What is PPC?

Pay Per Click (PPC) is an advertising system offered by search engines in which an advertiser pays for each click on their ad. PPC ads can be displayed on search engine results pages (targeted search) and content websites (targeted content).

o Targeted Search refers to search engine results pages (SERPs), where a user has searched for a specific keyword, for example, “car” and is delivered a page listing relevant PPC ads that are found alongside to organic search results.

o Content targeting refers to PPC ads shown on content pages, for example, “car for sale” ads shown on a website that includes content about cars.

PPC ads are most often displayed at the top, bottom, and right of the SERPs. The position of the ad on the page is determined by a bidding system.

bidding wars

Although bidding for higher amounts of money will generally result in a higher position, some search engines consider several factors when ranking ads. Google, for example, uses a “quality score” that considers the click-through rate (CTR) of your ad, as well as the relevance of your ad text to both the keywords and the landing page of your website. “Quality Score” also helps Google determine your cost per click (CPC). The less relevant your ad and landing page are, the more you will have to pay to show that ad in a high position.

The bid price of the keyword is also highly variable. General keywords like “car rental” are more expensive and will generate more impressions than a specific keyword phrase like “cheap car rental cape town”. As more and more businesses adopt PPC marketing, keyword bid prices increase and ad placements become more competitive. Therefore, it is important to focus your budget on attracting the right kind of people to your site by outlining a clear PPC strategy.

PPC Strategy – Phase 1: Initial Planning

To decide how you will run your PPC campaign, you need to consider the following:

Traditional stuff applies!

Like any other online marketing exercise, you need a complete online and offline analysis of the business, customer demographics, industry, and competitors. You need a brand, an identity and of course a clear and unique selling point.

Define your goal

The golden rule of PPC: What do you want to achieve with your PPC campaign? Would you like to increase the notoriety of your site or are you looking to attract more traffic? In most cases, PPC ads focus on driving conversions in the form of completing an inquiry form or purchasing a product.

If you’re looking to make money with PPC (isn’t that everyone?); Do you want the best return on investment (ROI) or do you want more net profit (more conversions can be achieved with lower ROI, resulting in an overall increase in net profit)?

It’s important to make sure you have a very clearly defined PPC goal. It is not possible to always be in the first position for the important keywords (brand) and achieve a good ROI at the same time.

How does PPC fit into the rest of your online strategy?

There are many different views on how PPC and SEO can work together and there are definite benefits to using the lessons learned in one for the other.

PPC Strategy – Phase 2: Campaign Execution

Once you’ve addressed the above, you can choose how to run your PPC campaign by considering all of the following items:

o Campaign structure, which ensures your budget and stats are targeted correctly (i.e. according to different products and brands or perhaps according to different geographic markets)

o Keyword selection, which should strike the right balance of cost and relevance and should be considered alongside your SEO keyword selection

o Ad copy, which should speak to the right market and contain as much detail about what you’re offering in as few characters as possible.

o Landing pages, which leave the customer with no doubt that they have found what they were looking for

o Tracking, which involves deciding what customer behavior is important to you. Obviously, this includes the campaign goal (which defines the profitability of the campaign), but what else can you track to get interesting information about your customer? You’ve paid for the click, even if the person leaves your site without converting, you can get value if you know why.

PPC Strategy – Phase 3: Testing and Optimization

Once you’ve set up your campaign and tracking, your PPC strategy moves into the vital testing and optimization phase.

keyword management

Identify your priority keywords (the ones that convert the best) as the ones to spend your budget and time on. Take a second look at keywords that don’t convert; There could be a simple reason: maybe it wasn’t explained properly in the ad or on the landing page, or maybe you need to make sure your ad only shows for relevant searches. through keyword matching.

Advertising Management

Be sure to test your ads. Test the tone, wording, structure, offer details, and display URLs. It’s important to test both click-through rate and conversion rate, as they both affect the performance of your campaign and are a good way to see if you’re meeting the customer expectations created by the ad.

Landing Page Management

The smallest change to a landing page can make a big difference in the profitability of your campaign. There are many important rules about landing page design (which is another topic in itself), including these important points:

o Create a landing page designed specifically for what the person has searched for

o Be sure to cover all information a client might request; talk to the sales team to get this kind of information

o Use SEO – add relevant content, etc. This benefits you especially on Google

o Keep testing changes – use split testing if you have enough traffic

This can continue down to the font and colors you choose to use, but the most important piece of advice would be (traditional marketing advice) look through the eyes of your customers. If you can’t shake the loopholes of brilliant design, ask a very honest person (similar to your customer demographically) to look at the landing page for you.

campaign management

PPC keyword research can offer great insight in finding new ways to package or market your product. For example, if you run a guest house in Cape Town, you should see through your keyword research that a lot of people are looking for honeymoons in Cape Town and therefore could put together a romantic honeymoon package. honey for them and thus spend their product.

Advantages of PPC over other means?

1. You only pay for what you get

It’s called pay per click because you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Chances are, if those people click your ad, they’re interested in what you’re advertising. So you won’t waste your advertising budget marketing to people who aren’t interested in your product, as you often do in other advertising mediums.

2. You only spend what you can afford

PPC is cheap to set up and you set the budget. You decide how much you want to pay and you can make immediate changes if you decide that you are doing well and want to invest more or vice versa.

3. Precise targeting

You don’t just put your ad up for everyone to see. In fact, it’s more like customers come looking for you! Your potential customer types “Hotel Durban” in the search bar because he is looking for a hotel in Durban. PPC marketing can also be targeted more specifically to certain countries, regions within countries, languages, and even times of day.

4. Nobody is too small or too “niche”

There are no limits on budgets, so PPC marketing is available to even the smallest businesses. Due to the fact that you can target specific locations and keywords, even the most targeted businesses can find potential customers.

5. Quick setup and immediate results

While SEO can take months before it starts showing results, PPC can be set up and deliver measurable sales stats in a day! This makes it particularly ideal for short-term or seasonal promotions.

6. Precise traceability

PPC marketing can be tracked accurately and with very little lag time. You can measure which keywords are the most profitable and which keywords drive the most conversions. You can also track exactly how much money each keyword made and accurately calculate your ROI. With these statistics, you can focus your strategy and optimize your campaign to generate the highest ROI possible.

So there you have it! It all sounds pretty simple and logical; it is for this reason that many people consider doing it themselves. So why hire a professional? “Consider hiring an expert. This job is tedious and requires constant monitoring. Submitting to paid search engines is a process, not an event. It’s a game of chess and you have to manage every detail. A true professional won’t cost you money; they will make you money. The quote says it all.