In the world of search, Google is King. Not only have they revolutionised the way we search, but also the way businesses advertise online. Paid Ads began as text ads which appeared alongside search results. They have now developed and grown into the sophisticated advertising platform, Google Ads, which helps companies to advertise their products or services on a global scale.
What is pay-per-click advertising?
Pay-per-click advertising or PPC, as it is more commonly known, is one of the most efficient digital marketing tools you can use to drive website traffic. When we set up a PPC advertising campaign we optimise it so that we are targeting your audience based on the keywords they are using to search for the products or services you are offering. This means that your website will then appear next to the organic results for that search term, and it will be identified as an Ad by Google.
The pay-per-click part of PPC advertising refers to paying Google a small fee each time someone clicks on your ad. Depending on the keyword you are using in your PPC ads, you will either pay a fixed fee or you may take part in a bidding process with your competitors over who will pay the most for a certain keyword.
For a more detailed explanation about how Google Ads works, check out this great video from Google themselves:
When it comes to marketing strategies, we often advise our clients that Google Ads ad campaigns are worth investing in as conversion rates and return on investment can be quite high. In Google’s Economic Impact report of 2017, they revealed that “businesses generally make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads”. They also went on to say that “businesses overall receive an average of five clicks on their search results for every one click on their ads. “
These are merely estimates, but they show that online advertising is definitely something to think about as part of your online marketing campaign.
Before you decide whether you want to invest some of your marketing budget into PPC ads, you probably want to know a little more about how we put together a PPC campaign, so let’s take a closer look at some of the things we consider:
#1 What do we want to achieve?
As with anything to do with marketing, we need to be clear about what it is we want to achieve so we can build a solid and focused strategy.
When it comes to a PPC advertising campaign, the sort of things we will look at include:
- What action you want searchers to perform – such as downloading a white paper, activating a live chat, or purchasing a specific product
- How are we going to record the action that you want them to take? We need to ensure that actions are pulled through to Google Ads.
- What target figure would you like to achieve, and do you have a cost per acquisition (CPA) figure in mind (a point where you would say the campaign has been profitable)?
- Are you able to commit a budget to a campaign and stick to it?
Having an in-depth knowledge of your goals helps ensure your campaigns are fully optimised from the start. It will also help us set a daily budget limit, meaning we can tweak the campaign to improve results as we go.
#2 Choosing the right keywords to target
The most important decision we make when it comes to PPC ads is deciding which keywords to target. We have the option for targeting broad terms, such as “social media marketing” which will cost more as a lot of people are interested in them, or we can narrow down the target keyword to something a bit more niche, such as “Instagram stories marketing agencies in Manchester.”
To ensure we are making the right decision when it comes to keyword choice, we need to think about what people are actually searching instead of what we would like them to search. For example, we might want people to search for “social media marketing agency Manchester” but what they are actually searching for might be “how to improve engagement on Instagram.” This is why keyword research is such an important step in your marketing campaign process.
#3 Making sure your ad messaging is on point
There is limited space for text in Google Ads, 30 characters for the headline and 90 characters for the description. Making sure your ad contains a strong message is vital to ensure the right type of searchers click through. After all, you will be paying per click and you don’t want your money to be wasted. Also if what you are offering in the ad text doesn’t match the landing page searchers click through, then you will be paying for clicks that don’t convert.
This is why volume is not the main goal for any of our PPC advertising campaigns – high numbers of clicks is a pointless analytic if none of the clicks convert. Instead, we are aiming for quality clicks where the searcher is actually interested in the products and services you have to offer. We keep in mind the intent of the searcher at all stages of the PPC campaign strategy process.
This is doubly important as not only will it improve your ROI but it will also help to improve your Google Ads quality score, which Google defines as an “estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords and landing pages.“ The higher your quality score, the better ad positions you should achieve, and the lower you will have to pay per click.
#4 Designing the right landing page
Once the searcher has clicked on your PPC ad, they will be directed to the landing page on your website that we have specified. As we have explained above, the landing page also has an effect on your quality score as it is indexed by Google in relation to your keywords and your ads.
It is really important that when the searcher clicks through from your Ad, the landing page matches the ad messaging and provides the searcher with the information they were looking for. We can add tracking codes to landing pages as well, which will help us see what actions visitors are taking once they arrive at the relevant landing page.
Ultimately, the success of your PPC advertising campaign comes down to us working closely with you to identify the campaign aim and appropriate delivery method, measurables, the right keywords, find the right ad messaging, and meet searchers’ expectations with the right landing page. You also need to be prepared to be in it for the long term. We cannot just set up a PPC campaign and forget about it – we need to constantly track and tweak to ensure the right type of traffic is flowing to your website.
Find out more about our specialist PPC campaign service by getting in touch with us on 01625 238 770 (Alderley Park) or emailing us at [email protected]
Why is PPC so important for driving search traffic?
Digital PPC / Sep 21, 2020
In the world of search, Google is King. Not only have they revolutionised the way we search, but also the way businesses advertise online. Paid Ads began as text ads which appeared alongside search results. They have now developed and grown into the sophisticated advertising platform, Google Ads, which helps companies to advertise their products or services on a global scale.
What is pay-per-click advertising?
Pay-per-click advertising or PPC, as it is more commonly known, is one of the most efficient digital marketing tools you can use to drive website traffic. When we set up a PPC advertising campaign we optimise it so that we are targeting your audience based on the keywords they are using to search for the products or services you are offering. This means that your website will then appear next to the organic results for that search term, and it will be identified as an Ad by Google.
The pay-per-click part of PPC advertising refers to paying Google a small fee each time someone clicks on your ad. Depending on the keyword you are using in your PPC ads, you will either pay a fixed fee or you may take part in a bidding process with your competitors over who will pay the most for a certain keyword.
For a more detailed explanation about how Google Ads works, check out this great video from Google themselves:
When it comes to marketing strategies, we often advise our clients that Google Ads ad campaigns are worth investing in as conversion rates and return on investment can be quite high. In Google’s Economic Impact report of 2017, they revealed that “businesses generally make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads”. They also went on to say that “businesses overall receive an average of five clicks on their search results for every one click on their ads. “
These are merely estimates, but they show that online advertising is definitely something to think about as part of your online marketing campaign.
Before you decide whether you want to invest some of your marketing budget into PPC ads, you probably want to know a little more about how we put together a PPC campaign, so let’s take a closer look at some of the things we consider:
#1 What do we want to achieve?
As with anything to do with marketing, we need to be clear about what it is we want to achieve so we can build a solid and focused strategy.
When it comes to a PPC advertising campaign, the sort of things we will look at include:
- What action you want searchers to perform – such as downloading a white paper, activating a live chat, or purchasing a specific product
- How are we going to record the action that you want them to take? We need to ensure that actions are pulled through to Google Ads.
- What target figure would you like to achieve, and do you have a cost per acquisition (CPA) figure in mind (a point where you would say the campaign has been profitable)?
- Are you able to commit a budget to a campaign and stick to it?
Having an in-depth knowledge of your goals helps ensure your campaigns are fully optimised from the start. It will also help us set a daily budget limit, meaning we can tweak the campaign to improve results as we go.
#2 Choosing the right keywords to target
The most important decision we make when it comes to PPC ads is deciding which keywords to target. We have the option for targeting broad terms, such as “social media marketing” which will cost more as a lot of people are interested in them, or we can narrow down the target keyword to something a bit more niche, such as “Instagram stories marketing agencies in Manchester.”
To ensure we are making the right decision when it comes to keyword choice, we need to think about what people are actually searching instead of what we would like them to search. For example, we might want people to search for “social media marketing agency Manchester” but what they are actually searching for might be “how to improve engagement on Instagram.” This is why keyword research is such an important step in your marketing campaign process.
#3 Making sure your ad messaging is on point
There is limited space for text in Google Ads, 30 characters for the headline and 90 characters for the description. Making sure your ad contains a strong message is vital to ensure the right type of searchers click through. After all, you will be paying per click and you don’t want your money to be wasted. Also if what you are offering in the ad text doesn’t match the landing page searchers click through, then you will be paying for clicks that don’t convert.
This is why volume is not the main goal for any of our PPC advertising campaigns – high numbers of clicks is a pointless analytic if none of the clicks convert. Instead, we are aiming for quality clicks where the searcher is actually interested in the products and services you have to offer. We keep in mind the intent of the searcher at all stages of the PPC campaign strategy process.
This is doubly important as not only will it improve your ROI but it will also help to improve your Google Ads quality score, which Google defines as an “estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords and landing pages.“ The higher your quality score, the better ad positions you should achieve, and the lower you will have to pay per click.
#4 Designing the right landing page
Once the searcher has clicked on your PPC ad, they will be directed to the landing page on your website that we have specified. As we have explained above, the landing page also has an effect on your quality score as it is indexed by Google in relation to your keywords and your ads.
It is really important that when the searcher clicks through from your Ad, the landing page matches the ad messaging and provides the searcher with the information they were looking for. We can add tracking codes to landing pages as well, which will help us see what actions visitors are taking once they arrive at the relevant landing page.
Ultimately, the success of your PPC advertising campaign comes down to us working closely with you to identify the campaign aim and appropriate delivery method, measurables, the right keywords, find the right ad messaging, and meet searchers’ expectations with the right landing page. You also need to be prepared to be in it for the long term. We cannot just set up a PPC campaign and forget about it – we need to constantly track and tweak to ensure the right type of traffic is flowing to your website.
Find out more about our specialist PPC campaign service by getting in touch with us on 01625 238 770 (Alderley Park) or emailing us at [email protected]
