You may have heard of Pay-per-click (PPC) before, maybe even tried it out for yourself or know someone who has. So what actually is it and is it the right thing for your business?
PPC- The Headlines
So, PPC is an online marketing model that does exactly what it says on the tin. Every time an advert is clicked, the advertiser pays a fee. Google AdWords is the most used form of PPC allowing advertisers to reach customers through online searches and the Google Display Network (GDN).
Adverts appear whenever you begin searching through engines like Google and Bing. They can appear as text (as above) as images through display ads, as videos on the likes of YouTube and also, ads in apps. This means that you can access a wide range of mediums on a wide range of devices.
Let’s take a look at Google Adwords and hopefully answer a few questions that you may have about PPC.
Structure
Campaigns, Ad Groups, Keywords and Ads; all elements of the Adwords structure. Campaigns are made up of Ad Groups, which have a set of Keywords leading to an adv. Let me explain.
- Campaign: This is the overarching concept of what you want your campaign to be related to. For example, “Acme Inc. Car Sale”
- Ad Group: The level beneath a campaign. This is a collection of related keywords that focus on a specific area. So, to use the car sale example, one Ad Group could be “Family Car Sale” another could be “Sports Car Sale”. Each has a different target in mind.
- Keywords: These are the words that people search for within the search engine. So, “Buy new family car” or “best sports cars to buy” etc.
- Ad: This is the physical advert itself. It could be text, video or image. Several ads can be used per Ad Group.
Being Relevant
If a user is searching for a “red sports car” and an advert for a “blue motorbike” comes up, what’s the point? When creating a Campaign, relevance is extremely important. Understanding what people are searching for, when they’re searching, trends and why are they searching, are all elements that must be taken into account when producing a PPC campaign. Not only will this influence when the advert will appear (through keyword selection), but also the wording and tone within the advert itself (advert creation).
Goole PPC Partners understand how Google measures campaign relevance and also know how to create adverts that set you apart from your competition. They also know when people are searching, what they’re searching for and why they are searching. Time and resource must be utilised at the beginning of any campaign creation. Get the structure robust first time and then continue to alter and improve throughout the campaign life cycle. That leads to clicks!
Budgeting
Google Adwords allows you to set a daily budget. This means that you have full control on spend. You may want to spend £20 per day for a month or £2,000 per day for 12 months, it’s so flexible. Think of PPC like an auction. You set the limits on what you want to spend per click. Cost per click varies by industry. Costs are based on demand like any auction. If your business sells cars, the demand for those keywords is high. Think about how many manufacturers and dealerships are competing in this arena. Equally the reward for converting from a click (turning a web visitor to a sale) is rather high. You may spend £15 for a click, but this visitor may become a customer and you sell them a £30,000 car! Always think ROI. Google Adwords allows plenty of fantastic insight to be gained.
End Product
Please don’t spend a single penny on PPC if the landing page is not up to scratch. Google will also penalised you too with a low Quality Score The landing page is where the customer ends up after clicking the link. For example, if you click on the “Sports Car Sale” advert and it takes them to the “Meet the Team” page, then you’re not in a good place! Also, think about the “Call to Action”. Do you want the visitor to place an order for the car? Call your sales team? Email an enquiry? What do you want them to do when they are there?
Time, Expertise, Dynamism, Creative
You may not have the time or expertise to manage your own PPC account. As such, you need to outsource to an agency. To effectively utilise PPC, a wide skill set and knowledge base is required. Research, analysis and quality copy writing are all fundamentals of skilled and effective campaign management. Combine this skill set with a deep understanding of how Adwords operates and you’re on your way to success.
Make sure that you find an agency who understand you and your business. That they have the credentials (Adwords Certified), that they produce insightful reports and offer solutions and suggestions.
We are slightly different from most agencies offering PPC services due to our dynamic approach. We have a team made up of creatives, copy writers, PPC specialists and analytical experts who think outside of the box. This gives us access to multiple opinions and different angles in which we can tackle projects. Equally, our clients get a lot more from us than they would from a PPC agency. We learn from the vast array of data that we are privy to, in order to make suggestions to be implemented across the marketing mix. Think of PPC as an important tool in the marketing toolbox, not just a stand alone method of traffic generation.
For any further information regarding PPC, get in touch!
Thanks for reading.
Adam
Twitter
LinkedIn
adam@ib3.uk
07794 492587