Pay-per-click advertising, also known as PPC, cost-per-click or paid search, is a targeted, cost-effective advertising model that can yield fantastic results in a short space of time. In fact, unlike other media you could have a PPC advertising campaign up and running within hours – if you know what you are doing!
What is PPC?
In essence, PPC allows advertisers to display their products or services to a targeted audience, and pay only if the ad is clicked on. Advertisers bid on keywords that they predict their target market will use when typing in search terms for a certain product or service. The more you’re prepared to pay for each click-through, the higher up on the page your ad will appear under the “sponsored link” or “sponsored ads” section, next to or above the organic results on the search engine results pages.
Because you could be paying up to tens of rands per click for certain high-traffic search phrases, it is imperative to target the right keywords. Tools like Google AdWords help give advertisers perspective on the relevance of their advert text.
How to run an effective paid search campaign
Running a successful PPC campaign can be very time-consuming, and, if not done correctly, very costly.
- Get into the mind of your market
Knowing what search terms your target market is most likely to use when looking for a site such as yours is the first stepping stone to a successful PPC campaign. Come up with as many words and phrases as possible to describe your website or product. Then use a keyword tool to come up with more phrases or derivatives of the main keywords you might have overlooked. This will also give you an indication of how often the key phrases are being searched on.
- Avoid the most competitive keywords
Pay-per-click is extremely competitive, and you might not be able to afford the search phrases you were hoping to bid on. The best course of action would be to find an alternative or variation of the keyword that costs less. By using online keyword tools you’ll not only find those alternatives, but you might also be lucky enough to find keywords that don’t have campaigns built around them, despite getting a fair amount of searches very month.
- Write clever ads
There is no space for wordy descriptions or flowery prose. PPC ad copy consists of 125 characters or less, depending on the search engine. Grab the reader’s attention and get to the point. What sets your website or service apart? What can you offer the reader that others can’t? Remember to include a call to action in your ad, telling the reader to “click here”, “join now” or “learn more”.
- Create landing pages
It is vital to create a landing page for each individual PPC campaign. Don’t simply assume that you’ll get a qualified lead simply by sending someone to your website’s home page. Tailor the landing page to follow on the ad text, and remember to address the user’s needs with a unique service offering and call to action.
- Fine-tune your ad text
Keep on tuning and adjusting the wording of your ad text to find out what delivers the best click-through rate. Even more importantly, use different variations to see if it increases your conversion rates.
- Keep an eye on your campaign
Once you’ve tweaked the copy and created the optimal ad text, don’t just leave your pay-per-click campaign to run itself. Google Adwords could freeze PPC ads if they don’t perform well enough, so make sure all your ads stay active by keeping a close eye and making changes when necessary. Also, remember to keep a close watch on your competitors’ ads and strategies, so they don’t get ahead without you noticing.
Pay-per-click advertising brings results
With the right strategy and know-how, pay-per-click advertising can result in record traffic and conversion rates in a short amount of time. Contact us to let Purple Cow save you time and money by setting up an effective PPC campaign that cuts straight to your target market, while controlling your budget and spend.