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Paid search marketing (PPC)

Paid search marketing opportunities includes Pay Per Click Ads via Google and Bing plus ads on the display network – a third of Google’s revenue. The cost of pay search can be high, so we discuss how to make sure you’re getting the most value from PPC by maximising your Google Quality Score.

Our advice on managing paid search marketing (ppc)...

Local paid search

Google Places is really important for businesses with a local presence, particularly for mobile SEO – so it’s worth reviewing the paid search options.

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Multilingual PPC

Multilingual or International PPC involves tailoring campaigns for your local area. It’s also worth checking multlingual SEO for our posts on this.

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Paid search analytics

There’s no shortage of analytics options with pay-per-click, but you need to audit you need to create your own analytics approach – we’ll show you how.

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Paid search creative

With paid search in Google Adwords you have fewer than 100 words to make an impact – we’ll show you how to use them well!

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Paid search display network

The display network in Google gives great opportunities to gain awareness of your brand and also great opportunities to burn money…

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Paid search strategy

You’re paying for every click so you have to invest in what gives you the best return. This is paid search strategy!

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Paid search targeting

There are fantastic options to tightly target in paid search if you know how – audit your approach!

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Our Quick Guide to paid search marketing (ppc)...

What is paid search marketing (ppc)?

Although many searchers prefer to click on the natural listings, sufficient numbers do click on the paid listings (typically around a quarter or a third of all clicks). So with careful control, Adwords can drive quality traffic for which you get a good return.

Although many searchers prefer to click on the natural listings, sufficient numbers do click on the paid listings (typically around a quarter or a third of all clicks). So they can drive traffic.

In the UK, Adwords accounts for around 60% of all paid media spend[1], so it clearly works for many companies.

http://www.iabuk.net/en/1/iabknowledgebankadspend.html

The main benefits of using paid search marketing in Google Adwords is that it gives you:

  • 1. Great targeting. You can reach your target audience when they are looking for products, i.e. high purchase intent.
  • 2. Low wastage. With the right match types in Google Adwords, use of phrase match, exact match or broad match in combination with negative keywords, you can ensure that your ads are only shown when searchers are searching for relevant products.
  • 3. Predictability. Traffic volumes, ranking, returns and costs tend to more stable and more predictable than SEO.
  • 4. Speed. PPC listings appear much faster, usually in a few hours (or days if editor review is required). SEO has a much longer lead time, particularly important when new sites are created (the Google sandbox effect) or when ads need to be switched on and off for a campaign, promotion or stock changes.
  • 5. Control. Unlike SEO (with sufficient budget and staff or agency with good PPC skills) it is more straightforward to achieve high ranking and direct visitors to the relevant page on your site. With the right technology, and that means a bid management system, creative / copy and budgeting can be tightly controlled.
  • 6. High conversion rates. Following on from 1, PPC tends to have the higher conversion rates than SEO and much higher than display ads where viewers of the ads may click more on impulse.
  • 7. Branding effect. Tests by the IAB have shown that there is a branding effect with Pay Per Click, even if users do not click on the ad. This can be useful for generating brand awareness during the launch of products or major campaigns.

Blog posts

Where Should Your Online Media Spend Go In 2012?
Chris Soames, January 30, 2012

Interesting online media trends for 2011 & 2012 Value/Importance: Recommended link: eFrontier Our commentary A fantastic report from eFrontier, looking back over 2011 and with an interesting outlook on 2012. The report covers, in great detail, the spending patterns globally …..

Internet advertising Read more Internet Advertising Read more Internet marketing statistics Read more Paid search marketing (PPC) Read more
Should we advertise for searches on our brand?
Chris Soames, October 20, 2011

New research from Google suggests the investment is worthwhile – they would, wouldn’t they? Value/Importance: Recommended link: Google Research Blog Our commentary Whether using Adwords is generates incremental visits when you already rank well in natural search is a perennial …..

Paid search targeting Read more
Optimising Google Adwords Ad Position
Chris Soames, October 13, 2011

New options for understanding Performance by Ad Position Value/Importance: Source: Inside Google AdWords & RKG Blog Our commentary For years now you have been able to use Google Analytics to garner insights on what position your ads were in when …..

Paid search strategy Read more
Google Adwords Quality Score Update
Chris Soames, October 7, 2011

New way of reviewing keyword and landing page relevance Value/Importance: Recommended link: Source – Official Google Announcement Our commentary Yet another algorithm update from Google, this time relating to Pay Per Click. The new updates are to help Google set a better …..

Paid search strategy Read more
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Paid search marketing (PPC) success factors

The main disadvantages of paid search that need to be managed for success are:

  • 1. Competition. Since Pay Per Click has become popular due to its effectiveness, it is competitive and because it is based on competitive bids it can get expensive. CPC/bid inflation has led to some companies reducing PPC activity. Some companies may get involved in bidding wars that drive bids up to an unacceptable-level – some phrases such as ‘life insurance’ may exceed £10 per click.
  • 2. Higher costs than other media. If SEO is effective it will almost always deliver a lower CPC.
  • 3. Favours larger brands. For companies with a lower budget or a narrower range of products on which to increase lifetime value it may be not possible to compete. In the past large players have got deals on their media spend through their agencies through, for example, Google Best Practice Funding.
  • 4. Complexity of managing large campaigns. PPC is deceptively simple to setup. But to compete effectively, particularly for a large campaign, requires knowledge of best practice which changes as Google and other engines introduce new facilities – see the official update blogs from the search networks to gain an idea.
  • 5. Limited reach. Not all searchers will see your ads, since the majority scan and click on the natural listings. Your ad will only reach those who are proactively looking for a product or service, but not those who are unaware of a need. Here display advertising can be used, but the paid search content networks can help here.
  • 6. Click fraud. Common in some sectors where competitors or advertisers click on ads when there is no intention to buy.

Best websites on paid search marketing (ppc)

These are the main sites we recommend for keeping up-to-date on the latest developments in paid search:

Tools and Software

Bid management tools for managing Paid search (Pay Per Click) marketing across search networks like Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, MSN adCenter and Miva have become more sophisticated. We recommend this guide to select the best bid management tool.

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