Talking the Talk: Pay Per Click Advertising
You know when you search on Google and you see results appearing on the top and side of the page? They often say “sponsored links” next to them. Those aren’t normal search results those are Pay Per Click ads. A business has written those short text ads as part of what are called a Pay Per Click (PPC) or Paid Search Marketing campaign. A PPC campaign can be much more targeted than traditional advertising. While in traditional print advertising you would buy space for your ad in say in a newspaper or magazine with paid search you are placing your ad on the search results page for a particular search term. Your ad will appear along side what are referred to as “natural” or “organic” search results for that term. Paid search is highly targeted because you are getting the eyes of web users who are actively looking for what you have to offer. The beauty of PPC is that as an advertiser you don’t pay for placement. You only pay each time a user clicks on your ad (hence pay per click). The headline of you PPC ad will link to what is called a landing page which can be anywhere on your web site that you choose. People often create specific landing pages for their PPC campaigns.
PPC campaigns require daily maintenance. In order to run a pay per click campaign on Google for example you’ll need to sign up for a Google AdWords account. That’s where you’ll create the ads and choose the keyword search terms you’d like your ads to appear for. Now lots of people may be interested in the same search terms you are. You will be competing against them for ad placement by biding daily on search terms. Your bid will determine how much you pay each time someone clicks on your ad. By outbiding your competitors for a term you increase the chances that your ad will appear more frequently on the Google results page in a higher more desirable spot. Appearing in the first few spots on the first results page for a term will generate more traffic for you. But outbiding the competition for a term isn’t enough. Google cares most that searches produce relevant results. So the more relevant your ad and your web site are to the search term the more you’ll be rewarded by Google with a higher ranking. For example if your bid on the term “Fort Lauderdale Dentist” and when someone clicks through to your site you are selling tennis rackets Google isn’t going to rank you very high no matter how much you bid.
PPC campaigns can be extremely targeted and the Return on Investment (ROI) is highly measurable. You can track to the penny how much you spend for each new customer you generate through your campaign. Managing keyword bids, performing keyword research, creating strong
landing pages and writing effective ads are all part of a managing a
winning PPC campaign.
