Creating Cohesive Flow
You don’t want anything to get in the way of potential clients/customers finding your business. That’s the concept behind Message Match. When you align keywords, the text that appears in your ads, and the content of your landing page, you create a cohesive flow that could make the difference in someone choosing your business over another. Let’s dig deeper…
Message Match as a concept can (and should) be utilized across a variety of advertising platforms, but for my purposes, I’m going to focus on its use when it comes to Google Ads. And, well, if you’re already paying for Google Ads, you might as well be making the most of it, right?
First: The Key To Your Keywords
It all starts with your keywords – those targeted words and phrases that users type into Google looking for a product, a service or just answers. When picking the keywords you plan to target with your ads, you are essentially boiling your business down to its most basic description.
Maybe you’re a plumber in Poughkeepsie or run a carpet cleaning service in Los Angeles. Choosing keywords is all about determining the service you provide and the area where you provide it. So at this point, you’re making a common sense assumption as to what someone will drop into Google when looking for a business just like yours!
But don’t just assume, you can use free tools like the AdWord Keyword Planner or SEMrush.com to type in your assumptions in the form of keywords, see if they have search volume, and get ideas for even better keywords.
Next: You’re Only As Good As Your Ad Text
So let’s say you own that carpet cleaning service in Los Angeles and you’re running ad campaigns with the keywords “carpet cleaning Los Angeles.”
When someone types those four magic words into Google, your ad should pop up. Now here’s the trick – your ad that appears also needs to reflect those keywords. If someone types in carpet cleaning los angeles and your ad reads “Captain Clean-Up – The Best Rates in Town!!!”, you’re doing a fine job bragging but a poor job messaging. There is no mention of carpet cleaning or LA. So, the person looking for carpet cleaning services will likely pass you by and continue their search.
Consider leading with your keywords and getting more specific. Think something like Los Angeles Carpet Cleaning – Low Rates & Same Day Service. You get the idea. Now your ad text is matching with your keyword.. The keywords your new customer used are right there in your ad, doubt has left their mind, and you’ve likely got yourself a click. But, you’re not done yet.
Final: Sticking the Landing Page
You picked the right keywords, your ad text matched, and now someone has clicked your ad. That’s it, right? Definitely not. Just because there’s a customer on the lot doesn’t mean Toyota has sold a car. Visitors need to know they are in the right place.This is where your landing page comes in – the page on your site visitors are directed to AFTER they click your ad.
It should be noted that a dedicated landing page is often more effective in producing clear message match than just directing visitors to your homepage. Remember, you’re trying to be specific. You want all your message points to match and often a homepage will have a lot of additional information and require a user to navigate through multiple pages to find what they need. You want them to find the exact information they need immediately. A related post on Formstack.com talks about creating personas to write copy for your landing page to nail your landing page copy.
So, ask yourself: Is there consistency between your ad text and your landing page? Will visitors immediately know that you are a carpet cleaning business serving the great Los Angeles area? Are they immediately greeted with messages that tell them about those low rates and same day service, just like the text from your ad? A lack of continuity can cause confusion and the shadow of a doubt can quickly cost you a conversion.
So the basics of Message Match are pretty simple. Your landing page should have the same messaging as your ads which have the same keywords that potential users were searching for in the first place. Keyword > Ad Text > Landing Page – all flowing together.
Sometimes Message Match happens naturally, but sometimes it goes horribly wrong and costs advertisers hundreds or thousands of dollars!
I want to hear from you. Do you utilize Message Match on purpose or is it naturally already in place in your campaigns? How can you do better? Feel free to drop some of your own examples and questions in the comments section.