If you’re making websites for the fun of it, PPC advertising might not be for you. However, if you are trying to get more online traffic, you probably need to do some research into this powerful method. You’ve probably seen PPC advertising before- when you search a keyword on a search engine, and the top results are paid advertisements. The advertiser only pays if their ad is clicked, and a visitor arrives on their website, and this boost in online visibility can have immediate returns- but it does require some forethought.
Campaign: While your marketing campaign will have a wide net, including PPC advertising, Google Adwords uses the word campaign more specifically. An Adwords campaign has all of your ad groups, which are made up of your ads, divided into pools targeted at common search queries. For example, one ad group may have 10 different ads to target the keyword searches “jewellery”, “gold”, “earrings”; ensuring that when a potential customer wants to buy some jewellery, they are immediately offered X’s boutique jewellers. Keywords: This is a pivotal part of how you structure your PPC campaign, so Adwords gives you a variety of ways to customise which ads you want to match to which search queries. This can be broad match, phrase match, or exact match. On one side of the spectrum, we have someone searching a query that is synonymous, similar, or otherwise relevant, and viewing your ad. Phrase match requires the user to search your keywords to match your specific phrase, in the correct order, but can include surrounding phrases; and exact match will display your ad to the person who searches your targeted keyword exactly. All of these methods have their own benefits and potential fall-backs. For example, while it might make sense to use a broad match, you might end up displaying an advertisement to an audience that isn’t right for your offer, and losing money. Likewise, as the exact match is more refined, you are advertising to fewer people but have a higher chance of seeing returns. When looking for keywords to match to your advertisements, it’s best to use the tools available and do some serious research. This will be a deciding factor in the overall success of your campaign, so use the Keyword Planner built in to Adwords to find the perfect keywords for your niche. It compiles all the keyword options related to your niche, and can estimate traffic and offer historical data so you can get a great idea of the returns you’ll see. CPC:
This is your cost-per-click, how much you’ll pay for every click that Google directs your way. This can fluctuate, depending on a few factors, such as competition for that keyword, and is an important part of the campaign to consider- you want people to click on your ad, but not if they’re going to cost you money. That’s why it’s so critical to target your keywords effectively, and to have a powerful landing page. AdRank: Every ad has an Ad Rank, which determines if and where your ad will be displayed, and is calculated with a few factors including your CPC bid, and the keywords Quality Score, a score between 1 and 10 for each of your targeting keywords. The Quality Score wants to ensure the user is viewing ads which are relevant and well-structured, and the page it is directing them to is equally helpful.
