PAY PER CLICK (PPC)

What is PPC advertising?

This is sponsored search engine placement (SEP). With pay-per-click advertising, you target consumers online by bidding on keywords specific to your company and business. Your ad then appears near the top of the search engine results or in another prominent position when a person searches these terms online. You pay the bid amount when your ad is clicked on. You can budget this by setting a maximum daily amount for your PPC ads.

Is there a difference between PPC, Paid Search and Sponsored Link advertising?

No. These are just different names for the same thing – paid online advertising by keyword.

Can’t people tell it’s an ad anyway?

Though many users notice a difference between paid ads and organic results in their search results, stats show that this rarely makes a difference in whether the user clicks on the ad. If your ad is relevant to their search, than you have the info they are searching for. Most of Google’s revenue comes from advertising, clearly indicating PPC works.

What is the difference between organic search results and PPC?

With PPC, you pay to have your ad positioned near the top of the search results or in another prominent position on the search results page. Organic results are non-paid natural positioning due to search engine optimization strategies and techniques.

Are some businesses better suited for PPC advertising than others?

Typically, any online company can benefit from a well-managed PPC marketing campaign. However, some types of business many have a greater demand than others. This includes those offering difficult to locate products and services, those with high customer lifetime values, high-margin businesses, those with seasonal offerings and companies that offer a wide range of products.

What is CTR?

CTR = click-through rate. This formula is percentage determined by the number of clicks your PPC ad receives divided by the number of times your ad was displayed. This metric helps measure the success and effectiveness of your PPC campaign. You are only charged when a user clicks on your ad.

Should I only use Google AdWords?

The Google PPC program AdWords is much bigger than Bing Ads. This is due to the fact that Google enjoys a majority of the global market share. (62.3% worldwide and nearly 65% in the U.S.). However, it’s a good idea to maximize your exposure by using the Yahoo Bing network as well. And if an AdWords campaign is cost-prohibitive, the alternatives may be more budget-friendly while still offering you exposure. Social Media platforms offer PPC campaigns too.

What are some reasons PPC Marketing is a good idea?

• You will see results much more quickly than with organic search optimization.
• You can control costs with a set budget.
• You can easily measure the results.
• You can target consumers at a specific time in a specific place.
• PPC can help you and your SEO team identify successful keywords and test new services and products.

How do I measure the success of my PPC Marketing campaign?

There are numerous 3rd party tracking and reporting tools available. Google and Bing are the largest PPC engines and offer their own analytic tools.

What is the Quality Score on Google AdWords?

This 1 through 10 scale estimates the quality and relevance of your PPC keywords, your ad and your landing page. The better your score, the better your opportunities for higher placement and more advantageous prices.

How do I know what keywords to use?

Keyword selection is of vital importance for PPC Advertising. It requires competitive analysis, review of industry trends, website analytics and an in-depth knowledge of PPC advertising.

What is close variant keyword matching?

In September 2014, Google made changes to keyword matching, impacting how exact, phrase and broad matches now work, since you may no longer opt out of showing close variations to your selected keywords. With close variant keyword matching, Google uses plurals, misspellings, abbreviations, acronyms and other close variants of your keywords. If there are specific close variants of your keywords that you don’t want to trigger your ad, you need to use negative keywords. This tells Google which close variants you do not want to trigger your PPC ads.

What is a Landing Page?

This is the page your targeted visitor will be routed to when clicking on your PPC ad. This page should be carefully designed to sell the goods and services that the ad initiated interest in.

Is the design and content on my Landing Page important?

Absolutely. Your ad peaks the visitor’s interest, but you need to keep that interest and show them that your site can deliver. In this way, you can convert a visitor into a client or customer. This is the job of a well-designed landing page. Your landing page is also an important factor in your Google Quality Score. Google evaluates this page when calculating your score, which in turn affects the price and position of your PPC ads.

Can’t I just do this on my own?

You can certainly try, and many are successful. Google even provides a great deal of help and information for beginners. However, before embarking on your own PPC Ad Campaign, consider the time investment. You will need to learn about PPC, the lingo, how it works, analytics, keywords, etc. You need to review your campaign regularly and analyze the results – what’s working, what isn’t. Likely, this is time better spent actually running your business. With that in mind, it’s usually a good idea to have a PPC professional managing your campaign for the most effective results with the least amount of time and effort on your part. Contact Rank Friendly to learn more about our PPC services and how we can help you rank better on leading search engines.