Page-1 Power: How Google Ads Provides B2B Business Growth
According to analysis from marketing data firm Smart Insights, Google’s first page steals over 90% of all the clicks that happen on the search results pages.
This provides a strong case for many B2B businesses to invest in search engine marketing, particularly in today’s actionable and insightful digital space where every click can be monitored and every sale can be attributed back to a specific keyword search.
The King of Search
It might surprise you to learn just how many individual searches were performed last year on Google.
The number? 1.2 trillion, give or take a search or two. That’s 3.5 billion searches every single day! To say that Google is the hub of the Search is something of an understatement; it permeates the entirety of the landscape and directs substantial portions of humankind to the information they need at the drop of a hat.
The catch is that we only tend to use a small portion of Google. Specifically, around 91% of us use only the first page.
Authority, Expertise & Legitimacy
Page one’s results are seen to have greater legitimacy and trust when compared to the second page and beyond. It’s also a matter of convenience; consumers and B2B buyers make heavy use of search queries when doing their research, with little time spare to scroll through several pages of results.
Further than just page one, the power of the very top search result is also critical. While your search requirements can vary wildly — from a generic search for a purchase to a search for specific material — analyses show that the number-one result will enjoy approximately 30% of all traffic.
Achieving Page-1 Position Today
Achieving position on Google’s page one without the use of a solid Pay Per Click strategy requires significant effort beyond simply optimising your website. Our dedicated team help steer that ship for many of our clients, producing content that is of excellent quality, as well as reaching out to external website owners and news websites to share that content in an effort to gain valuable authority and brand awareness.
But what about now, today?
It’s a matter of investment.
Investing in a solid B2B marketing strategy for online growth, many companies consider Google Ads and other paid search systems because they offer:
- The ability to reach thousands of new prospects almost immediately
- Complete control over the keywords on which they want to rank for. This equips companies to reach and target individuals at different stages of the buying cycle
- Total attribution measurement – Companies are no longer in the dark over which keywords generate the most revenue, which days of the week or times of day generate the most sales, which locations are the most profitable etc
- A perceived level of authority, legitimacy and experience that is hard to achieve from other marketing channels
We all know first impressions count. We’re not going back to the Yellow Pages any time soon!
Now, more so than ever, people shop online and consider a company’s position in search as a sign of their popularity and authority.
The Office for National Statistics reported last month that average weekly spending online was £1.0 billion; an increase of 19.5% compared with March 2016.
If your business isn’t visible you will certainly be missing out on valuable custom.
Finally, an often-overlooked benefit to pole position in the Google rankings is that of cost efficiency. It’s a fact that inbound marketing leads cost around 60% less to acquire than through outbound marketing.
Position Matters & Pay Per Click has it Locked
With 31% of clicks going to the top-of-page search result, Pay Per Click adverts lead the way, boasting the most prominent position and full control over the content of each ad.
An effective B2B PPC campaign provides good return on investment because of the tendency for individuals to both respect the top results and to use them out of simple convenience.
Leading technology research firm Garnter predicts that 30% of searches will be conducted without a screen within four years, as the rise of new voice-activated technologies like Siri and Amazon Echo continue to grab mass consumer appeal. The majority of marketers expect page-one position on Google and other search engines will become more relevant than ever before.
Search & Demographics Unite
While other marketing channels may use demographics (age, gender, location) as the primary driver for targeting, Google Ads advertisers can now enjoy page-one position using a combined targeting method of ‘keywords’ + ‘demographics’.
Whether your customers are using vocal search technology like Siri, tapping on a mobile screen or sitting at a computer, you can reap the benefits of being able to reach and target individuals based on the keywords they search for combined with their age, gender, location and even their hobbies and interests.
If you’d like to learn how QliQ can push your B2B marketing to the next level, contact us today. It’s what we do.
