What is PPC (Pay Per Click)?
Pay per click (PPC) is a hugely successful Internet marketing technique where advertisers pay for users clicking on an advertisement to visit their website. Pay per click can be highly effective. deployed extensively across search engines, advertising networks, content-based websites and blogs,
It offers focused, incisive and measurable use of SEO resources yielding results faster than organic SEO and is more adjustable than organic SEO. PPC offers flexible and measurable campaigns calculated to give you manageable control on your marketing investments and returns.
A word of warning - In addition to being a potentially highly effective and targeted method of marketing, without clear planning PPC can also rapidly burn budgets. Bid on ineffective keywords, or focus on the wrong audience, and you can find yourself spending a fortune with no measurable return.
In order to benefit fully from Pay per click advertising it is imperative that campaigns are well managed.
To discuss how a Pay Per Click/PPC can win business for your company mail us here or call us on 0845 052 9467 today.
How does PPC work?
PPC - Pay per click campaigns essentially come in two flavours, keyword (sponsored match) or content match.
Keyword campaigns involve bidding on keywords or keyword phrases and result in an ad containing a link to your site being displayed along with the natural results on search engine results pages. Search engines display your ads for any search terms that they determine (using their sophisticated algorithms) as relevant to your keyword. If you use Gmail you may have even noticed contextualised ads on your mail page, across the top of the mail list and on the right hand side of open mails.
Most likely when considering keyword campaigns you'll be thinking of Google and their Adwords product, such is the popularity of Google's search engine (of the 137 billion estimated total searches performed in the U.S. in 2008, 85 billion were done on Google - more than 63% market share. Perhaps even more impressive is that almost 90 percent of the growth in search volume through 2008 was also captured by Google).
More big numbers - In 2007 revenues for AdWords totalled a staggering $16.4 billion.
Content match campaigns involve the display of advertisements placed on relevant websites, newsletters, and e-mails. Content match ads are provided on third party websites that serve the ads. Content match is determined by the words/phrases, etc. that appear on the page. Again Google leads the way. For example, Google's AdSense system automatically crawls the content of your pages and delivers text or image ads relevant to your audience and your site content. Content Match requires the identification of themes rather than specific search terms. Content Match requires advertisers to think laterally when creating a Content Campaign. Terms that would never be applied in a keyword search campaign can prove extremely effective in a Content Campaign.
Essentially, for both Keyword Campaigns or Content Match Campaigns Advertisers and marketers bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market. Payment only occurs when someone actually clicks on their ad and is taken to the landing page on their website. The amounts they pay are determined by the fee or bid agreed.
The PPC process;
Audience identification. Clearly identify the target audience and site visitors. PPC can offer an extremely tightly focused channel. Much more tactically incisive than organic SEO.
Objectives must be defined and clear campaign goals set.
Appropriate keywords and keyword phrases are selected designed to capturing niche, relevant and appropriate traffic.
PPC ads are crafted, focusing on each keyword and creatively incorporating the defined terms.
Landing Pages are designed and developed containing compelling calls to action. Messages must be targeted calls to action made clear.
Identify the best PPC partner: The most successful player is Google with their Adwords Service. Depending on the nature of the campaign there maybe suitable additions and/or alternatives. Our expert knowledge of the market will best identify the best PPC partners on a campaign by campaign basis.
Monitor, measure and adjust the campaign: Conversion rates, Return-On-Ad-Spend (ROAS), Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA), Cost-Per-Lead (CPL), or Click-Through-Rate (CTR) are all monitored so that the campaign can be honed
Analysis and the feedback loop: Campaigns must be professionally managed and tracked with parameters adjusted accordance with business objectives.
How we can help?
Every campaign needs to be closely monitored. Bid wars can get very heated resulting in companies quickly losing their position, bid gaps can appear many times in just one day meaning companies end up paying more than necessary for their existing position. These two factors alone can cost a company thousands of pounds if they go undetected.
At Top Page we'll expertly manage your campaign from conception to post campaign analysis. Our job is to ensure you get the best returns possible.
We will help you choose the most profitable key words, write the most compelling Pay per click adverts and implement all of the latest Pay per click strategies.
We monitor and adjust campaigns for optimum performance across the top "paid for" search engines including Google, Overture, Miva and MSN.
The Results
Positions on the search engines you want, where you want, when you want.
A constant, measurable and cost effective stream of pre-qualified leads.
Correlated and understandable reports allowing for fast change in strategy if needed.
What are the costs?
PPC Campaign Management (option 1)
Unlike most providers, Top Page does not charge to set up your campaign. You are only invoiced an affordable monthly management service fee dependent upon the size and complexity of the campaign. The management service keeps your campaigns in check, ensuring they are run effectively, efficiently and in line with your Return on Investment goals.
PPC Campaign Set Up Only (option 2)
We can set up a campaign for your website and supply you with the login information for a small fee. This is ideal if you have a limited budget or just want to test the market
Everyone wins - except your competition. It really makes sense: you get on with what you do best, servicing your clients, and we get on with bringing you valuable leads through Pay per click advertising.
Call us. We can have your first campaign generating business in less than 24hours.
<Read More About PPC...>
There are more than 500 search engines offering PPC advertising schemes (sometimes also referred to as CPC or Cost per Click) across the net. After industry leader Google Adwords the next most popular PPC services internationally are Ask.com, Baidu, LookSmart, Microsoft adCenter, MIVA, Superpages.com, Yahoo Search Marketing, Yandex.
Many smaller providers focus on specific vertical markets, categories or topic areas operating in niche markets whilst meta search engines incorporate traffic from other engines and online sources. PPC can be an extremely targeted, popular and profitable marketing option.
The top 10 PPC companies produce over 85% of PPC traffic resulting in increased competition that pushes bid prices higher than less popular alternative PPC engines. Whereas once competitive bids commanded rates of £0.25-£0.80, they now range from £1.00-£5.00 per click or more. In part these rises are due to the recognition by business of the highly targeted nature of PPC and it's ROI.
The most famous PPC search product is Google's Adwords PPC advertising program. Since 2000 Google AdWords has grown dramatically and is now firmly established as the world's leading Internet PPC product. AdWords offers pay per click (PPC) advertising, and site-targeted advertising for both text and banner ads. In 2007 revenues for AdWords, Google's flagship advertising product totalled a staggering $16.4 billion.
Google AdWords has by far the widest reach of any of the PPC providers, offering advertisers global coverage through a single interface. The breadth of coverage offered by Adwords PPC is especially attractive for internationalised businesses requiring a wide net. Companies that offer products and services with international appeal, that might not receive a great deal of search traffic from the smaller PPC providers. The minimum cost per click for a keyword on Adwords PPC can be a little as 1p, making AdWords ideal for editorial or websites that don't enjoy huge traffic and sales but who are actively seeking a wider client base. Other PPC providers can have higher entry costs some with a 10p minimum cost per click
Bidding on Google AdWords can be fierce in some market sectors, especially on the more popular keywords and in congestd market places such as Finance, Travel Adult and entertainment. Costs per click (CPC), usually referred to as minimum prices per click, vary depending on the search engine and the level of competition for a particular phrase or keyword list. In some cases it might be possible to search the market and find better value than Google with an alternative provider. The system can also be a little complicated, especially to the uninitiated with Ranking position for example a consequence of the combination of bid price and click through rate on the ad. It is possible to bid high for a specific keyword, but owing to the fact that the advertisement has had a historically low click-through rate, it may still appear less frequently than an ad placed by a lower bidder with an historically higher click-through rate.
For any other than the most simple of PPC campaigns it's probably wise that it is managed and administered by professionals. In addition to the handling of technical issues a professional partner can ensure that budgets are controlled and spent effectively. Without a professional PPC partner monitoring and assessing your account it is difficult to manage the campaign tightly. You may start to suffer low CTR (click through rate) hurting your quality score and increasing CPC (cost per click). Worst than that you may end up spending a great deal of money on wasted clicks.
At Top Page we have a wealth of experience in managing pay-per-click advertising for clients on programs such as Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing. We provide our clients with a range of professional and highly effective services addressing all the important aspects involved in running a successful PPC campaign.
A successful Pay Per Click/PPC campaign involves:
1. Defining business objectives for the campaign
2. Keyword identification (to generate the most traffic for the lowest cost)
3. Crafting well-written, relevant copy. Each ad will be associated with a particular keyword and displayed beneath a link to your site on a search results page.
4. Setting up landing pages with suitable calls to action. The all-important destinations of your PPC click throughs.
5. Run the campaign with suitable PPC partners to ensure coverage and value for money on keywords - Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing for example. Install conversion tracking systems
6. We monitor campaigns and adjust them to ensure optimum performance.
To discuss how a Pay Per Click/PPC be successfully incorporated into your marketing to win new business for your company, contact us today.
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