24 Aug 4 Clever Ways to Drive Targeted Traffic to Your E-Commerce Website with Google Ads

When you have an online store, the effort does not end with the launching and first sale. It is a commitment you need to see through, from establishing your online presence to acquiring a solid customer base. All these are easier said than done but certainly not impossible with determination, patience, and a little dose of resourcefulness.

At the heart of your e-commerce business lies the importance of a good marketing strategy. This includes driving traffic to your website and converting visitors into paying customers. While word-of-mouth marketing can do the trick, relying on organic marketing alone won’t be enough. It will be hard to sustain in the long run too. This is where a good digital advertising strategy comes in.

What better way to get in front of your potential customers than harnessing the power of the biggest search engine? Google boasts a staggering 274.49 million unique visitors and a market share of 61.4% in the US alone. This is too much of a good opportunity to pass up. As an e-commerce business owner, you should take advantage of Google’s significant traffic share!

But how can you drive traffic to your e-commerce website and actually make it count? Google ads is the short answer. This will enable you to drive targeted traffic to relevant pages on your e-commerce site, allowing you more opportunities to convert visitors into paying customers.

Tweak the Keyword Matching

The success of your Google ads lies in the effectiveness of your keywords. It is also important to look into the best keyword match for your Google campaign. When you create one, the default keyword match is the broad match. This allows you to target a wide audience. However, broader is not always better.

Consider reaching a more specific audience, perhaps those who intend to buy from your shop. In this case, you will need the most suitable keyword match for your objective. Here are the keyword matches available on Google:

• Broad batch: Google matches a user’s search to the keywords you are trying to target but in a broad way. This means it can be a match despite misspellings and typos. Google will even match those searches if they are synonymous or related to your target keywords.
• Exact match: This one limits the match to the exact term, the complete opposite of a broad match. If users are using the exact keywords to search, then there’s a chance for your ads to be shown. This does not give you a lot of wiggle room.
• Phrase match: This keyword match option ensures that Google matches your keyword phrase to searchers who use the exact phrase. It does not allow variations.
• Broad match modifier: Similar to broad match, this option lets you pinpoint exact phrases or keywords you’d prefer to be matched to.
• Negative keywords: If you want your ads to be excluded from irrelevant searches, this is the best keyword match choice.

Now that you are familiar with the different keyword matches, you can easily adjust the option you are using to drive highly targeted traffic to your e-commerce site. You can target keywords that show an intent to buy, allowing you to gain a higher chance of making a sale.

Consider Conversion Keyword Tracking

Some keywords have better chances of conversion. If you want to work this to your advantage, you need to gain a better understanding of the keywords that convert best. This can be done by closely monitoring and optimizing your campaigns.

You may then want to make the most out of conversion tracking. This free Google ad tool will allow you to track the precise keywords that bring in conversions. You will be able to see what happens after a customer clicks on your ad. Did they stay on your website or hit the backspace right away? Did they navigate and explore the other pages? What items did they view? Did they add something to their cart?

This step in the process requires you to have a keen attention to details. You will also need to employ your critical thinking and analytical thinking skills.

Refine Geo-Targeting Options

While a wider reach can be beneficial in most cases, this does not always apply to all things Google ads. Sometimes, you need to narrow your location-targeting strategy to a more relevant market.

You can segment your target audience into locations. This means creating different campaigns tailored to different audiences depending on their location. This is effective if you have products that are specific to certain seasons, for example. Summer clothes can be sold in December if you target the Australian market. But you need to sell winter clothes during that same month to the Western market.

Your products may not be available on certain regions or cities, so it will be a waste of time, money, and effort to include those geo-targeting areas in your campaigns.

Take Advantage of Language Targeting

People all over the world speak different languages. If your e-commerce store caters to a global market, then taking advantage of this feature can be a great idea. You can tweak your language targeting to reach customers who speak a specific language.

This allows you to communicate better with a specific segment of your audience, making your Google ads more relevant and targeted. They will be drawn more easily to your products if you speak their language.

Wrapping It Up

Running an e-commerce website is no walk in the park. On top of researching the best platform for your business and ensuring if your choice is the right fit, you also need to win the marketing game. This means utilizing every tool to establish brand awareness and promote your products to the right audience at the right time.

If you are unsure about running the Google ads yourself, you can always seek help from a reputable Google ads agency to assist you in getting started. All you need is a clear and defined objective and the commitment to see it through.