How do you deal with SEM competition and ad fraud?

1 What is CPC and CPA?

CPC and CPA are two common metrics that measure the effectiveness of your SEM campaigns. CPC stands for cost per click, which is the amount you pay for each click on your ad. CPA stands for cost per action, which is the amount you pay for each desired action that results from your ad, such as a sale, a lead, or a subscription. Ideally, you want to lower your CPC and CPA as much as possible, while maintaining or increasing your conversion rate and revenue.

2 How to optimize your CPC and CPA?

There are several factors that affect your CPC and CPA, such as your bid strategy, keywords, ad copy, landing page, and targeting options. To optimize your CPC and CPA, you need to test and tweak these elements to find the best combination that works for your audience and goals. Some of the best practices include using relevant and specific keywords that match your offer and audience intent; writing compelling and clear ad copy that highlights your value proposition and call to action; creating landing pages that are consistent with your ad and offer a smooth user experience; choosing the right bidding strategy that aligns with your objectives and budget; and segmenting and targeting your audience based on their location, device, behavior, and other criteria.

3 How to deal with the competition?

One of the challenges of SEM is that you are competing with other advertisers for the same keywords and the same audience, which can drive up your CPC and lower your ad rank and visibility. To deal with this competition, you should monitor and analyze their strategies and find ways to differentiate yourself and stand out. This can include conducting a keyword gap analysis to identify opportunities, using negative keywords to exclude irrelevant terms, adding extensions and modifiers to your ads for better quality and relevance, leveraging long-tail keywords and niche markets for more specific segments, and offering unique incentives and benefits that your competitors don't have.

5 How to measure and improve your SEM results?

The final step of your SEM optimization is to measure and improve your results. You should track and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) such as impressions, clicks, conversions, revenue, ROI, CPC, and CPA. Additionally, you should set up goals and benchmarks to evaluate your progress and identify areas of improvement. Google Ads' tools and features, such as conversion tracking, campaign performance reports, optimization score, and recommendations can be useful for this. Similarly, Google Analytics' tools and features such as goals, attribution models, segments, and custom reports can help you measure your SEM results. Other tools like SEMrush, Moz, or Ahrefs can be used to conduct keyword research, competitor analysis, and SEO audit. Finally, you should test and experiment with different variations of your ads, landing pages, keywords, bids, and targeting options to apply learnings from your tests to optimize campaigns and strategies.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?