Paid search marketing (PPC)

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Paid search marketing opportunities includes Pay Per Click Ads via Google and Bing plus ads on the display network - a third of Google's revenue. The cost of pay search can be high, so we discuss how to make sure you're getting the most value from PPC by maximising your Google Quality Score.

Paid search marketing (PPC) quick guide

Paid search marketing (PPC) success factors

The main disadvantages of paid search that need to be managed for success are:

1. Competition. Since Pay Per Click has become popular due to its effectiveness, it is competitive and because it is based on competitive bids it can get expensive. CPC/bid inflation has led to some companies reducing PPC activity. Some companies may get involved in bidding wars that drive bids up to an unacceptable-level “some phrases such as 'life insurance' may exceed £10 per click.
2. Higher costs than other media. If SEO is effective it will almost always deliver a lower CPC.
3. Favours larger brands. For companies with a lower budget or a narrower range of products on which to increase lifetime value it may be not possible to compete. In the past large players have got deals on their media spend through their agencies through, for example, Google Best Practice Funding.
4. Complexity of managing large campaigns. PPC is deceptively simple to setup. But to compete effectively, particularly for a large campaign, requires knowledge of best practice which changes as Google and other engines introduce new facilities - see the official update blogs from the search networks to gain an idea.
5. Limited reach. Not all searchers will see your ads, since the majority scan and click on the natural listings. Your ad will only reach those who are proactively looking for a product or service, but not those who are unaware of a need. Here display advertising can be used, but the paid search content networks can help here.
6. Click fraud. Common in some sectors where competitors or advertisers click on ads when there is no intention to buy.

Paid search marketing (PPC) definition

Although many searchers prefer to click on the natural listings, sufficient numbers do click on the paid listings (typically around a quarter or a third of all clicks). So with careful control, Adwords can drive quality traffic for which you get a good return.

Although many searchers prefer to click on the natural listings, sufficient numbers do click on the paid listings (typically around a quarter or a third of all clicks). So they can drive traffic.

In the UK, Adwords accounts for around 60% of all paid media spend[1], so it clearly works for many companies.

[1] http://www.iabuk.net/en/1/iabknowledgebankadspend.html

http://www.iabuk.net/en/1/iabknowledgebankadspend.html

The main benefits of using paid search marketing in Google Adwords is that it gives you:

1. Great targeting. You can reach your target audience when they are looking for products, i.e. high purchase intent.
2. Low wastage. With the right match types in Google Adwords, use of phrase match, exact match or broad match in combination with negative keywords, you can ensure that your ads are only shown when searchers are searching for relevant products.
3. Predictability. Traffic volumes, ranking, returns and costs tend to more stable and more predictable than SEO.
4. Speed. PPC listings appear much faster, usually in a few hours (or days if editor review is required). SEO has a much longer lead time, particularly important when new sites are created (the Google sandbox effect) or when ads need to be switched on and off for a campaign, promotion or stock changes.
5. Control. Unlike SEO (with sufficient budget and staff or agency with good PPC skills) it is more straightforward to achieve high ranking and direct visitors to the relevant page on your site. With the right technology, and that means a bid management system, creative / copy and budgeting can be tightly controlled.
6. High conversion rates. Following on from 1, PPC tends to have the higher conversion rates than SEO and much higher than display ads where viewers of the ads may click more on impulse.
7. Branding effect. Tests by the IAB have shown that there is a branding effect with Pay Per Click, even if users do not click on the ad. This can be useful for generating brand awareness during the launch of products or major campaigns.

Recommended member resources for Paid search marketing (PPC)

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Tools & Software

Bid management tools for managing Paid search (Pay Per Click) marketing across search networks like Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, MSN adCenter and Miva have become more sophisticated. We recommend this guide to select the best bid management tool.

Best websites on Paid search marketing (PPC)

These are the main sites we recommend for keeping up-to-date on the latest developments in paid search:

Google Analytics Blog - Not just for GA users â€“ useful tips on AdWords optimization also.
Google AdWords API Blog (http://adwordsapi.blogspot.com/) - Official site of Google Adwords API
Google Adsense Blog (http://adsense.blogspot.com/) - Mainly advice for publishers advertising with Adsense
Google Groups AdWords Help (http://groups.google.com/group/adwords-help)
Google Inside AdWords (http://adwords.blogspot.com/) - The official help community for Google Adwords. Essential reading for Google Adwords advertisers containing tips, announcements of new features and service announcements.
Google main blog (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/)
Microsoft AdCenter blog (http://blogs.msdn.com/adcenter/) - Announcements, tips and tricks.
SearchEngineWatch blog (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com) -
Search Engine Land (www.searchengineland.com) - Danny Sullivan's new site has taken over from Search Engine Watch as the best single place to keep up-to-date with paid and natural search.
Search Engine Journal (www.searchenginejournal.com) - One of the best independent summaries of all SEM developments.
Yahoo! Search blog (www.ysearchblog.com) - Generally focuses on natural search
Webmasterworld (www.webmasterworld.com) - The best of the forums for asking questions and learning from including experts from the search engines.

Key techniques for Paid search marketing (PPC)

These are the related techniques which we recommend as important for managing Paid search marketing (PPC) effectively. View these hub pages giving details on best practices, statistics and examples for these techniques:

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