In today’s competitive world, Google ads can be a great way for businesses to stand out from other search results. But running ads is getting more and more expensive, and many eCommerce companies aren’t optimising their search strategies as much as they could in order to increase their ads’ ROI.

That’s why Trustpilot partnered with Keywordio to give you actionable tips that will help you increase your AdWords ROI, boost your visibility on search, and increase traffic and conversions on paid search campaigns.

Start building credibility on SERPs (search engine results pages)

The aim is to convince the search engines that you are the most trustworthy and credible solution to the user’s query by leveraging trust signals earlier in the journey.

Indeed, providing the user with more information than your competitors is likely to make you the best option out there. Customer feedback is an incredibly strong trust signal. Reviews can optimise your PPC campaigns by powering Google Seller Ratings (GSR). The GSR extension was created to demonstrate that other people trust your business and have had a positive experience with you. It’s an essential component to any business that values an online search presence and it’s known to improve ads performance.

The extension appears in paid ads on Google and Bing. Google has said that the seller ratings extension benefits both searchers and businesses, as it increases click-through rate by 10% on average.

Example of Google Ad with Google Seller Ratings extension, and without. Which ad would you click?

If you’re not making the most of this extension just yet, here’s how to start:

• To collect Seller Ratings, you will need to start collecting reviews with a Google review partner, like Trustpilot.

• You will also need to maintain a high standard of service, so that your average review score is above 3.5/5.

• You will have to collect at least 100 reviews a year in a given country, in order for your business to be eligible for GSRs in that country.

Trustpilot has helped many businesses grow their paid search efforts with reviews. One of them is Cykelpartner, a Danish eCommerce business providing bicycle riders with all the equipment and spare parts for their bikes.

The company has been using Google Seller Ratings for the past 2 years - here’s what they achieved by leveraging trust and transparency in ads:

• Their on-page conversions from AdWords traffic have increased by 22.5%

• Their cost-per-click has decreased by almost 60%

• They’ve also saved over +40,000€ per year on AdWords.

Even though Google Seller Ratings can help your paid search campaigns drive more conversions, you’ll also need to make sure your ads are fully optimised for your audience. What does that mean? Well, it’s important to make sure you’re analysing your data in order to fully understand your audience’s expectations. The consumer insights you’ll collect will help you personalise your ads by location, demographics, age, gender, income or interests.

The better you know your audience, the more chances you have at standing out from the competition and converting more users. And it doesn’t stop there...

Focus on delivering a seamless user experience

Optimising paid search is an important part of your marketing strategy, but in certain situations, it might not be enough to grow revenue.

You’ve optimised your ads, your click-through rate has skyrocketed, but no one seems to be converting on-site. Why? Well, you also need to make sure your user experience is seamless.

In today’s competitive era, consumers have so much choice online that it just keeps getting tougher and tougher to keep their attention on-site. That’s why your website should be entirely optimised, just like your ads are.

Keeping shoppers focused on your brand for long enough will eventually convert them.

To do so, it’s essential to focus on the following points: Reduce uncertainty, uncover areas of weakness on your website, and improve customer experience to stay ahead of the competition.

Customer feedback will help your business collect valuable insights to identify what works well, and what could be improved.

Displaying your reviews throughout the user journey will also help reduce scepticism and boost customer confidence, naturally increasing your conversion rate. Building credibility and trust at every stage of the journey helps you keep visitors informed and satisfied; and collecting customer feedback will help you grow as a business, and keep your existing customers happy. This means you’re more likely to see them return, spend more and recommend your business to others.

Don’t underestimate the power of reviews, join us for an insightful webinar and learn how to boost your ROI using the voice of the customer!

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