December, businesses have had to continuously adapt their strategies to navigate shifts in search rankings, user experience requirements, and content quality expectations. 

Google’s AI Overviews: A Game-Changer for Search

Google introduced its new AI Overviews feature in the UK, designed to give users quick, AI-generated answers to their search queries directly on the search results page. This update aims to improve the search experience for users by providing concise insights that align with their intent, eliminating the need to click through to multiple websites.

This was a major development and AI Overviews can now be widely found across search results. SEO teams will be working to position themselves as the authority referenced by these AI Overviews for relevant searches going forward.

The Rise of Zero-Click Searches

AI overviews are part of a wider theme of providing answers to users’ queries directly on the search engine results page (SERP) through zero-click searches. These aim to save time for users but can have an impact on traffic, with users able to get the information they need without visiting a website. Although this new feature brings challenges for SEO professionals, there are ways to pivot strategies and capitalise on zero-click SEO. 

The Google Leak: Insights Into Ranking Factors

A document was leaked from Google in 2024 which caused widespread discussion amongst digital marketers. People were able to see some of the data that Google collects from websites, and this led to assumptions about the importance of some aspects of SEO, such as site authority and user interactions. 

Voice Search Optimisation Takes Centre Stage

Another development that is likely to play a significant role in SEO in 2025 is voice search optimisation. This has grown in prominence in recent times, with natural language and conversational copy being seen as a huge focus, catering to the growing number of voice search users. 20.5% of internet users worldwide already rely on it, with more than 1 billion voice searches taking place every month.

Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness

EEAT has been a continued focus for Google, standing for experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness. These aspects have been a priority for Google and how it considers the value of your website’s content for users. EEAT should, therefore, be high on the list of priorities for maintaining visibility. 

Navigating Technical SEO: Page Speed, Interactivity, and Visual Stability

Continuing the theme of user experience, Google’s update to its core web vitals included metrics like Next Paint. This measures how quickly users see visual content, highlighting the importance of website responsiveness. This update made it clearer than ever that technical performance—like page speed, interactivity, and visual stability—plays a crucial role in search rankings. 

SEO In 2025: What to Look Forward to

Looking ahead at the landscape of SEO in 2025, there is much to look forward to. Performance tracking is set to improve, with the launch of the new ‘24 hours’ view in Google Search Console. 

Real-Time Insights with Google Search Console’s ’24 Hours’ View

This new feature provides near-real-time insights, showing clicks, impressions, average CTR, and position for the last 24 hours with only a short delay. You can quickly monitor how newly published content performs, identify top-performing queries, and see user engagement trends. 

This new update is displayed in your local time zone, making SEO monitoring very responsive and accessible for 2025. 

Boosting E-Commerce Conversion Rates with Shipping Data Schema

Another exciting feature for SEO in 2025 is for e-commerce sites. They have the opportunity to improve conversion rates on product pages with a proposed new shipping data schema. If this is approved, this schema will allow businesses to highlight key shipping details, such as delivery costs, estimated delivery speed, and any weight or size limitations. 

For brands offering faster or more competitive shipping options, implementing this schema could provide a significant edge over the competition by showcasing these advantages directly on the search engine results page (SERP). 

This update will be a valuable tool for clients with superior shipping policies to drive higher engagement and conversions, positioning them as the clear choice for customers seeking convenience and speed. 

Contact ROAR today so we can help you implement these strategy-changing SEO solutions and drive measurable results for your business.

What ROAR has celebrated with clients

In 2024, ROAR delivered exceptional results for its clients, driving significant growth across multiple sectors.

• Netherby Hall achieved a remarkable 496% increase in conversions, while 
• Spence and Partners saw a 211% increase in quality leads
• Our work with Theodo resulted in an impressive 900% increase in conversions over 12 months
• Duo Global Consulting gained a 100% understanding of user performance to enhance their strategy
• Working with The Essence Vault, we drove a 210% increase in revenue from organic search, showcasing our ability to deliver measurable and impactful results through strategic digital marketing and SEO.

Our Final Thoughts

• Adaptability is key: The continuous changes in Google’s algorithms, AI features, and user expectations highlight the importance of staying up-to-date and flexible with SEO strategies to remain competitive.
• Focus on user intent and experience: Whether through AI overviews, zero-click searches, or improved technical performance, delivering valuable and relevant content for the users will help a successful SEO strategy.
• Consider new tools: From Google Search Console’s real-time insights to shipping data schema for e-commerce, businesses that implement these tools early will have an opportunity to gain visibility, engagement and conversions quicker than others. 

Are you ready to get help with your SEO in 2025? Find out more about our SEO services today. 

Photo © by no_limit_pictures from Getty Images.

The post SEO in 2025: The Search Marketing Trends to take note of appeared first on ROAR Digital Marketing.

This dynamic approach harnesses the power of search engines to connect businesses with their target audience and optimise their marketing efforts. This blog delves into the world of SEM, exploring what it is and how it helps drive online business growth. 

What Is SEO and SEM?

SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

So, what is SEM? SEM, or search engine marketing, is a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. It focuses on enhancing the online visibility of a business by ranking higher in the SERP (search engine results page).

Search engine marketing encompasses organic and paid marketing channels that boost businesses’ online visibility and target relevant audiences. The two main components under the umbrella term of SEM are SEO (search engine optimisation) and PPC (pay-per-click).

Do you want to unlock explosive digital growth for your business? Discover why working with a Search Engine marketing agency like ROAR can transform your business by downloading our free resource. 

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

Many marketers often refer to search engine optimisation as its anagram SEO. SEO focuses on optimising the content and technical aspects to help improve the rank of a website in the SERP (search engine results page). Through various SEO tactics, businesses can increase their chances of having a higher rank in the SERP. 

These tactics include:

• Optimising content with relevant and accurate keywords.
• Creating engaging meta descriptions.
• Optimising images and improving site speed.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

On the other hand, PPC advertising allows businesses to bid on specific keywords that accurately represent the product or service offering that the business wants to sell to its audience. This marketing channel can quickly boost a company’s online visibility if done correctly. All whilst generating a healthy ROI (return on investment) for the business. 

SEO is a strategy that takes time, constant monitoring and improvement to rise through the SERPs (search engine results page). PPC ads rank above the organic results, taking up more ad real estate at the top of page 1 on Google. This results in them receiving more impressions, clicks and conversions.

Driving Online Business Growth Through SEM Campaigns

Combining SEO and PPC to form the multichannel strategy SEM (search engine marketing) can lead to significant growth and numerous benefits.

Enhanced Online Visibility

The global leading search engine, Google, is used to answer 8 billion search queries monthly. SEM ensures businesses tap into that immense internet traffic and stay visible on such a vast digital landscape. Combining effective SEO techniques and optimised PPC campaigns allows businesses to reach the right people at the right time in their buyer journey. This can result in online growth and increased visibility in search engines.

Immediate Results 

SEO is a bit of a slow burner, but PPC offers much quicker results. This is because ads appear on a SERP almost instantly after activation. PPC can be highly effective over time and in time-sensitive situations such as promotions and new product launches. Data from PPC allows the marketer to make informed decisions, measure the campaigns’ impact, and refine the campaign to optimise results. 

Adaptability 

The digital landscape is constantly evolving and becoming more vast as we know it. Search engine marketing provides the flexibility to be proactive and react quickly to emerging trends and changes in consumer behaviour. Keyword research, ad copy and targeting can all be changed or refreshed quickly. This allows businesses to remain flexible and relevant in the most dynamic and changing industries.

Conclusion

Finally, to wrap this blog up, search engine marketing is an umbrella term that encapsulates both SEO and PPC. This multichannel approach is used to drive online business growth by leveraging the power of search engines to boost their visibility, connect with a targeted audience, and achieve measurable results. 

For more, check out our previous blog, ‘The Anatomy of a Successful Search Engine Marketing Campaign’, from our Digital Marketing Executive Oliver Eagle.

Ready to revolutionise your online presence? Contact ROAR today to dominate your competition! 

Photo © by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels.

The post What Is SEO and SEM? (Drive Online Business Growth) appeared first on ROAR Digital Marketing.

What is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing focuses on marketing strategy that solely relates to increasing brand awareness and online presence. 

It may sound niche already, but there is actually a wide range of channels that fall under the digital marketing umbrella. From search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) to influencer marketing, the industry continues to grow, evolve and develop.

What is a Digital Marketing Specialist?

A digital marketing specialist may focus on digital marketing as a whole, covering the range of channels that fall into it. 

But more often than not, a specialist has narrowed their skill set further into categories like search marketing, which means that by working with a specialist, you get a highly qualified, skilled professional.

Why Do I Need Digital Marketing?

Welcome to the digital age! 

Think about how many times a day you reach for your mobile device to scroll online or on applications. 

On average, mobile users in the UK spent over 4 hours on their phones in 2022. So, it’s safe to assume you reach for your device at least once a day.

Let’s imagine your business doesn’t appear online at all. You have no website and no business profile. That is, quite frankly, terrifying and can have serious implications for your business.

Digital marketing has reshaped the marketing industry. It’s no longer just newspaper articles, billboards and TV. You must consider search ads, social media ads, and organic search rankings, let alone the rest.

That is why you need digital marketing! 

We can do the hard part for you. Speak to the team today and start your journey to search engine success. 

How a Digital Marketing Specialist Can Help You 

• Audit and assess your business

The positives of having a specialist’s support are never-ending. They bring a wealth of experience and knowledge in order to analyse, evaluate and implement change within your business. They will accurately understand how to audit your business and its current digital marketing efforts.

• Consultancy

Digital marketing consultancy consists of bringing in an experienced specialist to offer support and advice on your digital journey. You will receive guidance and best practice advice from a specialist who can point you in the right direction. Although consultancy does not include management, it can help you or your team develop their knowledge and skills.

• Campaign Build and Management

Campaign build and management are pretty close to the full works! From keyword research to setting a campaign live, a specialist will control the research, planning, implementation and evaluation process.

Leaving your digital marketing campaign built in the capable hands of a specialist ensures that everything runs smoothly. This also ensures that you and your team can avoid mistakes caused by a lack of knowledge or confidence.

• Reporting 

Many first-time marketers are overwhelmed by analytics and tracking. By bringing in an experienced digital specialist, they know exactly what key metrics to analyse and evaluate. You can be assured that your specialists will only pay attention to the metrics that matter.

If your search marketing requires a boost, check out our services to see how we make your business visible to the users that count.

The post How We Can Help: From a Digital Marketing Specialist appeared first on ROAR Digital Marketing.

Why Exclude Locations in Google Ads

Excluding locations in Google Ads is a strategic decision to Optimise ad spend and improve campaign effectiveness. By targeting specific geographic areas, businesses can focus their resources on regions where their products or services are most relevant or in demand. Excluding locations with low potential for conversions helps avoid wasting budget on uninterested audiences, helping to increase the overall return on investment (ROI).

How to Exclude Locations in Google Ads

Removing a location from Google Ads is simpler than you think with just 4 steps.

In Google Ads navigate to a campaign.

1. Click the ‘targets’ tab.
2. Then, find the ‘campaign location targets’ tab and select the check box next to each geographic location you wish to remove.
3. Click the ‘edit button.
4. Click ‘remove’.

That’s how to exclude locations in Google Ads in just four simple steps – it’s definitely not too difficult. However, if you’d like an experienced PPC agency to tackle your PPC strategy, ROAR is the agency for you!

What Locations Should I Exclude?

Exclude all locations where you do not want to advertise to consumers.

At ROAR we are currently advertising to only the UK and Ireland which means we have a pretty lengthy exclusions list.

You can view our list of excluded locations for free here.

How Do I Exclude a Placement in Google ads?

To maximise your Google Ads campaigns and ensure you reach more potential customers, your ads will show content which matches topics, placements or display/video keywords that you are targeting.

Similarly, you can exclude specific ad placements in Google Ads. This means you can exclude website placements. This includes ones that may be inappropriate for your brand, do not convert, or are not effective when it comes to promoting your product.

Types of placements to exclude:

• Innaproproiate domains.
• Placements where your ads simply do not convert.
• Placements that don’t fit your brand or match brand values.
• Your own domain.

How to exclude these ad placements:

1. In Google ads, click the ‘campaigns’ icon ()
2. Now, find the ‘audiences, keywords and content’ option within the section menu.
3. Select ‘content’.
4. Select ‘Exclusions’
5. Now click on the drop-down arrow to which is on the right of ‘exclusions’.
6. Click ‘placements’.
7. Click the ‘pencil’ icon.
8. Now select whether to ‘add placement exclusion’ or to ‘use placement exclusion list’.
9. Then, choose whether you’d like to exclude placements at the campaign, ad group, or account level.
10. If you have selected the ‘add placement exclusion,’ you should do one of the following:

Search for a word, phrase, URL or video ID that you would like to exclude.

Click ‘enter multiple placements’ and enter the URL(s) you want to exclude.

1. If you have selected the ‘use placement exclusion; select an existing placement exclusion list.
2.  After entering your exclusions, click ‘save’.

How Do I Remove Location Extensions from Google Adwords?

A location extension in Google Ads will show your business’s location information. This includes a business address, a clickable telephone number, and a map marker with your text ads.

On mobile devices, a link is included with directions to find your business.

This information comes from your Google My Business listing.

To remove location extensions from your Google Ads, you must first set up and start syncing location extensions. You can find more on how to do this here.

How to remove location extensions from Google, step by step:

• You should head to a Google Ads campaign or ad group.
• Click the ‘extensions’ tab and select ‘location extensions’.
• Click on ‘manage location extensions’ above the reporting table.
• To prevent a campaign or ad group from displaying location extensions, you must click ‘disable location extensions’.
• To return to the original configuration, choose the “inherit” option from either the campaign’s account or a specific ad group’s campaign or account.
• If you’d like to display only location extensions that match the criteria that you have specified:

Click ‘Use location extensions’ to display filter criteria. Here, you can filter through information like the business name and a maximum of 3 other categories which you have pre-defined for the location within your GMB (Google My Business).

If you’d like to filter via business name, select ‘business name’ from the list of criteria and then enter the name.

To filter on a category defined in your Google My Business account, click +AND and select Category from the list. Then, enter a category name.

To filter on additional categories, click the +OR and enter an additional category. You can enter up to three categories in the filter. The filter will match location extensions in any of the categories you define.

• Finally, click ‘apply’.

For more information on Google Ads, check out this blog from our Senior SEO Executive Joshua Lee: How to Optimise Google Ads (7 Tips).

How Do I Exclude Demographics in Google Ads?

Excluding demographic segments in Google Ads to provide a consolidated view of your ad audiences. It also aids in creating a more seamless optimisation process.

Google Ads provides advertisers and marketers with the ability to target people based on their;

• Age
• Location
• Parental Status
• Traits

But, in the same way, you can hone in on audiences with these traits, you can also exclude certain demographics.

How to exclude demographics in Google Ads, step by step:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads Account.
2. Navigate to the ‘page’ menu and select ‘audiences’.
3. In the ‘exclusions’ module, navigate to and click ‘edit exclusions’.
4. Click on the + icon and select either the campaign or ad group you want to update.
5. Tick the box next to the specific demographic segment that you want to exclude in the ad group.
6. Lastly, click save.

Key Google Ads Statistics

• 63% of People Have Clicked on a Google Ad.
• PPC ads generate twice the visitors that SEO does.
• The average CTR for Google ads is 2%. Anything over that is considered above average.
• Google Ads receive 65% of clicks on searches that start with buying keywords.
• The average conversion rate seen by Google ads is 4.40%.

Looking for an agency to take care of your location exclusions? Click here to download our comprehensive guide to working with a PPC agency and discover how outsourcing transforms your PPC campaign into dominating the search engine rankings.

The post How to Exclude Locations in Google Ads appeared first on ROAR Digital Marketing.

Effective analysis of your paid and organic search efforts could be the key to your prolonged online success; keep reading, and you’ll find out how.

The Importance of Search Engine Marketing Analysis

Much like any digital marketing channel, performance analysis is essential; without it, you won’t truly know as you get out of it. Reflecting, and sometimes over-reflecting, is basic human nature, so why would you not reflect on your search engine marketing channels?

We understand that most might not have the tools or know-how to start analysing their SEM efforts, which makes sense; search engine marketing analysis has a large first hurdle, but one of the easiest ways to understand its importance is by looking at your ROI.

If your ROI is pants, then chances are you’ve not been analysing your search engine marketing efforts. Any digital marketing channel must optimise and adapt to suit new trends, technologies and market change.

You can see now how ROI and SEM analysis are perfect for each other. Whichever channels you are running, their performance is dependent on both.

What’s ROI?

ROI is short for return on investment; it’s a performance-based metric created specifically to evaluate the performance, effectiveness and profitability of an investment.

When used in digital marketing, it is more accurately defined as the return on investment that your marketing efforts quantify. It is most commonly used as a way to measure how successfully marketing channels, programs or campaigns were at generating revenue.

So, simply put, ROI measures the money you put into your digital marketing efforts against the revenue you have generated and gained. This metric is approximate and can be quite tricky to master, but when used correctly can be a powerful tool in determining which channels work best for your business.

Understanding Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing, often shortened to SEM, is a digital marketing practice that increases visibility in search engines to advertise and promote your business.

This is achieved through two channels: paid and organic search. The most common form of SEM is paid search, where you pay to have your listing on search engine results pages for a limited time. The most common form of paid search is PPC advertising.

This leaves us with organic search, more of a slow burn; improving visibility organically is a much more involved process. This is often called the ‘free’ version of SEM, as you don’t pay for an organic listing. However, you need to spend considerable resources and time improving organic visibility. Search engine optimisation is the practice used all across the world to improve organic search.

One of the main differences between organic and paid search is that organic more commonly targets your audience at the top of the sales funnel, whereas paid targets your customers closer to the bottom.

Organic and paid search are essential components of maximising your online efforts; using them in tandem can be a cost-effective way to target your audience at all sales funnel stages. Generating an evergreen sales funnel that drives business growth for you.

Yes the benefits of SEM are undeniable, but in order for them to run as efficiently as possible and generate those high-quality results for your business, you’ll need a specialist SEM agency. 

To understand why you should be talking to a search engine marketing agency right now, check out our ‘Why Hire a SEM agency’ ultimate guide. 

ROI in SEM

The associated complexity should be evident to you now you know what SEM and ROI are and the techniques and processes involved to be even remotely visible, let alone successful.

With this, the need for effective ROI analysis and calculation is key. It’s one of the fundamental metrics for assessing campaign performance.

In the context of digital marketing, calculating ROI is much the same as with your other revenue-driving channels. Here’s the simplest formula for calculating return on investment:

ROI = (Sales Growth – Marketing Costs) / (Marketing Costs) × 100.

For example, if a sporting goods company runs an SEM campaign for a new range of ski wear and their sales grow by £1,000, and the marketing campaign only costs you £500, your ROI would be 100%.

This is great, so that same ski wear campaign is run again, this time with a bigger budget paid search budget, increasing their costs to £2,000, but your sales only grow by £1,500; the ROI for the second campaign would be -25%.

This is a very simple metric and doesn’t quite consider the various complexities of SEM campaigns, but it gives a good approximation of your return on investment.

If you’re looking for a search engine marketing agency to do the work for you, read our blog of top tips for finding the best search engine marketing agency for your business.

Why and How to Use Analysis for ROI Maximisation

In our examples above, you can see that while the winter clothing campaign netted a 100% ROI the first time around, the second had a negative ROI of -25%.

While it’s completely fictional, it’s an example of why you should use search engine marketing analysis to maximise your ROI.

If the marketing team had analysed the first campaign, they would’ve seen that while they increased their paid search budget, organic search was the channel that gained the most sales. So, they’ve spent more money on prioritising the wrong SEM channel.

Without a thorough analysis of the performance of your SEM channels, it becomes a guessing game for the next campaign. No learnings are gained, and you’re flying blind for the next campaign.

Of course, this is just a very simple example of why search engine marketing analytics is vital, but how can you use it? Let’s cover some basic methods, metrics and techniques that you could implement in your SEM campaign review and analysis easily and effectively.

Metrics

There is a wide range of metrics that you can use to analyse the performance of your campaigns, but in our experience, you should focus on these 5 key metrics:

1. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
2. Conversion Rate
3. Cost-Per-Click (CPC)
4. Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
5. Traffic Acquisition

Data Collection and Tracking

Accurate data collection for your SEM campaigns and measuring all of your online activity is crucial. Check out our post on quality website traffic to understand how to identify quality traffic and the best ways to measure it accurately.

One takeaway from this would be to pay close attention to your acquisition channels in your website traffic tool of choice.

Segment and Target

Using all of the data available to you, review your search engine marketing results and start to segment the users based on their behaviour, location, and demographics and use this data more accurately to target them.

Keyword Performance

For goodness sake, review your keywords, see which keywords have the highest CTR, check their search intent, and cross-analyse what works in your paid and organic search efforts. Find those competitive keywords and out-bid and out-optimise your competitors.

Properly master your keyword marketing strategy with our previous post.

Ad Copy and Content Analysis:

You should review your ad groups and their copy and the copy from your landing pages to help both paid and organic work hand in hand. Add the ad copy with the highest conversion rate to your website content. Alternatively, take your strongest performing web pages and use their content in paid search ads.

Budgets and Bidding Strategies

Much like the example, changing budgets should be based on actual data if one channel is stronger than the other, adjust your budgets accordingly. Do you need to spend more on paid to boost your performance, and you’re not getting much from organic? Then, be smart about your budget accordingly.

In a similar light, changing your bidding strategies can lead to significant benefits; this is exclusively for a paid search campaign. However, if you review your performance data, you can reduce your CPC, maximise conversions and ROI by allocating your bidding strategy effectively.

Conversion optimisation

Don’t waste your conversions on video plays, specific page visits or downloads. Review which conversions really lead to revenue generation and drop the rest. Paid search platforms like Google Ads will learn from your conversions and prioritise users that are more likely to carry out those valuable actions.

We hope you found this post insightful and enough to get you started on your journey to maximising your ROI with search engine marketing analysis!

If you’re interested in exploring what an integrated SEM campaign could look like for your business, then contact ROAR and maximise your ROI with our specialist SEO management and PPC management services.

We look forward to hearing from you.

The post Maximising ROI with Search Engine Marketing Analysis appeared first on ROAR Digital Marketing.

But of all the agencies who’ve approached, how do you know which agency is the best for you? Stick around if you want to find out. 

Understanding Search Engine Marketing

By now, you’ll no doubt understand that search engine marketing refers to a form of a digital marketing campaign that promotes a website’s visibility on search engines like Google or Bing. 

Search engine marketing is primarily achieved through optimising and utilising paid and organic search channels. 

Paid Search

When we say paid search, this refers to paid advertisements on search results, so the listings often have ‘sponsored’ or ‘ad’ over the top of their title. They’re most commonly located as the top and bottom results on a search engine results page. 

Businesses have to pay a search engine to show these results to internet users, and once you stop or pause your campaign, they will no longer appear, so they’re temporary listings but highly rewarding in the short term. 

Organic Search

On the other hand, there’s organic search; these are much harder earned but also ‘free’ compared to paid. You will have to spend time and resources on getting your website to a point where it’s optimised and healthy enough to receive organic listings. 

When done correctly and maintained consistently, these listings could stay at a high search position for a long time, creating an evergreen source of good website traffic. 

Working in tandem, organic and paid search is a fountain of untapped potential for many businesses. It allows them to target users at nearly all stages of their sales funnel, supplying constant awareness, lead generation and sales growth. 

Why You Need A SEM Agency

While some businesses may attempt to manage their SEM with their in-house team, the intricacies of both organic and paid channels often warrant more dedication in the form of a specialist SEM agency. 

Search engine marketing companies bring years of experience, diverse skill sets and a deeper understanding of the rapidly evolving world of search marketing. An in-house team could be spread across multiple channels, managing a much wider workload. 

An agency is not intended to replace an in-house team but to work in tandem with them, bringing together industry specialists and bought-in advocates who know your business like the backs of their hands.

If you’re interested in learning more about why you need an SEM agency, check out our guide, ‘Why Hire A SEM Agency’, for a more comprehensive answer, and it’s free!

Identifying the Green Flags and Finding the Best Search Engine Marketing Agency 

Assuming you’ve narrowed your search to a few agencies and you’re waiting to get in touch with them. We’ve found that a great place to start is knowing what the green flags are. 

We will, of course, touch on the red flags, too but let’s start on a more positive note. Getting the ball rolling with these five green flags, you could use a few questions when making your choice. 

Expertise and Experience

Any reputable agency will boast an appropriate, proven track record backed up with relevant facts and figures. Just check out some of our digital marketing case studies as one example of what you should be looking for. 

Specialists and Unique

Most agencies offer specialist SEM services, covering all aspects of search marketing, most commonly in the form of SEO and PPC. 

The agencies you want to watch for have unique offerings, whether techniques, strategy, or technology; unique offerings show absolute specialism and dedication to their craft. 

Take our DIY SEO Platform, for example, or our SEO Bomb®, both unique offerings that help ROAR stand out from our competition and show industry specialism. 

‘Relationship Material’

Jokes aside, you need to know that your chosen agency will be suitable enough to forge relationships. We’re not talking about monthly calls and random customised reports we mean effective, long-lasting relationships so your agency becomes a part of your business. 

In our experience, long-term relationships provide the most bountiful results. 

Transparency

The key to success for anything in marketing is transparency. We’ve often had clients come to us with absolutely no idea what their previous agency has done with their search marketing. They don’t have access to certain platforms or tools, wrong user permissions, and no reporting or feedback. 

All of this is from a promising and open conversation at the beginning. Then, further down the line, there’s a lack of transparency with how they work, what they’re doing and the results they’re getting for your business – if they’re even getting any. 

It’s hard to know which agency will be transparent from first contact, but consider asking them the following questions:

1. How does your agency rank online?
2. What analysis do you provide?
3. Do you value transparency as an agency?

Communication

Effective communication is key in any business and the key to success in most cases. If you can’t get a hold of your agency, then it’s time to consider looking elsewhere.  

The agency is in partnership with your business; they work for you and, depending on how you’ve worked it out with them, are expected to answer any questions you have. 

Any decent agency should be prompt, open and available to you and your team within agreed times and channels. 

Identifying the Red Flags

Now, let’s focus on the red flags; again, this might be helpful for you to narrow down your list of agencies. Keep these in your back pocket when engaging some of your chosen agencies. 

Very ‘Affordable’ or Very Expensive 

Pricing can vary from agency to agency, depending on many factors. Location, offerings, size, competitiveness and ability are just a few considerations. 

But, when an agency is priced close to what you could be paying a freelancer, they don’t value themselves, or they either don’t know their own worth, hiding behind a small retainer when it comes to looking at what results they’ve actually provided. 

We’re also not saying look or choose the overly expensive agencies because it goes both ways. Overly priced agencies can often get away with not performing because they roll out the red carpet at the beginning, but after, you fall in with the other hundreds of clients they have. 

Promising Specific Results

You want results; that’s a given and expected of an agency. You need to be careful of an agency that promises specific results immediately. They might say ‘page one on Google in a few weeks’ or ‘x amount of conversions in the first month’. 

Without actually auditing your SEO and PPC, they can’t give accurate, guaranteed results until the scope and size of your project are properly known. 

We’ve seen it before when those claiming to be the best search engine marketing agency claim they can achieve ‘page one on Google in a few weeks’. Yeah, they might rank you on page one in the first few weeks, but for completely irrelevant search terms and targeting useless keywords that have nothing to do with your business or your target audience, serving zero purpose. 

Or when they promise ‘x amount of conversions in the first month’, they often create shoddy conversions that count when a user plays a video or visits the targeted landing page; or in other words, conversions that trigger every time someone clicks through from the paid ad onto your website. A great conversion rate perhaps, but these conversions provide zero value and represent zero monetary value to your business.

Non-Data Driven

It will be harder to narrow down and find a clear answer, but any decent SEM agency worth its salt will use data to inform performance-related decisions. Generally, this will be evident from their approach to your project.

It might also be a good question to ask something like ‘If our performance drops, what’s your usual procedure to recover or improve?’

If they say something like We review the data and make suggestions, that’s cool but a standard response. Look for actual examples and press them on how they’ve made previous decisions to improve or repair campaigns. 

Me, Me, Me

If you can’t shut them up and all they talk about is how they are the best search engine marketing agency, how many results they’ve driven for their other clients or how good they are compared to their competitors, then run for the hills. 

We’re not doubting their performance, but any decent agency should talk about you and be interested and genuinely curious about your business. They’re going to be responsible for marketing your business, after all!

By all means, let them introduce themselves and learn about the agency, but if they can’t stop talking about themselves, it’s probably best to move on. This agency might not be ‘relationship material’. 

Practice What You Preach

Have a look at their site, maybe even ask them what they currently do to market their own business and if they use the same channels that they provide their services for. An agency that loves what they do experiments, explores, and tests new things all the time, often on itself. 

Making Your Choice

The most important piece of advice we can give you for finding the best search engine marketing agency is to ensure that they align with your business goals and focus on your success. Over time, they’ll become a close and trusted partner; they’re supposed to know your objectives and goals by heart; if they work with you to develop goals because you have none, even better. 

Let’s talk about the elephant on the web page: ROAR is a specialist SEM agency. We’ve been making data-driven decisions using search engine marketing services to significantly increase the online presence and sales growth of our clients for years now. 

We’re proud to be obsessed with all things search and take great pleasure in taking SEM strategies like yours to the next level. 

Whether you’re looking for PPC services or unique SEO services, get in touch with one of our specialists today to book a free exploratory call. 

We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

The post Finding the Best Search Engine Marketing Agency appeared first on ROAR Digital Marketing.

What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Don’t feel ashamed if you’ve found yourself questioning ‘what is search engine marketing (SEM) in the past.

SEM is a digital marketing strategy commonly referred to as search engine marketing. SEM can be described as an umbrella or blanket term consisting of both paid and organic strategies. These tactics aim to increase the online visibility of a business website on the search engine results page (SERP). These digital marketing channels are PPC (pay-per-click) and SEO (search engine optimisation).

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a form of paid advertising through Google Ads and other search engine advertising platforms. It works exactly how it sounds! Every time a user clicks on the ad, the advertiser pays a fee. This can vary depending on the cost-per-click (CPC) of the specific keywords that trigger the advertisement.

On the other hand, PPC aims to deliver those results every marketer dreams of QUICK. SEO is an organic strategy aiming to improve a website’s ranking on SERPs over a longer period. Search Engine Optimisation is a long-term approach that can take anything from 3 months to 6+ months to really see and understand the benefit. This is why most marketers develop an SEO strategy to tackle issues across the site head-on

Do you want to drive qualified leads to your website? Harness the power of search engine marketing and boost your online visibility with ROAR!

The Benefits of Search Engine Marketing

So, now that we have defined SEM and you understand what marketing channels are within the umbrella term, let’s delve into the benefits of search engine marketing.

Boosted Visibility

As mentioned earlier, building your website’s visibility on search engines through SEO will naturally take a long time. However, as SEM utilises PPC, you can expect to see results much quicker. Although your competitors may outrank you organically, your paid ad will take you above the organic search results. This makes it the ideal short-term strategy for boosting your online visibility.

Increased Website Traffic 

Driving website traffic through SEO can be challenging and take a long time. However, when SEO is done correctly on of the biggest advantages is ranking highly in organic search engine results.

Running paid ads can help bridge the gap and increase traffic to your website within a much quicker time scale. This can increase the number of leads generated and, therefore, sales and revenue.

Targeted Traffic

In both the organic and paid branches of SEM, you can efficiently target the right audience and traffic by reviewing search intent, utilising effective keywords and providing high-quality content.

For PPC, there are a plethora of ways to target, especially in Google Ads, from location targeting to ensuring you’re using relevant keywords within your search ads. Keywords that are relevant to both your product/service and your users will support the user experience.

For SEO, keyword selection is crucial for optimising your content to reach the right audience. The quickest way to ensure you’re on the right track with both your content and your keywords is to do a Google search of your keyword in incognito mode and review which competitor content is already ranking.

Analytics and Tracking

Let’s talk analytics! Before you scream and close your laptop, analytics and tracking are not as scary as they initially seem.

The top benefit of SEM is that tracking and measuring the success of your campaigns can be straightforward; all you need is the right setup!

Tools like Google Analytics gather data from your website based on user activity. The data collected shows page views, click-through rates, conversions and more.

This allows you to see the direct effect of your SEO efforts and PPC campaigns on the site, among many other areas.

Remarketing 

Search engine marketing (SEM) allows you to leverage remarketing. This strategy targets users who have previously interacted with your website or brand. It will display ads to these potential customers as they browse the web. Remarketing to users that have previously interacted with your business can increase your conversion rates.

Local Business Visibility

If you’re an SME or small business operating only locally, search engine marketing will also work for you, but in a different way.

By concentrating any paid ads on your local area or service areas, you’re targeting the potential customers most likely to buy.

This increases your chances of driving local customers to your business, which is especially beneficial for brick-and-mortar stores or businesses that offer services within a specific geographic location.

Local SEO is slightly different from traditional SEO in terms of what search engines deem ranking factors. To support your local rankings, there are a few things you need to consider:

Localised Keywords – Including location within keywords, e.g. search engine marketing agency Newcastle.

Business Listing – It is crucial to fully optimise and boost your business listing on your Google and Bing profiles. When people search for ‘Near me’ or ‘in Newcastle,’ search results often return a map pack. With businesses in the local area, your business listing supports these searches.

The Importance of Search Engine Marketing

According to SmartInsights, nearly 60% of search engine users aged 16-64 have purchased a product or service online. With an increasing number of consumers using search engines to research products and services, SEM is crucial in marketing strategy. It helps marketers worldwide to capitalise on increased traffic by allowing them to reach their target audience!

Want to learn how to improve SEO ranking with our SEO Bomb®? Read our blog!

Do you want to learn more about SEM and how hiring a professional SEM agency can help you dominate the competition? Check out our free resource ‘Why Hire A SEM Agency | The Ultimate Guide‘ where we define SEM and provide all the benefits of working with a SEM Agency.

The post 6 Benefits of Search Engine Marketing appeared first on ROAR Digital Marketing.

How to Optimise Google Ads: PPC Campaigns

Optimisation is crucial for staying competitive in the Google Ads marketplace. That is why knowing how to optimise Google Ads is a critical skill.

Your competitors are likely optimizing their Google Ads campaigns, so you must do the same to stay ahead. By doing so, you can ensure that your ads reach the right audience at the right time with the right message. This can help you stay ahead of the competition and maximize your results.

To optimise your Pay Per Click (PPC) ads campaign for Google Ads and maximize your ROI, you need to conduct thorough keyword research, write compelling ad copy, set up conversion tracking, test different ad formats, adjust your bid strategy, refine your targeting, and regularly monitor and optimise your campaigns.

By following these steps, you can achieve better results for your business.

Why Optimisation Is Important

Optimizing your Google Ads paid search campaigns is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it can help increase your ROI. By improving the performance of your ads, you can increase your return on investment. This can be achieved by lowering your cost per click and increasing your click-through rate, leading to more conversions and revenue.

Optimisation also helps to save money. By targeting the right audience and using relevant keywords, you can avoid irrelevant clicks and minimize your ad spend. With the same investment, you can invest your budget more effectively and achieve better results like click-through rate (CTR).

Another reason why optimisation is important is that it can improve the performance of your ads. You can increase your ads’ effectiveness by making them more relevant and engaging to your target audience. This can be achieved by testing different ad variations and targeting options. This can help you identify what works best for your audience and improve your ad performance.

Optimising your Google Ads PPC campaigns is essential for maximizing your ROI, improving ad performance, and staying competitive.

Want to learn how to achieve the ultimate PPC campaign optimisation strategy for maximum ROI?

Download our free guide today and discover proven strategies for improving ad performance, lowering costs, and driving conversions. Don’t miss this opportunity to take your PPC game to the next level. Download our guide now!

7 Google Ads Optimisation Tips

Optimizing a PPC (Pay-per-click) campaign for Google Ads involves several vital steps to improve the performance of your ads and maximize your return on investment (ROI). Here are 7 top tips on how to optimise Google Ads campaigns:

In-Depth Keyword Research

Use the Google Keyword Planner tool to identify your campaign’s most relevant and effective keywords. Focus on long-tail keywords that are specific to your product or service.

Optimising Google Ad Copy

Your ad copy should be clear, concise, and engaging. It should include your target keywords and highlight the benefits of your product or service.

Accurate Conversion Tracking

Use Google Analytics or another tracking tool to measure your ads’ effectiveness and identify improvement opportunities.

Tests and Experiments

Experiment with different ad formats, such as text, image, and video ads, to see which perform best.

Bidding Strategies

Use Google’s automated bidding tools or set manual bids to optimise your bids for maximum ROI.

Honing Your Targeting

Use demographic, geographic, and other targeting options to reach your ideal audience.

Monitor and Update

Review your campaign performance regularly and adjust as needed to improve your results.

Trust ROAR Digital Marketing to deliver targeted leads and measurable results through our expert PPC Services. Book a free introductory call today!

The post How to Optimise Google Ads: 7 Tips appeared first on ROAR Digital Marketing.

Why SEM?

SEM or search engine marketing covers marketing actions and channels that boost a business’s visibility in search engines.

So, if you have a website and want your ideal customers to find you before your competitors, you need SEM. Simple.

You can break down SEM into two key channels. They are often referred to as the organic and paid sides of SEM. These channels are SEO (Search engine optimisation) and PPC (Pay-per-click) Advertising. 

To boost your search engine marketing, check out our services and see how our team of specialists can help you grow online.

6 Key Components of SEM

Some key components of SEM are covered in both channels. Other components are specific to each. There are strategies for a killer SEM campaign that gets results. 

• Keywords  

Keywords are the backbone of any SEM campaign, whether it’s paid or organic. They may hold the same level of importance, but the metrics you look at differ ever so slightly. 

Organic – You should look at your organic keywords’ volume, intent, and keyword difficulty. This way, you know how many people are searching for that keyword. You also know what they’re looking for and how hard it will be for your content to rank. 

Paid – Volume is still vital, as is the intent for your paid search campaigns. The difference comes with cost per click (CPC) and competitive density. This gives you the average cost advertisers pay per click on ads for that keyword. And the competition from other advertisers on that keyword within PCC campaigns.

• Analytics 

It’s no secret that analytics are one of the most crucial components of SEM campaigns. But knowing what to look for per campaign is the hard part.

For your paid campaigns, you’ll often find the analytics within the ad platforms themselves. They often cover cost-per-click, cost-per-acquisition, impressions, click-through-rate and more. 

For your organic content, you must look within your website using platforms like Google Analytics. You can find metrics like bounce rate, user time on site, organic traffic, and conversions from organic search.

• Content 

Content focuses on the organic/SEO side of SEM. Writing content focused on what your audience wants with SEO in mind is crucial in today’s search landscape. 

At one point, solely writing content to rank would secure the number-one position on search engine results. However, after the introduction of the helpful content update from Google, this is no longer the case.

So, when you write your next blog piece for your website, think of your customers. Think of what they’re looking for and factor in best practices to boost your SEO to reach them.

• Linking 

Linking can be split into two different tactics. This includes internal linking and backlinking, both of which surround your organic content and website.

Internal linking refers to pages within your website pointing at one another. This demonstrates to search engines a relationship between two web pages. It helps them discover your content as it crawls through these pages.

Backlinks – These are links back to your site coming from other sites. When it comes to search engines and backlinks, it’s a case of quality over quantity. Few high-quality links will benefit your site more than plenty of spammy, low-quality links. 

• Ad Copy 

Ad copy is exactly what is says on the tine. It is the wording and messaging that you pair with your ads.

Whichever ad platform you use, whether it’s Google Ads, Microsoft ads etc., you must follow some basic key practices. You should be aware of how many ad variants you are allowed. For example, the Google ads platform provides up to 15 headlines and descriptions. Make sure you’re using these headlines to their full potential. 

Your ad copy should be specific to your campaign and the keywords you’re focusing on. The more specific, the better. Conduct audience research and determine their behavioural traits, use this to create ads that appeal to your target audience.

Check out our blog post, ‘How to write PPC Ads that get clicks,’ to boost your ad copy.

• Ad Bidding

When a user makes a search, all of the ads available for that search term head into an auction. From there, the search engine considers different factors to determine which ads should appear.

Ad bidding and auctions differ from platform to platform but generally rely on your ad quality and bid amount.

Your ad quality or quality score is an estimate from ad platforms about user experience when users see your search ads. 

It includes a range of factors: relevant ad text, how likely people are to click your ad and the quality of the experience on your landing page. 

The better your ad quality is from the offset, the better your ads will likely perform. This includes securing better ad positions and avoiding wasted ad spend.

When it comes to bidding, platforms often have an automated bidding option set up. This is usually titled “Maximise Clicks” or “Maximum Delivery”. These are hands-off approaches that you can set running and not really think about again. However, they are known to be less effective and results-driven.

The recommended method is setting a maximum CPC (Cost Per Click). This is pretty much exactly as it sounds: you get to set the maximum amount you’ll willingly pay for a click on ads within an ad group, specific keywords or placements. 

Whilst every ad platform is different, they’re often transparent with how they run their ad auctions. The more prominent platforms like Google Ads and Microsoft Ads have Ads Help Sites to answer any questions you have, from bidding to copy to creative.

Whether you need organic or paid search engine marketing at ROAR, we have the solution for your business. Check out our services to accelerate your business today!

The post Exploring the Key Components of SEM appeared first on ROAR Digital Marketing.

Traditional marketing has taken the back seat in recent years as more companies across the globe try to leverage the power of search engines to reach their target audience. But how exactly is this done? I hear you ask. 

Stick around and read on to find out more! 

Before we jump in, are you interested in working with an SEM (search engine marketing) agency? Download our FREE resource and learn how ROAR can maximise visibility for your business.

Keyword Research

Yes, it will take a while, but this is the most important part of search engine marketing. Keyword research is the foundation of organic and paid search. How could you optimise your website content without relevant keywords or run your pay-per-click (PPC) ads? How could you possibly achieve a successful search engine marketing campaign?

Identifying relevant and accurate keywords is crucial for reaching the intended audience for your ads and organic content.

Focus on a mix of high-volume and long-tail keywords to strike the perfect balance between relevance and reach. Using a keyword research tool such as the SEMrush keyword magic tool will help you find keywords that you may not have thought of. It will provide you with key bits of information such as the keyword volume, CPC (cost-per-click) and competitive density.

Engaging Ad/Website Copy

So, now you’re off to a flying start; it’s time to write some compelling copy for your Ads and website! Your copy must be clear, concise, persuasive, and resonate with your target audience. Make sure to highlight your unique selling proposition (USP) within the messaging. Include a strong call-to-action (CTA) to help encourage and persuade search engine users to click on your ad.

Creating strong and compelling ad copy will help improve the CTR (click-through rate). Whilst also increasing the chance of a user converting once landing on your website.

Ad Extensions

Ad Extensions are additional pieces of information that take up extra real estate in the search engine results page (SERPs). They provide users with links to specific sublinks to different web pages of your website. Utilising ad extensions such as site links, call extensions and location extensions to enhance the visibility and relevance of your ads. Including ad extensions within your ads will help improve your CTR (click-through rate) and give users more opportunities to interact with your business.

Account and Campaign Structure

In theory, taking all of your keywords from the initial keyword research you carried out and lumping them all together may sound like a good idea to someone with little to no experience in this industry.

However, doing this would only see your ad campaign budget to be swallowed up and spat out by Google Ads. Instead, its best practice is to stick to a proper campaign structure. This also means the quality score of your keywords will be high due to the relevancy of the keywords within each ad group. 

Lastly, remember that SEM is not something you can pick up and drop off whenever it suits you. You must carry out frequent PPC account management to utilise SEM effectively and benefit from the results. This helps eliminate wasted ad spend and carry out A/B testing on your ads, all of which can help generate the highest ROI (return on investment). 

To learn more about SEM and how you can implement a strategy that best suits your business, read our blog on ‘Strategies For a Killer SEM Campaign That Gets Results.’

ROAR Digital Marketing offer a specialist suite of search engine marketing services to accelerate your business’s online growth. Check them out here.

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