Pay Per Click

Measurable return on investment

Roan Fair

Web Marketing Consultant

Intergage

Today’s agenda…

• What is Pay Per Click advertising?

• Why is it important?

• Why should I use it?

• How does it work?

• How do I use it?

• Hints and tips

What is Pay Per Click advertising?

What is PPC? Ad auction

PPC

SEO

‘Sit forward advertising’

• Users see your messages when they search

• ‘Sit forward’ advertising (PPC) – not ‘lean back’ (TV)

• Pay only when they click – not when they don’t!

Why is Pay Per Click important?

Why PPC matters

• Get to ‘Number 1’ immediately

• Beat the Google ‘sandbox’ that puts new websites on hold

• Find out precisely which adverts work – maximise your ROI

• Excellent testing ground for keywords – get free conversions

• Pause, unpause - control

Why should I use Pay Per Click advertising?

Maximise your ad ROI

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted…the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”

John Wanamaker (1838-1922), US department store merchant

ROI benefits – get precise data

• Ads – test which ad messages work best

• Sales leads/enquiries – how many conversions, when, where, how often

• Which of your web pages are most persuasive, effective

• Find out exactly what works, what doesn’t – minimise waste

Why should I use it?

• Stop wasting money! Boost your ROI

• Precise targeting – location, language, network, PC/laptop v mobile

• Understand your customers better, buying cycle, challenge assumptions

• Use data from PPC to get free leads/conversions with new web pages

• Improve the conversion rate of your existing web pages

How does Pay Per Click advertising work?

How does PPC work? Glossary 1

• Keywords – trigger your ads

• Ads – users click on them, go to your web pages

• Ad groups – ‘folders’ for ads, keywords

• Landing page – page where users ‘click’ to, where they arrive/land

• Impression – a showing of your ad

• Clickthrough rate (%) – clicks/impressions

How does PPC work? Glossary 2

• Cost Per Click – how much you pay for each click

• Cost – your total cost

• Conversions – leads, enquiries, any desired action to be measured

• Cost/Conversion – how much each conversion/lead costs you

• Conversion rate (%) – conversions/clicks

How does PPC work? Search, ad

How does PPC work? Click to page

How does PPC work? Engaging…

How does PPC work? Conversion

How does PPC work? Monitoring Conversions

• Clickthrough rate (CTR) – impressions v clicks

• Conversion numbers

• Cost/conversion

• Conversion rate

How do I start using PPC?

Where do I start?

• Start with your goals in mind

• Always keep them in mind!

• How much do you want to pay per lead/conversion?

• Beware small ticket items!

Where do I start?

• Be relevant to search

• Find your keywords

• Google Keyword Tool

• List relevant terms

• User intent, buying cycle

Keyword tool

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Set up campaign

Set up campaign – beware defaults!

Set up campaign – beware defaults!

Create your relevant ad text

Better ad text Poor ad text

Hints and tips…

Creating ad groups, keywords

• Two ads per ad group, split testing

• Use keyword in ad, preferably title, display URL

• Granularity…

Ad Group 1: Red WidgetsAd Group 2: Red WidgetAd Group 3: Buy Red WidgetsAd Group 4: Buy Red WidgetAd Group 5: Hire Red WidgetsAd Group 6: Hire Red Widget

Creating ad groups, keywords

• Keyword granularity, matches…

red widgets (broad match)

+red +widgets (modified broad match)

“red widgets” (phrase match)

[red widgets] (exact match)

Negative keywords

-alert-alerts-shoe-shoes

Budgets, bidding, quality

• Set daily budget(s), ringfencing

• Bids – impact on ad profitability

• Quality Score – What? Why? Benefits!

Performance indicators

• Click Through Rate (CTR)

• Cost Per Click (CPC)

• Cost

• Conversion numbers

• Cost per conversion

• Conversion rate

Always improve, optimise

• Test

• Adjust

• Run

• Test

• Adjust

• Run

• Test

More hints and tips…

• Keep a ‘Captain’s Log’, diary your work, next actions

• Create PPC landing pages, optimise

• AdWords Editor

• Keyword, Ad Group Reports

• Search Query Reports

• Campaign (Impression Share) Reports

Next steps

• Take what works with PPC

• Create more landing pages

• Get free clicks

• Improve your Quality Score to reduce Cost Per Click

• Use your keywords for SEO, digital PR, social media

Your homework

Watch this video…

Google’s Hal Varian on Ad Auction, Quality Score, Cost Per Click

http://adwords.blogspot.com/2009/03/introduction-to-ad-auction.html