Contextual advertising: definition

Contextual advertising is a promotional message that is embedded in a context close to the recipient. The point is that the ad presents content related to, for example:
– the interests of its addressee,
– information recently sought by him,
– products that he has almost purchased or is regularly purchasing.

This means that contextual advertising transmits information of value to the recipient. So it is not doomed to failure, like most messages that reach random recipients. It can therefore be said that the idea behind contextual advertising is that it should reach potentially interested, not random recipients. Which is why it works so much better.

Think for a minute: you are a cooking fan and you are visiting another recipe portal. Is it likely that when you see a banner advertising, for example, an exotic grocery store on one of them, you will click on it? There is definitely no one hundred percent guarantee – after all, a lot depends on how much time you have and how much you want to delve into such information. Nevertheless, the chances are much higher than if you were shown a banner with an advertisement for pet food in return, right?

How does contextual advertising work in practice?

What makes the displayed ads really put in the right context? In the past, they were simply related to the subject of the portals on which they appeared. For example, cooking pages featured banners from kitchenware stores, restaurants, and the like.

Today, it can also work to some extent, but most websites are based on advertising systems – primarily Google Ads. And here we are dealing with a much more precise “targeting” of customers, i.e. with the exact matching of the message to the person who visits a given page.

On what basis does the system display such and not other advertisements?

There are two basic mechanisms.

First, answer one important question to yourself: are you logged into your Google Account? Most of us have them. You need, among others because Google offers the most popular e-mail box. But that’s not all. Let’s not forget about mobile traffic, largely based on Android phones. And to use such a smartphone, you also log in to your Google account.

When creating this account, you have probably provided your personal data – at least your gender and date of birth. Most of us provide truthful information – if only because it can be useful for password recovery. These simple demographic data, combined with your location, are an important reference point for contextual advertising.

Second – cookies! These are, of course, cookies. These are small files with information that are saved in your browser. On the one hand, they serve your convenience – for example, that you do not have to log in to your favorite websites every time and re-select their settings. On the other hand, they are a real “gold mine” for advertising systems. They show them what websites you watched before, what you were interested in, what you buy, what topics keep you for longer… in one word: they let you get to know you better and, consequently, show you ads that interest you. It’s so simple!

Therefore, when you visit another page, an ad system, such as Google Ads, sends a query to your browser and accesses cookies in response. From there it is a simple way for algorithms to match advertising messages to what you really are interested in, and then – to conversion.

What types of contextual advertising can be distinguished?

Contextual advertising is a very powerful tool that can fulfill various promotional goals. First of all, there are various advertising systems – apart from Google AdSense, you can mention Programmatic and many others.

When you take a closer look at the set of available tools, you can see that the person planning the campaign may choose several models of contextual advertising. Due to their purpose, they can be divided into messages focused on:

– sale – this type of advertisement is chosen for the implementation of short-term goals, e.g. various promotional and sale campaigns in the store. It is most often chosen by e-stores,
– acquiring leads – valuable contacts that may result in a purchase in the long run,
– increasing traffic on the website – the campaign is primarily to attract attention to the website and increase the number of visits to it (which also translates into the effectiveness of positioning),
– brand awareness – messages addressed to “strangers”, i.e. recipients who have never dealt with your brand, but may be interested in the solutions it offers,
– arousing interest in products / services – messages addressed to people who initially express the need to use a given solution.

Where do contextual ads appear?

Contextual advertising can appear in several forms. Those are:
– classic advertisements – e.g. promotional banners on websites or on social networks,
– sponsored links – are published above, below or next to organic search results,
– sponsored e-mails – this form of promotion can be used for Gmail users who will receive sponsored messages to the “regular” mailbox, in relation to the visited pages.

On what basis can contextual ads appear?

Contextual ads target people at different stages of the sales funnel. Among them, the following messages can be distinguished:
– thematically matched to the content viewed by the user – targeted at those who are generally interested in a given issue,
– dedicated to people who initially expressed an interest in purchasing a specific product – e.g. those who viewed offers in e-stores or searched for information about various versions of the product,
– “remarketing“ – targeted at people who have already visited a specific store, most often with the intention to buy, spent a certain period of time on the website, maybe even put the product into the basket, but … changed their mind at the last moment.

The audience you want to target with contextual advertising can be determined during the planning and setup of your campaign.

Regardless of whether you run a clothing store, an automotive parts store, a gardening equipment store, a health food store, you have one specific goal – for example, getting customers and increasing sales. An online store advertisement comes in handy, thanks to which you can reach a wide audience. This is the beginning of the road, but you are not far from success.

Online store advertising – possibilities

Wondering what online advertising options you have? Internet marketing is a very broad concept, thanks to which you will choose solutions adequate to your needs and expectations. Importantly, online store advertising should not focus on just one tool at all. To increase your chances of success, it is worth acting on many levels. Many forms of online advertising complement each other perfectly, thanks to which a larger group of potential customers can get to know you.

– Google Ads
This is a paid online store advertisement that gives quick results. Therefore, it will be great when you are just starting a business and your brand is not yet known.

As part of Google Ads, you can use, among others from sponsored links. They are displayed in the search engine – above the organic results – after entering specific keywords. After clicking the user is redirected to your store. This is a very effective method of advertising because for the average user Google Ads do not differ from organic results. It is also worth adding that they are well-matched to the client’s queries and thus get what he expects.

Another option is given to banner campaigns, which are implemented with the participation of portals cooperating with Google Ads. The banner is displayed on the given website – after clicking on the graphic the user is redirected to the online store.

The third option is Google Shopping – a tool with which you can promote specific products in the search engine. The user entering the product name receives the results in a special box – a link to the product appears along with the name of the store, price and photo.

– Advertising on Facebook
Statistics show that most people use at least one social networking site. Facebook is the most popular and, among other things, you should mark your presence there.

One of the forms of advertising is your own fanpage, through which you can establish long-term relationships with customers and engage in dialogue with them. It is also a good way to build brand awareness.

The fanpage itself is not enough – especially if the store takes its first steps. Facebook campaigns come in handy to help you adapt to your needs. The form of advertising can be, for example, sponsored posts appearing on the board of potential customers or in Messenger. There are a lot of advertising formats on Facebook, from static to carousels and movies.

– Content marketing
Content marketing is not direct advertising. It is a series of activities on the Internet that primarily allow you to increase brand awareness, build an image of an expert or gain leads.

These activities can be carried out in many ways, however, the publication of thematic articles on external websites and the publication of articles on a company blog plays a major role. These are content activities that we know widely, but there are many more and they can also be much more sophisticated. Let store actions serve as an example. A simple loyalty mechanism (stickers = reward) was turned into a content self-play. Such action provides a lot of sought after content. Thus, a powerful envelope of content is created around the programs.

Online store advertising – why is it worth it?

The need to incur financial expenses for advertising on the Internet raises many questions – including those related to profitability. Although it’s hard to get a clear answer, one thing is certain: online store advertising has many advantages and is extremely measurable. So you can make budget transfers to the most promising channels in real time!

– Wide range
Internet advertising is distinguished by a very wide range. It allows you to reach hundreds of thousands of recipients – not only in your country, but also in the world. This is especially important if you are considering selling products also abroad. A wider reach means reaching more users with more potential customers among them.

– Unlimited access to the offer
Unlimited access to online stores means that an online store ad does not have to be displayed at certain times. It reaches the recipient virtually 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

– Precise targeting
Online store advertising – regardless of the tool chosen – allows you to precisely identify the target group and then reach it. This increases the chances of the recipient carrying out a specific action, e.g. placing an order, subscribing to the newsletter.

– Speed of campaign launch
An online advertising campaign can be launched very quickly. What’s more, it is possible to reach a wide audience as soon as the campaign starts. This works great for online stores starting out, which – in the case of offline advertising – would have to wait much longer for results.

– Affordable costs
Traditional forms of advertising can cost a lot – unlike online advertising. It is much cheaper, which allows you to achieve your business goals with a lot less money. Thanks to this, every online store has a chance to appear on the web – regardless of its scale.

– High flexibility
Online store advertising is characterized by great flexibility. You can modify the parameters of individual campaigns – so that they bring the expected results. And all this without having to increase advertising expenditure.

– Possibility of constant monitoring of effects
Internet advertising is fully measurable. It is possible to systematically monitor effects using various tools. Thanks to this – if a given form of promotion does not meet expectations – it can be modified or completely eliminated.

Online advertising of an online store is a profitable investment. Compared to other forms of advertising, it provides the best ratio of campaign costs to results.

What is the Nofollow update from March 1, 2020?

The change will affect the indexing of nofollow links. Earlier, Google treated nofollow links only as a mark, so these links did not crawl. In other words, they were not taken into account by the search engine algorithm. This changes on March 1, 2020. From March 1, Google will treat nofollow links as a crawl guide.

Nofollow links policy

Some website owners have used nofollow links to prevent indexing of given pages. Typical pages linked to nofollow can be links to user profiles, links to login pages, links to various sections of the website, or links to external (e.g. sponsored) pages. Using nofollow to block Google from indexing pages has never been a good practice. There are more reliable ways to prevent page indexing (e.g. by adding a meta tag noindex to your HTML).

Will the Nofollow update affect my site ranking?

It is difficult to predict how the update of nofollow link indexing will affect the ranking. This may depend on which Google pages will index. Google can configure the rules for selecting pages to be indexed and not. It has not yet been determined whether Google will decide not to index low quality pages.

How to prepare a website for nofollow update?

A. Read the Nofollow update.
Check what changes Google requires. If the rankings or traffic on your site begins to change, please report this problem to the person managing the website or the website positioning specialist.

B. Analyze the nofollow links on your website.
Incorrect implementation of nofollow can lead to unintended consequences. Check how nofollow links are used on your website and decide if it’s time to remove them and go to the noindex meta robots or to assign them the right attributes.