What is PPC?

As a paid search analyst I am frequently asked two questions. “What is PPC?” and “That sounds simple, can’t any caveman do it?” While the definition of paid search is quite simple (advertising on search engines based on action, not views), the success of a pay-per-click campaign is not.

Pay-per-Click (known as PPC) is a type of advertising on search engines. Unlike banner ads that anyone can see, paid search ads are only viewed by qualified searchers and you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Similar to SEO, a paid search campaign begins by choosing keywords that relate to your website. After you determine your keywords you must assign a value to them, giving each keyword a bid. When a searcher types in your keyword phrase, your ad will appear under the Sponsored Search results based in part on how much you are willing to pay (higher bids usually receive top placement).

SEO and PPC are similar in that they both revolve around the keywords your clients use to search for your website. The main benefit of SEO is that there is not a cost involved when searchers click on your link. Although PPC does have a cost (your ad spend) the main difference is that you control the message the client sees. When you rank on seo/natural search, the search engine decides what text is displayed, but when your PPC ad is displayed, the message you created will show. While there is a constant feud over which is better, the clear answer is that it requires both to have a successful website. Clients are more likely to visit your website and believe you are reliable if your domain is shown both in the natural and paid search listings. Although algorithms change daily, possibly making you lose page rank, your paid search ad will continue to be displayed for as long as your budget will allow.

While many think PPC is simply bidding on keywords, it does take more than that to receive a return on your investment. The first thing that will make or break your campaign is your keyword choice. A solid campaign has both broad and specific terms that a client in all aspects of the buying cycle will search for. The second important aspect is your bid. While you do not want your ads to only be visible to clients who search on the third page of results, top placement is also not always your best choice. A good analyst will find a balance between a keyword bid and the amount of revenue it can generate. After your ad is listed, the next step to success is compelling the searcher to click on it. This requires an ad message that appeals to their needs and stands out from your competitors. Lastly, you must ensure that when they land on your website they find the information relevant to the search they performed. If they cannot find the information they need, they will quickly click back and find your competitor instead.

Once you have created messages that stand out with content that is relevant, you should quickly start to see conversions. As with any industry, you must follow trends and stay ahead of your competitors. But if your paid search analyst is doing a good job you’ll quickly begin to think receiving a high ROI is so easy, a caveman could do it.

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Natural and Paid Search for a Winning Team

Many SEO technicians take pride in the work they do to get their customers websites to the top of the search engines. It’s been mentioned that PPC (pay per click) ads are the easy part, there is no challenge to PPC, just pick a word and go, and that it’s only as useful as your budget allows it to be. While some of that may be true, I can tell you that our PPC team works just as hard as our SEO team, and when done right, both online marketing techniques require diligent research, reoccurring analysis of consumer trends, search engine changes, and traffic stats for your site.

Studies show that ideally websites looking to maximize their visibility should have both organic and PPC working together in a strategic fashion to complement each other.

Bottom line with SEO, is that while organic results are considered most relevant by search engine users, they take time to achieve, and can fluctuate due to various outside factors (search engine algorithm change, other websites using “black-hat” techniques, etc). This is where using a PPC campaign that is monitored regularly will help. Not only can PPC give you instant results, but the data gathered by those click through rates can give you some insight as to whether the keyword theme of your site is considered relevant by actual users. While we may use several tools to predict keyword values, nothing beats real clicks to your site monitored on a regular basis. Utilizing a flexible spending plan with your PPC can help target slow periods when seasonal factors may have less people searching for specific terms, helping you grab a broader search audience. Or alternately, save PPC funds by not overlapping heavy seasons when natural search provides plenty of web traffic on its own. Overall any placement on screen is beneficial to your site, at the most it’s a click through by a potential customer, and at the least it will help train customers to associate the terms you’re targeting to your site by repeatedly showing your web address with those keyword terms. When done right an Organic/PPC combo will help your website achieve maximum visibility in both the short and long term.

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