These days, people search for everything. Whenever someone is looking for a product, a service, or information, they most often turn to the Internet – which mainly means Google.
Because so many people turn to Google for information, there’s a golden opportunity to get in front of them, right at the top of the page. It’s called pay-per-click advertising (PPC), and it can be a tremendous boon for your business.
Here’s more on PPC and its key program, Google AdWords.
PPC Explained: What Is It?
PPC is any type of online advertising where you pay every time someone clicks on an ad. You have a budget and you pay up to that budget amount for clicks. You don’t pay every time someone sees the ad, only when someone clicks on it – and they’ll only click on it when they’re interested. In that way, you’re paying for performance.
There are two types of PPC ads: display ads and search ads.
Display Ads
If you’ve ever seen a banner ad on a website, you’ve seen a display ad.
Display ads boost visibility, promote brand awareness, and result in an increase of traffic to your website (since when you click on them, they go to a certain page on your website). They are appealing for business owners who are trying to expand their online presence.
Viewers may not be intentionally looking for your products or services at the time they see your ad; rather, they’re shown the ads when they’re going about their ordinary activities on the Internet. This means that there’s less of a link between a user actively searching for a solution and getting clicks, which is okay, since display ads do so much to build brand awareness (just like a commercial on TV).
See the blue ad to the right as an example of a display ad.
Search Ads
If you’ve searched for something online, you’ve probably noticed text ads on the top of the page and down the right-hand side. These are search ads offered by Google AdWords (for Google). See the ad below for an example of a text search ad.
These ads are great if you want to get active searchers who are trying to find something right then and there. They show up whenever someone searches for your chosen keyword, whatever it may be. Thus, anyone who clicks on the ad will probably be highly interested in and motivated by what you do, so you’re getting very targeted traffic.
Search ads are also good for services and items that are searched for when needed. For example, plumbers and electricians are only called upon when they’re needed. In these situations, it is crucial to appear in the key positions within Google Search when the searcher is in need of your services.
Tips for Maintaining Your PPC Campaign
PPC can be a great tool for getting traffic and developing prospects, but how can you carry out an effective campaign?
For starters, know that AdWords maintenance is a continuous, daily process. You need to be on top of managing your bids – how much you’re willing to pay for a click – for each keyword to make sure that your ads will be located on the first page of Google. You will also need to expand upon your keyword list as you go so you cover all the possible keywords that people looking for you could use.
Above all, you’ll want to manage your campaign regularly. A list of ads left to itself will perform very poorly. Only by refining the list, the data, and the settings for your campaign will you find success.
Also, how you create the ads is very important. For display, it means getting the attention of your viewers. Graphics need to be engaging, bold, and relevant. The text on the ad matters, too, but the first thing they’ll notice is how it looks. For search ads, your text needs to be concise (space is limited) but highly relevant, focused, and persuasive. You don’t have a lot of room, so you have to make every word count.
Finally, understand what metrics are important when you’re evaluating your campaign. The most important metric is click-through rate (CTR). This is the rate at which people click on your ad. This impacts your ad’s Quality Score (i.e. how good Google thinks your ad is), ad rankings (what position your ad shows up in), your cost per click, and your cost per conversion.
Taking Advantage of the Power of Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Pay-per-click advertising is incredibly powerful. It’s often the fastest and easiest way to get new business using the Internet.
If this overwhelms you, yet you still think you may find PPC advertising useful, consider hiring a digital marketing agency to do it for you. At Uptick, we specialize in using all forms of digital advertising to get the best results for our clients. Contact us for more information on PPC – and get the customers you want!
