When it comes to converting banner ad ideas, killer copy, and having a strong overall ad strategy, understanding the fundamentals is critical. Among those fundamentals includes a grasp of the differences between display and search ads.
These are the two most popular types of online advertising. A similarity that both shares are the ability to lead to good results if properly implemented.
That’s where most of the similarities end, though.
What is Search Advertising?
Paid search advertising is also known as search engine marketing or Google advertising. Search advertising puts online advertisements in the results of search engines. If you put an ad in the search results, you pay a nominal fee each time someone clicks on one of your ads.
This is called pay-per-click advertising.
Search advertising holds a lot of power because there’s intent. When people are searching for things, and your ad shows up, they’re already showing their intent. You can bid on keywords to make sure your ads are getting in front of people at just the right time, based on what you sell or the services you offer.
Google AdWords is the most used and well-known search advertising platform, and that makes sense since Google is the most popular search engine. Bing Ads is another option, and while there are fewer users, you get more reach for lower costs.
An auction-style system underlies how search advertising networks work. Businesses bid to show up in certain search results. When and where ads appear and how much you pay for each click are determined by factors like your bid and your Quality Score.
Your Quality Score is a reflection of your ad relevance to the keywords you’re bidding on.
Understanding the Quality Score system is important because it will encourage anyone advertising to create campaigns that are high-quality and are going to serve the users of search engines well. If you’re trying to flood the search results with spammy, low-quality ads, then AdWords isn’t going to be helpful to you.
With search ads, you have to be careful about how you create and manage them.
Some best practices for search advertising include good keyword research, creating relevant ads, and targeting in a cost-effective way. For example, you might only show ads during business hours or use geotargeting to show ads only in certain locations.
Pros and Cons of Search Advertising
Some of the upsides of search advertising can include:
- Paid search ads are highly targeted. You’re giving yourself a better chance of getting your ads shown to the right audiences. There are so many targeting settings that are part of paid search advertising in general, so you can base your campaigns on the interests of consumers.
- You can get more traffic through paid advertising.
- With paid search, you get the benefit of conversion tracking and in-depth data analytics that can be useful across your business.
- Paid search ads give you a granular sense of control over your spending and budget.
Downsides include:
- Search ads aren’t visual. Users tend to find visual content to be the most engaging, but a search ad is text-based. Getting attention with a non-visual ad can be a lot more challenging.
- A search ad isn’t going to go viral. Social media advertising can really build on itself and grow through organic shares.
- You’re paying every time someone clicks on the ad with search marketing, and pricing can be higher depending on your industry’s competitiveness and the search engine’s algorithm.
What Is Display Advertising?
Google Ads is still the origin point for Google display advertising, but display ads are different in terms of performance when compared to paid search.
The biggest difference between a search and display ad, at least as far as Google is concerned, is that a search ad is considered pull advertising. Display ads are considered a push.
What that means is that a search ad is only going to show up for people already searching for what you offer, whether it’s a product or a service. A display ad is a placement that’s paid and that appears based on certain parameters of targeting.
Display ads aren’t in one location as a search ad, either. A search ad is in the SERP. Display ads can appear on millions of sites and reach the vast majority of users online.
Display ads can also show up in different places on social media.
When Should You Use Search Ads?
A search ad can be useful in certain situations.
One is if you want to supplement your organic traffic while you work on SEO, that can take longer. Search ads are going to bring people to you must faster, and then you can gradually build your organic traffic.
Another reason for search ads is if you want to get high-quality leads. You can use negative keywords to ensure people aren’t seeing your ad when searching for irrelevant keywords.
If you work with local audiences, they can be helpful, and they work well if you have a smaller budget.
When Are Display Ads a Good Idea?
Display ads first and foremost work best if you have something, whether a product or service, that’s very visual. The biggest benefit when we compare these two types of paid advertising is the fact that display ads can include not only images but also videos.
You can use display ads for things like home décor and apparel, but also digital products like eBooks.
Another situation when a display ad is optimal compared to a search ad is when you want to create awareness. People who see display ads aren’t actively searching for your service or product, unlike the case with a paid search ad. They’re in an awareness or perhaps discovery phase of the funnel.
At the top of the funnel, the people there are more likely to engage with video content than even image ads.
Finally, if you have a longer sales cycle, you might consider display ads, whereas search ads are more suited to shorter sales cycles. If you have a more extended cycle, you have more touchpoints, so you want to focus on staying at the top of the mind of your potential customers.
