{"id":143805,"date":"2022-03-17T12:08:21","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T12:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginewatch.com\/?p=143805"},"modified":"2022-03-17T12:08:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T12:08:21","slug":"heres-what-an-roi-worthy-search-advertising-budget-looks-like-in-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2022\/03\/17\/heres-what-an-roi-worthy-search-advertising-budget-looks-like-in-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s what an ROI-worthy search advertising budget looks like in 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><\/h3>\n<div class=\"well\">\n<h3><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-143807\" src=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Heres-what-an-ROI-worthy-search-advertising-budget-looks-like-in-2022.png\" alt=\"Here\u2019s what an ROI-worthy search advertising budget looks like in 2022\" width=\"728\" height=\"256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Heres-what-an-ROI-worthy-search-advertising-budget-looks-like-in-2022.png 728w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Heres-what-an-ROI-worthy-search-advertising-budget-looks-like-in-2022-300x106.png 300w, https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Heres-what-an-ROI-worthy-search-advertising-budget-looks-like-in-2022-768x270.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px\" \/><\/h3>\n<h3>30-second summary:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Digital marketers experience a potential ROI tunnel vision when it comes to search advertising<\/li>\n<li>Seriously, do you need to burn dollars over those high-competition keywords? Does it trickle down into actual business?<\/li>\n<li>How do you not lose vision and outweigh the paid search cost with your revenue?<\/li>\n<li>We&#8217;re bringing you the finer details of designing a paid media budget straight from an SEO expert and serial entrepreneur<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a bit of an understatement to say that success in digital marketing depends on a whole lot of things. There\u2019s your skill-set, your team that helps you, and your understanding of the market where you\u2019re trying to make a dent, either for yourself or your clients.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But how often do you think about your budget? Specifically, we\u2019re talking about your search advertising budget here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On its face, running paid media ads on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2021\/03\/16\/the-five-latest-google-ads-features-and-how-to-make-the-most-of-them\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google Ads<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the Google Display Network, Facebook, Microsoft, and other platforms is pretty simple: you bid on your keywords, define your target audiences, and run your ads for the length of the campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might not think that your budget factors into things beyond showing you the funds you have to work with, but I argue that there\u2019s more to it than that, especially when every dollar counts and you have a potential tunnel vision on ROI.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The thing is, only you will be able to say ultimately what your ROI-worthy search advertising budget will look like this year, but in this article, I\u2019ll explain how to design your paid media budget to strike gold in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>The basics: What do you want?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, you want to know what your search advertising budget should look like in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let me ask you this first: who are you, how big is your business, how much do you have to devote to search advertising, and, most importantly of all, what do you want to accomplish?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are so many factors here that only you will know, but the questions I\u2019d ask myself if I were looking at designing a search advertising budget for 2022 would include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do I want out of my campaigns?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How many conversions can I reasonably expect to get from my campaigns?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is search advertising my only growth channel right now, or are there others?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How much will I also be putting into SEO or email?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How can I track my search advertising to make sure my performance is what I expect?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What will success look like?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your budget is going to reflect what you want out of your campaigns, and what you want should reflect what growth looks like to your business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, are you an affiliate-marketing blogger who just needs more eyeballs on your pages? Are you a law firm looking for real, honest form-fills? Are you an <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2021\/11\/18\/four-google-serp-features-for-ecommerce-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ecommerce<\/a> brand that\u2019s retargeting your audiences for products they\u2019ve viewed?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All of it matters, because your approach to your search advertising, and consequently your budgeting, will be determined by your goals.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Closing in: What do you need?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After figuring out what you want, it\u2019s time to think of what you need to get there. Here\u2019s where we\u2019ll talk about hard figures: budgeting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only you will know what your search advertising campaigns should be producing (the results ideally will be based on the goals you\u2019ve laid out).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, if you want to grow by, let\u2019s say, $2,000 a month, then you need to do some math to get there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How many leads does your current search advertising campaign bring in? Of those leads, how many convert? Knowing your conversion rate will be key, as will knowing what each lead is worth to you and what your cost per lead is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you figure these things out, you\u2019ll have a better idea of how to budget.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a conversion will bring you $500, and your cost per lead is $10, and your conversion rate is five percent, then you need to bring in 80 leads a month through search advertising.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s how it works.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You need four conversions a month to hit your $2,000 goal. You convert five percent of the leads you get. Four is 5% of 80. You, therefore, need 80 leads per month to reach your goal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And if you pay $10 per lead, then your budget should be $800 a month for search advertising.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, that\u2019s an ideal situation. That\u2019s assuming you can make it all happen consistently like that, month after month.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the perfect world, that budget will indeed be <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2019\/01\/22\/maximize-roi-paid-social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ROI-worthy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But campaigns may fail, certain methods may not follow through for you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How can you ensure your budgeting and efforts are worthwhile?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Pulling it together: Get smart about bidding<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You want to design an ROI-worthy search advertising budget for 2022. That means you want to be in the big leagues like your competitors. What do you think they\u2019re doing that you aren\u2019t? Do they have some insight into Google Ads that you don\u2019t?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No, it really comes down to your <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2021\/12\/22\/how-to-optimize-keywords-and-seo-titles-with-popular-keywords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">keyword strategy<\/a> for your ads.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In case you didn\u2019t know, it works like this in SEO, too: the more mainstream, general, and competitive keywords &#8211; such as \u201cSEO company\u201d &#8211; are going to be pretty expensive to bid on. Depending on your budget, you may not be able to sustain that kind of campaign for long, and it\u2019s going to end up as a lot of wasted dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But again, look at your similarly sized competitors. They probably have roughly the same budget as you do. If they\u2019re outperforming you, they may have a smarter <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2021\/02\/10\/smart-bidding-leverage-machine-learning-to-improve-ppc-advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">keyword bidding strategy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> than you do.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taking the example from above, maybe you don\u2019t want or need to rank your ads for \u201cSEO company.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A longer-tail keyword such as \u201cSEO agency for link building\u201d will cost you less and have fewer monthly searches. But as in any sales funnel, when searchers get more specific, they tend to be more ready to convert.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just remember that when you get more specific, you\u2019re going to want to hone in on the quality and relevance of your ads\u2019 corresponding <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2020\/06\/22\/studying-the-anatomy-of-a-successful-high-conversion-landing-page\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">landing pages<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A long-tail keyword search requires a long-tail ad, and a long-tail ad requires a long-tail landing page (so to speak). Be sure to deliver on what your ad promises. Surely, you can develop content related to hiring an SEO agency for link building.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think of those funnels here. People want to see <a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2020\/09\/08\/content-marketing-metrics-for-b2b-companies-from-tofu-to-bofu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">content related to<\/a> where they are in the buyer\u2019s journey. When they see it, they will be more ready to convert. It works the same in SEO.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to talk about really honing in on ROI with your search advertising, that\u2019s the way to do it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>What will you do next?<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many businesses spend between <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nuphoriq.com\/create-a-marketing-budget\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">seven and 12 percent<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of their annual budget on marketing. It\u2019s a necessary expenditure for growth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to make sure that whatever you spend on your search advertising this year is actually worthy of a satisfactory ROI, study the tips I have laid out. Know your strengths, what you can do, and your bidding limitations, as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re smart, you can really build something great.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Kris Jones is the founder and former CEO of digital marketing and affiliate network Pepperjam, which he sold to eBay Enterprises in 2009. Most recently Kris founded SEO services and software company\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lseo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"0\">LSEO.com<\/a>\u00a0and has previously invested in numerous successful technology companies. Kris is an experienced public speaker and is the author of one of the best-selling SEO books of all time called, \u2018Search-Engine Optimization \u2013 Your Visual Blueprint to Effective Internet Marketing\u2019, which has sold nearly 100,000 copies.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Subscribe to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/#newsletter-modal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Search Engine Watch newsletter<\/a><\/strong><strong>\u00a0for insights on SEO, the search landscape, search marketing, digital marketing, leadership, podcasts, and more.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Join the conversation with us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/61126\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sewatch\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kris Jones shares some subtle considerations that will separate your search advertising strategy from your competitors (for good)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1092,"featured_media":143807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27893,10,27694,5],"tags":[27725,37,27541,28065,271,8985,129,28154,58,589,102,27718,974,22],"content_type":[],"class_list":["post-143805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-marketing","category-ppc","category-roi-marketing","category-seo","tag-budgeting-strategy","tag-google","tag-google-ads-tips","tag-influencer-commentary","tag-keyword-strategy","tag-landing-page-optimization","tag-paid-search","tag-paid-search-budget","tag-ppc","tag-ppc-budget","tag-roi","tag-roi-marketing","tag-search-intent","tag-seo"],"acf":{"tad_independentcommercial":"Independent","tad_content_format":"Infuencer commentary"},"post_info":{"name":"idris.nagri@blenheimchalcot.com idris.nagri@blenheimchalcot.com","title":"","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Heres-what-an-ROI-worthy-search-advertising-budget-looks-like-in-2022.png","category":"Digital Marketing","timeago":"4y"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1092"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143805"},{"taxonomy":"content_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content_type?post=143805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}