PPC - Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click - PPC

PPC Advertising Explained

Pay per click (PPC) is a type of marketing used predominantly on search engines, where advertisers only pay when a user actually clicks on one of their adverts to be directed to the relevant part of their website.

Advertisers bid on keywords they predict their market will use as search terms to find the product or service they offer. When a user types a keyword query into a search engine that matches one in the advertiser's keyword list, or views a page with relevant content, the advertiser's advert could be shown. Ads of this kind are known as "sponsored links" or "sponsored ads" and appear next to or above the "natural" or organic results on search engine results pages.

Advertisers decide how much they're willing to pay each time someone clicks on their ad and they are able to very this for each keyword. Most businesses use Google Adwords to create their Pay Per Click campaigns which will show their ad's on Google's SERP's or related websites and using an management agency will help you to fully optimise your campaign so that you recieve the most traffic for the lowest cost.

PPC Campaigns are a great way to advertise your site as they can start working immediately which is especially helpful for new business as it enables you to begin your spreading brand awareness straight away.

Campaign Analysis

As soon as we have received your keywords (as well as any other information you feel may be beneficial to us) we will begin our analysis stage, where we research which of your keywords will work best for you in terms of search results, work on long tail examples to increase the relevancy of searches and research your competitors. We want to make sure you get the most for your money, so you'll feel confident knowing you're only bidding on relevant keywords.

Campaign Optimisation

Once we have structured your campaign, we put it into practice. We create your Ad Groups where we sort your keywords into groups of similar themes. These keywords are then duplicated as the two type of keyword match we generally use, exact and phrase matches. We use these two as they tend to generate the largest amounts of CTR. We write compelling adverts for you, specific to your company, to lead to the largest amount of conversions possible.

Campaign Monitoring
We monitor your account constantly, to see if there are any alterations that could be made to get you a higher CTR, or save you money. You will receive a monthly report from us so you can also track the progress of your campaign and see where the results are coming in.

Distribution

As well as appearing on Google's search pages, customers have the option of their ads showing on Google's partner networks, which include AOL search, Ask.com, and Netscape. Customers also have the option of enabling their ads to appear on their 'content network' of hundreds of thousands of websites, such as timesonline.co.uk, vogue.com, and channel4.co.uk. The content network reaches 75% of unique internet users in more than 20 languages and over 100 countries. You can choose these yourself, or let ad targeting do the work for you.

Complete control

* Keyword targeted ads you create and manage yourself.
* CPC pricing system, so you pay only for the clicks you have received at a price you have pre-set (choose a maximum CPC from 0.01 to 100.00).
* Possibilities of multiple ads targeted with one or more keywords.
* CPM pricing for those who prefer to target individual content sites and pay by the impression.
* A Daily budget that you set, starting from 0.01.
* Ad scheduling and Geographical Targeting: run your ads on the days and hours you want to the towns, counties or countries you want.
* Online account performance reports 24/7.
* Additional network of sites and products for increasing advertising exposure.

Common PPC mistakes

break down your keywords into small groups
By keeping your keyword groups small, it is easier to track which keywords are working well for you and which aren't. As long as you keep an eye on the numbers (CPC, conversion, etc) you can see which keywords are bringing in a profit for you and which are just costing you money.

Use long tail keywords
Using mostly top keywords for your ad campaigns will just put you up against more competition and your ads are less likely to yield results. By using a larger amount of long tail keywords, you are more likely to attract users that find your ad because they are specifically searching for something you offer, therefore you are also more likely to make a conversion.

write attention-grabbing ads
This one might seem a bit obvious, but you don't get much space in your advert, typically 125 characters or less, so you need to fill it with eye catching words. Using your main keyword in the title and main text of your ad will draw the user's attention and make them realise your ad is specifically what they are looking for. Adding a 'call to action' like "Buy Now!" or "Act Today!" at the end of your advertisement will subconsciously instill a sense of urgency and get them to respond faster.

analyse your ad clicks
If your results show you are getting lots of clicks on non-targeted keywords, consider reducing the Maximum CPC in order to improve your ROI. Similarly, you can also raise bids for targeted keywords that are performing well to get the most out of them.

improve ad delivery
If your ad does not show up every time when searches are performed under your keyword, it may be a sign that your daily budget is not high enough. The frequency of your ad display is controlled by the daily budget. If you would like your ad to be shown more frequently, you should consider increasing your daily budget in order to receive a maximum exposure for your advert. Because your actual spending is based on your CTR, by setting the daily budget higher, this will allow your ad to get more exposure, whilst your actual spending may still be in your desired daily budget range.

use specialised landing pages
The person that searches for your website's product/service will want to be taken straight to the relevant page of your site. If your ad suggests it is about a specific product, and it clicks through to your home page, most likely the user will not want to look around for what it is they want. By making your landing page specific to your advert you will therefore increase your chance that the visitor will take the action that you want him/her to do.

Glossary of PPC Terminology

ad copy
The headline, descriptive text and display URL used to form an advert to persuade people to visit your site that is displayed on the results page of a search engine.

ad group
An ad group is a collection of keywords paired with specific adverts for that group. You are allowed multiple ad groups per campaign.

ad scheduling
Ad scheduling allows you to set time slots when your advert will be shown during the day. With ad scheduling, a campaign can run all day, every day, or as little as 15 minutes per week. This allows your adverts to receive the most valuable traffic when it is available to you, and conserve your budget when traffic is slower.

bid price
The maximum amount of money you are willing to pay for your search keywords.

broad match
A broad match keyword would be triggered for a search that contains the initial keyword and also for associated searches.
For example: the broad match keyword of 'red shirt' would be triggered by searches for 'red shirts', 'find red shirt', 'red and blue shirts' and 'shop that sells red shirts' etc. A broad match is written literally with no added punctuation.

click through rate (CTR)
Click through rate is the number of clicks your advert receives divided by the number of times your ad is shown. A keyword's CTR is a strong indicator of its relevance to the user and the overall success of the keyword.

clicks
The amount of times somebody clicks through to your site via your ad. It is determined by dividing the amount of conversations by the amount of clicks.

conversion rate
The conversion rate is the number of conversions divided by the number of ad clicks. A conversion is when a visitor interacts with your site, whether it is by purchasing or inquiring, as a result of clicking on your ad.

cost per click (CPC)
The amount of money you end up paying for someone clicking through from an ad displayed for one of your search terms (this depends on competition, CTR and Quality Score).

daily budget
You can set the maximum amount of money you are willing to spend on your ad campaign each day by defining a limit, known as the daily budget. When your budget limit is reached, your ad will stop showing.

exact matching
If you choose your keyword to be for exact match only, it will only appear when a user searches for the exact keyword.
For example: the exact match keyword 'water bottle' will only appear for searches of 'water bottle' exactly. No additional words like 'clear water bottle', or plurals like 'water bottles' are allowed. An exact match is written inside square brackets so the search engine can determine the type of search it is.

geographical/location targeting
Search engines will let you choose the areas of the country to advertise to which will have most relevance to the requirement of your product/service. You can also expand this to whole countries themselves, as well as certain languages.

impressions
The amount of times your advertisement comes up in response to a specific search term.

keyword
The word or phrase somebody searches for that you bid on. By creating relevant keywords, your ads will only appear to the more interested customers, who are most likely to purchase from you. Therefore increasing your conversion rate, lowing your CPC, and raising your ad position.

landing page
The specific web page a visitor gets when they click on your ad.

negative keywords
Specific keywords used to stop the appearance of non-relevant searches so your ad doesn't appear and therefore lose you money.

phrase match
Phrase matching stops your advert appearing when the user has added additional words in their search, but allows searches that contain terms before and after the phrase to be triggered.
For example: the phrase match keyword of 'LCD TV' would appear for searches of 'cheap LCD TV' or 'LCD TV delivered'. However, a search for 'LCD black TV' would not trigger the phrase match keyword because it does not match exactly the whole phrased keyword of 'LCD TV'. A phrase match is written inside quotation marks so the search engine can determine the type of search it is.

position
Your rank amongst the paid listings on a search engine's results page. Positioning is dependent on the quality score of your adverting. The higher your quality score, the higher the ranking of your adverts.

quality score
This is the ranking method used on the Google Adwords system. It is based on your adverts CPC, CTR and relevancy. The higher a keyword's Quality Score, the lower its minimum bid and the better its ad position.

reach
Your reach is the total number of unique users who will see your advert over a given period of time. It determines the presence and online exposure your ad will get.

relevancy
The relevancy of your search term/advert/landing page to what someone is actually looking for. Relevancy is reflected by a keyword's quality score