PPC advertising is the king of paid search engine marketing.
Paid search engine marketing, in general, has many benefits-both tangible and intangible. PPC advertising has its own set of benefits that are markedly different from other forms of SEM. We’ll explore these 12 in the following paragraphs!
1. What is PPC Advertising ?
PPC, or pay-per-click advertising is a form of online advertising where advertisers only pay when users click on their ad. PPC ads are usually text based and appear in search engines like Google and Bing, but they can also appear in places like news sites or blogs if you’re lucky (see this article on how to get your PPC ad on a blog!).
2. Benefits of PPC advertising .
PPC ads provide advertisers with the following benefits:
1) You get more bang for your buck when you use P2P advertising because you’re paying only per click rather than paying a monthly fee to maintain an ad on someone else’s site all month long
2) You can do some really cool things with Google Ads such as split testing ads (changing just one element and seeing which gets better response rates), or using call extensions to track phone calls generated by your ads
3) You can pay only for the keywords you really want to target (rather than paying for more ad impressions that lead nowhere)
4) You can track the success of your campaigns-and tweak them as needed
5) PPC advertising is incredibly fast. In a matter of days or weeks, you can get some ROI on an initial investment in terms of new customers and revenue
6) You’ll find great tools at Google’s AdWords site that will help you maximize your PPC campaign even if you’re a novice to SEM-without having to hire a professional.
7) Because the ads are text only, they’re easy to manage and tweak quickly (you aren’t dealing with design issues or even content issues)
8) You can quickly target high-paying keywords that don’t get many searches per month, which is great if you have a specialized product or service
9)You can save money on PPC advertising by figuring out the best time to run your campaigns. Keywords with low competition and high relevance may cost more during periods when they get the most searches.
10) PPC advertising is one of the cheapest forms of SEM currently available. You can find good keywords for bids as little as $0.45 per click
11) The CPC’s (cost per click) are a lot lower than what you’ll pay if you bid on ad space on other people’s sites (to advertise your product or service).
12) If you’re tracking phone calls generated by your PPC ads, you’ll have immediate feedback on what ad works best and what doesn’t.
3. Why should you use it ?
PPC advertising is so powerful that it’s used by 50% of all U.S. companies that have any kind of Internet marketing budget, according to a survey done by AdAge in 2010.
If you’re looking for a way to drive more traffic (and thus increase your sales) through your website, PPC ads can be the answer. PPC ads are a tool that should be in every marketer’s toolbox, whether you’re just starting out or have been online for years!
4. Things to consider when setting up your own paid search engine marketing campaign .
If you plan on creating and managing your own PPC campaign, there are several factors to consider:
1) Budget – do you have a set amount of money that you’re willing to spend on your campaign per month?
2) PPC management : if you choose to go DIY, make sure that you know how to manage the ads. If not, consider hiring someone who knows what they are doing. Do read this article on how to hire an SEM expert .
3) The bottom line : PPC advertising is fun and easy, but it also requires patience. If you aren’t prepared for the fact that paid search engine marketing campaigns can take a long time to generate significant ROI, consider using other SEM methods such as content-based SEO or local listings optimization
4) Tracking phone calls and data: make sure you have a call tracking system in place to help you track the success of your PPC campaigns.
4. How does it PPC advertising work ?
When you set up a PPC campaign, you actually set up two things: 1. A Google account (so that you can access the AdWords interface) 2 An actual ad (which will be displayed on the search results page).
Step 1 is easy. All you need to do is go to https://adwords.google.com/business to set up your account.
Step 2 is also easy if you know what you are doing. If not, hire someone who is experienced in setting up and managing PPC campaigns. Once you’ve got this part figured out, the only thing left is actually creating your ad. You’ll need to:
1) Choose a group of words (keywords) that best describe what your business does and your target market. Make sure they are phrases, not individual words.
2) Determine an appropriate bid per click (CPC).
3) Design how you want the ad to look.
4) Write a description that includes the call to action. In other words, tell users what you want them to click on!
5. Who uses PPC advertising?
PPC advertising is one of the most popular forms of online advertising. Big brands such as Coca-Cola, Ford and Microsoft use PPC ads to generate sales for their products via Google or Bing search engine marketing. Small businesses use it too! For instance, if you provide dog pet sitting services through Rover, your online presence would be seriously lacking if you didn’t have a PPC campaign set up to promote your services.
You can find local businesses using paid search engine marketing by doing a simple Google search for “PPC ads” in your city/state.
The bottom line: if you don’t have an SEM expert or don’t want to commit the time and effort necessary to creating and managing a paid search engine marketing campaign, hire someone who does know what they are doing. You’ll be glad you did!
6. When to use PPC marketing
PPC is great when you need to reach out to a specific market or vertical, with only a few seconds on the user’s part to make an impression. When using SEM we’re targeting people who are searching for something online.
One of the best parts about PPC marketing is that it can be used as a companion to content based SEO. Essentially, PPC is used to promote certain content (usually a call to action) that you want your customers or prospective customers to focus on. It can be used in conjunction with traditional SEO, but using both of these advertising tactics together will maximize your impact.
7) Where can I get started with my own campaign-and how much will it cost me (including software and tools)?
There are a lot of free keyword research tools on the market, but SEMRush is one of the best alternatives. You pay for the tool itself and you get access to thousands of pre-generated keywords from both Google AdWords and Bing/Yahoo or $99 per month for unlimited access to this data.
The software can help you manage your account, find keywords that will generate traffic for your site and help you optimize your AdWords campaign effectively. If you are new to the world of PPC management, this is an indispensable tool.
PPC advertising is an effective way to market your products or services if you’re a small business owner. All it takes is the right strategy and some time spent on setting up your campaign in order to see results. If you have any questions about how PPC marketing can work for you, don’t hesitate to contact us! We are here every day of the week ready and waiting to help make your online presence thrive with professional SEO management or pay per click campaigns that deliver ROI through traffic generation.
