Many of your customers use search engines like Google or Bing to find an online shop to buy from. Therefore, it is important for you to be visible on the search engine result pages of these search engines.

Besides using search engine optimisation to get found, you can also place advertisements there. This marketing method is called Search Engine Advertising (SEA).

Through search engine advertising, links to your shop are displayed prominently on search engine result pages. These links usually have a high click through rate, meaning that many of the users click on them.

Due to the high market share of Google, this is probably the most important search engine for SEA. But it can also be helpful for you to place advertisements through other search engines such as Bing or Yahoo. 

You can make sure that only the right customers see your ads by using the right keywords. If you sell basketball jerseys, for instance, you can only show your ads to customers who search for “Chicago Bulls jersey”. That way you have total control of your target groups and you can also direct customers to the right page of your shop - e.g. the product page of a Chicago Bulls jersey.

What is a good keyword?

In most cases it is advisable to choose keywords that are not too technical or special. Most people use common words when they are searching the web. Your keywords must also be adapted to your target group. If you are targeting teenagers, you might have to use different keywords than for older people.

A good keyword should be able to generate traffic to your site, be highly competitive and be relevant to bring you qualified visitors that are more likely to buy something. You can also use keyword phrases with a combination of 3 or 4 words for which there is little competition. This principle has been called the long tail.

 

Google Suggest

This trick reveals some of the keywords that people use most often. Simply type a word into the Google search bar and you can see a list of expressions which are searched often.

Associated keywords from Google

When you do a search on Google, you can see a list of associated keywords at the very bottom of the page.

Google Adwords Keyword Planner

The Keyword Planner is one of the most useful tools in terms of SEO. You can look up keywords and see how often they are used by Google users. You can also find great suggestions for related keywords.

 

You can find more information on SEA on the websites of the search engines: