Paid Search Marketing (PPC) FAQ

Introduction to Paid Search Advertising (PPC Management)

Paid Search Advertising (otherwise referred to in search marketing as Pay-Per-Click or PPC) is a method of advertising by which the advertiser pays for top placement on search engines on a per click basis. Paid search placement differs from SEO, in a PPC campaign can go live immediately, generating a volume of results in the very first day of operating(if setup correctly, of course).

Why do I need a PPC campaign for my business?

PPC campaigns are an important part of search marketing, and almost any type of business can increase their customer base by using paid search. Displaying your ad on a given keyword or keyphrase will instantly display your message to thousands(if not millions) of potential customers, searching for exactly what you are offering.

If you’d like to see who else is doing this PPC marketing thing, visit any major search engine like Google, Bing, or Yahoo and run a search a for a keyword or keyphrase relevant to your business. For example, if you own an accounting firm in chicago, type “chicago accounting firms” into the search query box. You will more than likely see a few (or quite a bit) of your smarter competitors generating leads this very moment. Are you missing out?

How does a PPC campaign work?

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and campaigns are the primary way of advertising on the internet. As of 2011, there are now only two major PPC networks; Google, and Bing. Yahoo’s paid search marketing department was acquired by Microsoft, and now runs on their PPC ad network along side of Bing.

A PPC campaign lets you choose who you want to visit your web site. You pay only when a person clicks your advertisement. If the person only sees your advertisement, but does not click through, this is called an impression. On a PPC-based model, you do not pay for impressions, and only use impressions to monitor your click through rates.

PPC advertising is based primarily on keyword selection. The entire search market revolves around choosing the correct search terms and keywords that attract highly interested, and purchase-responsive traffic.

Where will my PPC Ads appear?

Most search engines allow Pay-Per-Click ads to show in the first two or three highlighted rows of search results, as well as the entire right column of search results. There is usually a visual separation of paid search ads and organic search results. Your ads will appear higher in the results depending on your bid(see Cost Per Click below).

How much does it Cost Per Click to advertise on Search Engines?

Search engines essentially auction ad positions, keywords and keyphrases off to the highest bidder in a PPC campaign. Depending on the size of the market for a given keyphrase, and the average profitability from each customer, your click costs could be as low as $.10 per click, and reach as high as $50.00 per click, due to high yield markets such as finance, or insurance.

There are many strategies that can help you get the most out of clicks from keywords with high average click costs. The importance of conversion optimization in these markets is at a maximum, as you can not afford to lose any interested customers.

What PPC search engines do you work with?

Excedra deploys search marketing campaigns on all major engines including Google, Bing(formerly MSN), Yahoo, and the new Ask.com. Upon request, our search marketing specialists can deploy campaigns on just about any 2nd tier search engine.

How exactly do you “optimize” a paid search campaign? What does that mean?

Excedra’s award winning sales copywriters will create your PPC ads(or rewrite your existing ones), and compare them against new ad copy frequently to ensure the highest converting ads are constantly being displayed to your search traffic. In addition, our search management team is watching your click costs and ad positions around the clock to ensure you aren’t paying more than you should.

Can I change my PPC budget? Can I add products or services?

Absolutely. You can specify your ad spend on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis per search engine. You may also choose to launch a PPC campaign on just one search engine to maximize on a budget.

Why do I need Keyword Research? I know the most important keywords already.

In search marketing, finding cost effective, and highly converting keywords is a constant effort. Implementing relevant informational articles into a PPC campaign with longer(and cheaper) keyphrases can sometimes surpass using shorter, more obvious, and more expensive keyphrases by leaps and bounds. Any effective PPC or SEO strategy should include extensive an keyword research effort.

What should I do first? PPC advertising, or Natural Search Optimization?

While both Paid Search Marketing, and Organic Search Optimization (SEO) both tap into the same search traffic, and can both deliver huge ROI to advertisers, SEO requires a lot more time and effort to implement. Excedra typically begins optimizing our clients web sites around the same time we launch their PPC campaigns. This allows our clients to begin generating leads for their business now, during the beginning stages of the SEO process. Once a site has undergone a good natural search optimization effort, and begins receiving the leads from natural search rankings, PPC campaigns can be throttled to reduce costs as ads will be shown to some of the same searchers.

Another important reason to consider a PPC campaign prior to Search Optimization is the winning ad copy that comes as a result of constant comparison tests. When you achieve a high click-through rate, and conversion rate on PPC networks with a certain ad, it’s best to deploy the same ad copy to show as your natural search results. This will ensure you are bringing a winning ad to the table quickly, and not wasting months comparing your natural search ads.