Pay Per Click Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is just that - the advertiser pays for each click-through to their website. When a query is entered into a search box, the search engine returns a list of natural, or organic listings, along with paid results, which should be clearly distinguishable. (This is not always the case; as with some forms of advertorial, it can sometimes be difficult to discern what is and isn't advertising.)
When a user clicks on the ad - which can be a simple text ad, or some kind of image ad - a fee is paid by the advertiser to the search engine. So, put simply, the advertiser is paying for website traffic that they're not able to get just through natural search.
Where Do the Ads Appear?
- Search networks. This is the basic scenario described above, where ads are displayed along with a search engine's natural results. For all the larger search engines (Google, Yahoo!, NineMSN) this means that the ads will not only display on their main search listings, but throughout their network of search engines.
- Content networks. Displaying ads across content networks allows for keyword targeted ads to appear on a huge array of content sites, relevant to the keyword. For example, if you sell Belgium chocolates, your ads might display on a chocolate blog, or an online Newspaper containing a story about chocolate. You can also target certain high-traffic sites that you'd like the ads to appear on. Displaying ads on content networks also allows an advertiser to use image ads.
- Geo-targeting. This allows you to set the locations you want the ads to be displayed. With some search engines you can do this by country, state, city, region, suburb, or postcode. Some also offer the option of setting exact latitude and longitude points within which the ads will be displayed. This means the search engine tracks the users IP address and only displays the ads to those within the desired areas. This is particularly useful if your business only operates within a set geographical boundary.
- Product and service search engines. These search engines let advertisers provide feeds of their product or service databases. The advertisers who pay more are given more prominence in the results returned, but users can often sort the results by price or other characteristics.
How do you Select the Best Keywords?
This is a big question, and one that will take more than this lesson to answer, but here are some essentials:
- Relevancy.The search engines all insist that relevancy is the most important consideration for keywords. Of course, this is advice the search engines are very happy to give, since the more relevant the ads are to the search term entered, then the more likely it is that a user will click on an ad, which means more revenue for the search engine. It should also theoretically be better for the user, since the paid results will be more useful, and also for the advertiser, who should get a better conversion rate from users who are actually searching for their product or service. The search engines also try to enforce strict relevancy criteria. Yahoo! Search Marketing's advertising guidelines state:
Advertisers may bid on a search term only if the Web site has substantial content that is clearly and obviously reflective of the search term, and the line listing (title and description) accurately describes why the Web site is listed for the search term.
- Think outside the square. If you want to drive traffic to a website in a very competitive market like mortgages, then you need to think more creatively than your competition. Think of (and research) the types of phrases and keywords potential customers actually enter. Consider plurals, misspellings, and phrases. Some search engines' advanced match options do this for you. For example, if you bid on 'Belgium chocolate,' Yahoo! Search Marketing's advanced match system would give you:
| Exact | belgium chocolate |
| Plural | belgium chocolates |
| Common Misspellings | belgum choclolates |
| With extra words | belgium chocolate gift packs |
| In a phrase | buy boxes of belgium chocolate |
| Separated by words | belgium and swiss chocolate |
| In a different order | chocolate swiss and belgium |
Tracking Click-Through Rates and ROI
As any search engine marketer will tell you, one of the best things about PPC ad campaigns is the massive array of return on investment (ROI) data they generate.
- The click-through rate (CTR) is given by dividing the number of impressions an ad receives (the number of times it is displayed) by the number of clicks it receives. This shows you how well your ad text (or image ad) is attracting customers, and allows you to make any adjustments that are necessary.
- The conversion rate is given by the number of conversions divided by the number of clicks. A conversion is whatever you want users to do on your site. This allows you to precisely calculate your ROI, and adjust your campaign budget to suit.
Pay Per Call (PPCall) Advertising
- Pay-per-call is a relatively new development in online advertising. It works the same way as pay-per-click, but rather than driving traffic to a website, the ads connect potential customers directly to the advertiser via telephone.
- PPCall has been adopted in the US with great success, and Sensis is currently conducting a trial in Australia as part of their BidSmart service. When you add PPCall to your BidSmart sponsored listing, a 'Click-To-Call' button is placed next to your URL.
- When a consumer clicks on this button a pop-up appears, prompting them to enter their phone number and the time (up to 5 minutes away) they would like your business to call. The system then calls the consumer at their specified time, and requests they hold while they are connected to your business. Advertisers are only billed when a call is successfully connected and passes a minimum time threshold.