A QUICK LOOK AT: PAY PER CLICK (PPC) A QUICK LOOK AT: PAY-PER-CLICK (PPC) ADVERTISING

Scroll through most marketing blogs and you’ll find yourself floating in a sea of acronyms. From CPC to SEO to KPI, it would appear that the marketing world’s favorite lunch is alphabet soup. We’ve picked out two of those acronyms — SEO and PPC — from our soup bowl for a closer look at the two key elements of what is called Marketing. Make sure you also check out Part One, in which we explore Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

PPC: PAY-PER-CLICK ADVERTISING What will your ads be linking to? Like any good digital ad campaign, you’ll need a well-built that mirrors the content of your ad. The success of your PPC campaigns Whereas SEO focuses on increasing organic traffic to your is heavily dependent on what the user experience of clicking , pay-per-click campaigns use ad dollars to drive your ad and visiting the landing page is like. Divert customers website traffic or generate conversions. In a nutshell, PPC to a bad website or try to bait-and-switch them and campaigns allow you to bid on specific keywords that will not show your ads at all. you’d like to rank for, allowing you to place yourself at the top of a particular search results page. The “pay-per-click” What is your budget? As we mentioned previously, high designation refers to the most common bidding strategy, in competition/high traffic keywords may simply be out of your which you are charged when a user clicks on your ads. While reach. Conversely, you might be able to “buy” certain long-tail some campaigns operate with a CPM (cost per thousand keywords at a relatively low cost. Geography can also play a impressions) or a CPA (cost per acquisition) bidding strategy, part in this part of your process, as you’ll find some smaller these tactics are still generally referred to as PPC. cities and towns will be naturally less expensive to “own” keywords than in larger markets. The most common (and for the purposes of this paper, our Where do you want your ads appearing? We’ve mostly primary focus) PPC tool is . Chances are you’ve discussed what Google calls its Search Network ad campaign seen Google Ads listings before — just Google a generic type, where your ads appear as if they were organic search enough word and you’ll likely see the top two to three results results. However, you could also create more visual Display listed with a small green “Ad” designation. Those ads were Network ads, too, which add a branding element to the placed by businesses trying to capture your attention before process. These ads allow your aesthetic and messaging to you reach the organic results. shine through with ads on of relevance to your audience. Compared with SEO tactics, PPC campaigns are generally quicker to generate results. But if you’re going after more How good is your SEO? The success of your campaigns expensive keywords (i.e. commons words with a lot of depends on a combination of several factors directly related competing brands vying for attention), be prepared to back to your PPC campaign, but your website’s SEO also plays a up your campaign with a substantial budget. To set up a PPC role. If the underlying structure of your website is unintuitive campaign, you’ll need to answer a few key questions first: or slow to load, this can affect your overall ad — meaning your ad will be shown to fewer people. What keywords do you want to compete for? Are you going after a generic set of keywords (like baseball bats or men’s What’s your Call To Action (CTA)? If your goal is to drive shirts), or are you going after more long-tail keywords phone calls to your business, you can tailor your ads to only with less competition (like moisture wicking work shirt for be shown to mobile users who can make a phone call right men)? It’s crucial to research existing keyword traffic and then and there. If your CTA is to download a white paper that competition levels in order to narrow your list down to 10-20 isn’t necessarily optimized for mobile viewing, you might potential options. consider emphasizing desktop impressions.

1 A QUICK LOOK AT: PAY PER CLICK (PPC) ADVERTISING

Examples of Google Ads

One of the key points we always emphasize when launching a new campaign is that while PPC ads are certainly quicker to produce results than SEO tactics, you must still allow the PPC campaign to build some steam. You cannot begin to optimize around meaningful results with only a week’s worth of data. We often recommend running one set of keywords for at least 2-4 weeks before making changes. That way, you can get a better feel for what is working and what’s not.

HELPFUL PPC TOOLS

Much like the tools available to take on SEO yourself, there are some similarly helpful resources for PPC campaigns. Here are a few of our favorites:

Keywords Everywhere: This handy Chrome and Firefox browser extension allows you to see real-time keyword costs and competition when searching on Google.

Google Ads Keyword Planner: A free tool within Google Ads, Keyword Planner allows you to see a detailed breakdown of keyword costs and competition, as well as help you build keyword lists from ones you already have. You can also plug in your website (or a competitor’s) and it will scan the site for potential keywords.

Google Suggest: This one you’ve probably seen before — simply start typing your target keywords or product/service into a Google search window and you’ll see Google’s auto-suggestions, which are often generated from real searches. These results can give you insights into how your audience might be searching for your products or services.

2 A QUICK LOOK AT: PAY PER CLICK (PPC) ADVERTISING

SEARCH MARKETING (SEM) GLOSSARY

ALT TEXT Short for “alternative text,” this text describes an image in the ON-PAGE SEO Modifications done to your site both internally and event that a site or browser cannot load the image, or if a visitor is using externally to improve your position on SERPs. accessibility software to browse your site. ORGANIC Any marketing efforts or strategies that do not involve spending An external link from another website that points back to ad money. a page on your website. PPC Stands for “pay-per-click.” A type of digital ad campaign that allows BUYER PERSONA A fictional representation of customer or audience types you to advertise around a specific set of keywords in which you pay for your product or service. every time a user clicks your ad.

CPA Stands for “cost per acquisition” (or conversion). REACH The number of individual (or “unique”) users that see your ads. CPM Stands for “cost per thousand.” A type of bidding strategy for PPC campaigns in which you’re charged for every one thousand impressions SEO Stands for “search engine optimization.” The process of improving that your ad generates. the position your content appears on SERPs.

CTA Stands for “call to action.” A direct solicitation for a visitor or SERP Stands for “search engine results page,” such as on Google or Bing. customer to complete an action, such as “Download Now” or “Visit Our Website.” SITEMAP The internal framework or outline of your website that allows search engine spiders to navigate your site and determine what kind of HEADER A piece of text that helps title a new section of copy in a content exists within. blog post or website section.

SLUG The section of a URL that comes after your primary domain (e.g. IMPRESSION Any time an ad is viewed by a user. BouvierKelly.com/about-us)

LANDING PAGE The destination for a digital ad, designed to offer visitors SPIDER An automated bot that “crawls” through your website to catalog some sort of benefit (a piece of educational content, a trial demo, etc.) or what kind of content you’re offering so it can determine how, when and complete a sale. where to surface your site on SERPs.

LONGTAIL KEYWORD A keyword that consists of more descriptive UNIQUE IMPRESSION An impression generated by an individual user, as language than a normal keyword, used to refine an SEO or PPC campaign often a user will see the same ad multiple times in a campaign. (e.g. men’s flame resistant workwear instead of men’s workwear)

OFF-PAGE SEO SEO efforts aimed at creating more to your website through partnerships, guest posts and sponsored content.

ABOUT BOUVIER KELLY: Back in 1974, our agency was founded to do two things: help our clients succeed at any and every level and have a little fun in this crazy, mixed-up world called advertising. Over the years, we’ve developed a really simple modus operandi: Data + Gut. Every decision we make is influenced by this mindset, a combination of analysis and intuition. Sometimes we lean a little more heavily on facts and studies; sometimes we rely on instinct and emotion to show us the way. But one thing’s for sure: you can’t have one without the other. It’s that balance which keeps our work grounded and our ambitions limitless. It also informs the way we strive to assemble talented, resourceful and open-minded individuals who aren’t afraid to challenge and inspire one another for the good of both the agency and our clients. Give us a shout at [email protected] or 336-217-4265.

2