For churches with a Google Ad Grant, it’s important to make sure that you are getting the most results possible in order to reach people. When it comes to Google, content is king. If your church is wanting to see even greater results on Google Ads, consider unlocking your campaign’s full potential through leveraging SEO content. In this blog post, we’ll breakdown how SEO content is the secret to Google Ad Grant Performance.
How Does Organic SEO Impact Paid Search?
While many people think that SEO and PPC don’t impact each other, when leveraged strategically they can work together to maximize results. Whether it’s for paid ads or organic results, Google’s main goal is to show the user the best results for what they are specifically searching for. All of Google’s algorithm updates, guidelines, and ranking factors are in place to deliver the best possible user experience and extremely relevant search results. As a result, high-quality SEO content can be a strong supporting asset to a paid search campaign.
Additionally, while paid search benefits stop once your grant runs out and you are no longer spending on Google, organic SEO content continues to benefit your site long term. Having high-quality content that’s user friendly and optimized for search engines will cause your site to show up in search results and increase organic conversions over time.
How Can SEO Content Be Used in Paid Search Campaigns?
One of the best ways to use SEO content in a Google Ad Grant campaign is through the usage of landing pages. If a user were to click on an ad for your church in search results and click onto the homepage or another top-level page on the site, they likely wouldn’t find the information they were searching for because the content is too general and exit the site. This is often especially the case for targeting felt needs keywords.
For example, if someone was searching for “family holiday activities near me” and landed on the homepage of your church’s site without finding information on your church’s Christmas events, they will most likely bounce off the page without taking further action. This negatively impacts both your church’s organic traffic and paid search campaigns. Instead, you could have a landing page specifically targeted to Christmas keywords with all of your church’s holiday events, special services, charity drives, and more! By having highly targeted landing pages optimized for your church’s ads, users can find what they were looking for. As a result, Google rewards this by increasing the Google Quality Score of the ads.
Understanding the Google Quality Score
In short, a Google Quality Score is how Google perceives your ads to successfully meet the needs of what the user is searching for. Google rates each ad within a campaign with a score of 1-10 based on the estimated quality of the ads, landing pages, and keywords. Factors such as expected click-through rates, historical performance, relevance, and UX for the landing page all contribute to the Google Quality Score rating. By having a higher quality score, ads typically are expected to perform better and cost less in ad auctions, allowing your church’s Google Grant to go farther with the same amount. As a result, highly targeted SEO content for landing pages positively impacts Quality Scores.
Utilize Video Content
With increased screen time and social distancing, many churches now more than ever are streaming their worship experiences and services online through a wide variety of platforms. Missional Marketing created a solution for leveraging the greatest SEO content you already invest in significantly but are likely underusing – your pastor’s sermons! The Sermon Video Library acts as a powerful SEO content engine by leveraging the words spoken by your pastor through transcription and metadata, while at the same time, expanding the legacy or lifespan of your sermons by using them to boost your Google Grant performance for days, months, and even years to come. In addition to being excellent for UX and site engagement, through the usage of transcription and metadata, each video is fully optimized for search engines allowing them to rank in search results. This allows your sermons to be easily found in Google by people searching for questions that your sermons answer on topics like mental health, parenting, marriage, being single, and the afterlife. By having your sermon videos rank organically for these topics, you’re able to better target those searching for felt needs keywords.
Additionally, these videos can serve as excellent landing pages for your Google Ad Grant campaign and maximize the chances of people in need finding your sermons. If a user searches on Google for a topic that one of your church’s sermons is on and clicks the ad, they can land directly on a page with the relevant sermon. By landing on a page with a sermon video answering their question, they’re able to test out your church without feeling intimidated or overwhelmed by the thought of making an in-person visit. Since these video-based landing pages are highly relevant, the Google Quality Score will increase.
Consider Using a Subdomain
When you have a large number of free-floating landing pages for SEO and PPC purposes, it can be helpful to utilize a subdomain to better organize this content in one central place. A subdomain is a domain within the main domain. For instance, your primary domain might be church.com but your subdomain could be family.church.com. Subdomains make it easier to target users who might not connect well with the content on your main domain like those who are unchurched, especially when targeting felt needs keywords. Subdomains can also be used with Google Ad Grant campaigns since they’re still considered a part of your core domain, allowing them to meet Google’s guidelines.
Start Improving Your Google Ad Grant Performance
Want to see if SEO content is the secret to Google Ad Grant Performance that your church has been missing but aren’t sure where to start? By working with a church marketing agency, you’re able to get expert advice and work with a team of specialists who will work with you every step of the way. Church marketing agencies like Missional Marketing have extensive experience running paid Google Ad Grant campaigns and can leverage historical data from past clients to know what works versus what doesn’t to drive the best results. If you’re ready to begin utilizing SEO content to increase your Google Ad Grant performance, check out Missional Marketing’s contact page or give their team a call at 480-420-2007.
