What is Pay-Per-Click Marketing?
When a searcher clicks on an ad on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) they are generally brought to the website of the advertiser and the advertiser pays for that click. In short, it is a way for businesses to pay for visits to their website instead of gaining that traffic organically through Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
There are a multitude of reasons and ways to use PPC marketing to reach your specific goals and we’ll explore 5 of them here.
1. Faster Visibility & Results
Generally, a ramp up period for SEO is going to be something like 4 to 6 months to truly start seeing results. It can also be extremely hard to show on the first page for relevant keywords even with a lot of good SEO work. And while any digital marketer worth their weight would say that SEO is definitely worth investing the time and effort in, the ability to see quicker results is definitely a benefit to running a PPC campaign.
2. Occupy More Real Estate On the SERP
Even if you are killing it in the SEO game, taking up more real estate on the SERP is only going to help improve brand awareness and give the searcher multiple chances to click on your site over a competitor that shows up for a search. Google PPC Ads gives you even more space on the SERP with things like call out extensions, site link extensions, and call extensions that give people the ability to call you directly from your ad without having to go to your website. All of these allow people to see more about your business and gives them a greater opportunity to give you their business. Not only that, but according to Google AI, 89% of traffic created by search ads are not replaced by organic clicks once the campaigns are paused.*
3. Brand Awareness
4. Trackability & Testing
One great thing about PPC campaigns is the data you can obtain. With more traditional marketing, it is hard to know sometimes if you are truly reaching your target audience. With PPC ads, high level details like impressions, clicks, and conversions are easily measurable with appropriate tracking. Along with the basics, things like which locations are getting the most clicks and leads or which particular searches are bringing you the best cost per lead are quickly accessible as well. It is even possible to see which days of the week and time of days your ads are performing the best. Along with all this data, Google Ads offers the ability to run tests on your campaigns to see what changes you make perform better. Test ad copy, landing page changes, offers, keyword bids, and even more to make sure that your campaign is performing well to get a great return on investment.
5. Specific Targeting
There are also multiple levers that help you target even more specifically than just by location. You can modify bids based on different audiences and their interests, their age, gender, income and even by device. Along with all of these you choose what days and times your ads are running so you control when people can see your ads. With all of these various targeting tools you can make sure that you are truly focusing on qualified traffic that is relevant to your business.
Bonus: More Sales!
The real reason for marketing is to grow your business and a well managed PPC campaign can help you do that. PPC campaigns can provide immediate and consistent traffic for your business that can ultimately turn into more leads or sales.
References*: https://ai.googleblog.com/2011/07/studies-show-search-ads-drive-89.html
Author: Shawna Kays, Pay Per Click Analyst