Search engine optimization (SEO) should be part of every interactive content writer’s vocabulary. It also helps to understand how SEM/PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns work, what makes the best performing text-based ad, landing pages, and banner copy, and what we can learn from the analytic data these campaigns produce to help improve copy and design.
Assignment: Create and manage a PPC campaign, optimize existing web site’s content, and build new landing pages optimized for the PPC efforts for a national trucking industry company.
Challenge: The client’s national service offerings were specific to the trucking industry, but the company was in the process of launching two new divisions and also wanted to highlight their equipment sales side. Further, some services were only available in certain states or regions. Running a successful PPC campaign that would drive traffic to their home page would prove to be difficult with so many varied keywords and audience targets.
Solution: A landing page for each of the new service offerings was created. The pages were written using SEO best practices (and with PPC in mind), and a set of text-based ads were also written to drive traffic to these new pages. Each ad was targeted specifically to display in certain geographic areas with a carefully selected keyword list. Ads and keywords were monitored for performance, with low-performing ads being removed or revised as needed. Goals were defined and monitored using Google AdWords – the main goal or key performance indicator (KPI) being to drive users to register. Registration was incentivized by offering a free industry whitepaper PDF upon completion of the form, and traffic & registration both increased significantly.
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