Pay Per Click (PPC)

PPC, or Pay-Per-Click, is an on-line advertising model where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. It’s a way of buying visits to your site rather than earning them organically through SEO. PPC ads can appear on search engines, social media platforms, third-party websites, and even in audio formats like Spotify or radio.

Benefits of PPC for Your Business:

1. Immediate Exposure: Unlike SEO, where results take time to show, PPC provides immediate exposure. Once you set up your PPC campaign and bid on keywords, your ads can instantly appear on search engines.
2. Targeted Audience: PPC allows you to get in front of the right audience actively searching for your products or services. You can choose specific keywords related to your business, ensuring your ads reach people with relevant interests.
3. Brand Consideration: Paid advertising, especially on social media or audio platforms, can enhance brand consideration. This is particularly effective for reaching audiences who may not be familiar with your brand but are interested in your offerings.
4. Precise Audience Targeting: PPC platforms offer detailed targeting options. You can specify demographics, interests, age brackets, and even geographical locations. This precision ensures you’re spending money on potential customers who are likely interested in your products.
5. Insights and Analytics: PPC platforms provide valuable insights into user behavior. You can analyze data to understand which demographics are clicking on your ads, even discovering new markets you may not have considered.
6. Local Targeting: If your business operates within a specific geographic area, PPC allows you to target customers within a defined radius. This is beneficial for businesses with a local service area, such as a window-fitting service.
7. Re-Marketing: PPC enables re-marketing efforts, targeting users who visited your website but didn’t convert. Ads can follow these users as they browse other websites or social media, reminding them of your products or services.

PPC offers a versatile and powerful advertising solution, allowing businesses to tailor their campaigns to specific goals and audiences. It complements long-term SEO strategies and provides a way to quickly and effectively drive targeted traffic to your website.

PPC Glossary:

1. CPC (Cost Per Click): The amount of money spent each time a user clicks on an ad. PPC operates on an auction-based system where advertisers bid for positions and keywords.
2. Impressions: The number of times an ad has been viewed by users.
3. Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who have seen the ad and clicked on it.
4. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): A metric, often focused on e-commerce, indicating the return on investment in advertising. For example, if £1 is spent and £1 is made, the ROAS is 200%.

Keyword Research:

Keyword research involves identifying relevant search terms for your business. This process includes understanding search volumes, estimating costs per click, and evaluating competitor bids.

Keyword Intent:

1. High Intent Keywords: Specific search terms indicating a clear intention, e.g., “BMW car lease.” These often result in higher conversion rates due to users being closer to making a decision.
2. Low Intent Keywords: Broad terms like “BMW” with unclear user intent. These may generate more clicks but have lower conversion rates and may require careful consideration in strategy.

Match Types:

1. Broad Match: Includes misspellings, synonyms, and related searches.
2. Broad Modified: Uses a plus sign before each word, requiring the inclusion of those words in any order.
3. Exact Match: Requires the exact keyword in the specified order.
4. Phrase Match: Similar to broad modified but can be in an exact order.

Negative Keywords:

Keywords for which you don’t want your ad to be shown. Useful for excluding irrelevant searches and competitor brand names.

Campaign Structure:

1. Campaign: The overarching theme, such as “BMW one series.”
2. Ad Group: Subcategories within a campaign, like “M sport models.”
3. Ad Copy: The actual text in an ad.
4. Landing Pages: The web pages users are directed to after clicking an ad.

Quality Score:

Google’s measure of ad relevance, including ad copy quality and landing page relevance. A high-quality score can lead to lower costs per click.

Location-Based Ads:

Targeting ads to specific locations, allowing businesses to tailor campaigns to local audiences. Useful for businesses with a defined service area or location-based offerings.

Q&A Session:

Can You Stop Competitive Bidding?

Competitor’s Use of Client’s Name: If a competitor is bidding on your client’s name in AdWords, it’s challenging to completely stop it.

Trademark Restrictions: Trademark restrictions may apply, and you can file a complaint with Google regarding trademark infringement. However, the effectiveness of this approach may vary.

Automated Coding: Competitors may use automated coding to mirror search terms. While it’s possible, it might not always yield the best results in terms of ad copy quality.

Google’s Discretion: Ultimately, stopping competitive bidding is at Google’s discretion, and filing a complaint might be a step you can take.

Minimum Time for a PPC Package:

Three-Month Subscription: The minimum duration for a PPC package is a three-month subscription.

Adjusting Packages: Clients can start with a lower package and, if needed, upgrade within the three-month period based on budget and performance.

PPC vs. SEO: PPC can provide quicker results compared to SEO. Clients can choose the strategy that aligns with their business goals, and some may opt to test both.

How Long Should You Keep a PPC Campaign Active?

Duration: The duration of a PPC campaign is flexible.

Initial Results: Results can be seen relatively quickly, often within a month, as compared to SEO, which may take longer.

Ongoing Optimisation: Continual optimization is essential for PPC success. It’s not a one-time setup; adjustments may be needed to maximize the value of the campaign.

User Journey Understanding: PPC is not just about driving traffic but ensuring it’s profitable. Understanding the user journey helps in recommending improvements for better conversion.

Billing and Cost Structure:

Package Costs: Nettl offers different PPC packages (Basic, Business, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus) with varying management costs.

PPC Budget: The PPC budget is the amount spent on Google ads, paid directly to Google by the client.

Separate Invoices: Clients receive separate invoices—one from Google for the ad spend and one from Hyphen, who are a Nettl partner, for managing the campaign.

Optimisation Levels: Different packages have varying levels of optimisation based on the client’s ad spend. Higher spend accounts may require more frequent and detailed optimisation efforts.