What is a PPC campaign?
PPC stands for pay-per-click. It is a form of online advertising that often ties into search engine usage. Basically, you can bid for the price that you want to pay for a single click on your ad.
Portent.com describes that the higher you bid, the greater chance you have to be further up in search results when someone searches for a specific keyword related to your business. You then pay that bidding price every time someone clicks on your ad.
How are they typically arranged/formatted?
We’ve all heard it before: keywording is essential. It helps to increase search engine optimization, attracting users to your site.
Keywords, as well as ad copy, which is typically the 1-2 lines of text beneath the ad title, make up the typical arrangement of PPC campaigns. Ad copy may even contain keywords.
Focusing on which keywords to use and what ad copy is the most effective allows you to focus on your company’s image and how it is represented to clients and potential clients. This method, however, does not necessarily factor in what types of clients you will be attracting, and what they are actually looking for.
An alternative strategy
An alternative strategy for the effective creation of a PPC campaign involves focusing on customer intent. Analytic software is easy to come by nowadays, and it is extremely helpful in determining who visits your website. This involves the type of person that would click on your ad. With this information, you can strategize your marketing tactics to ensure that you are reaching the right kinds of customers (ultimately those who will convert to paying customers).
By adapting a strategy that focuses on how the clientele you hope to reach differ from the generic population of online users, you can target your ads more effectively. For example, you want your ads redirecting people to a page that includes what they are specifically looking for. According to Inc.com, “25 percent of small business advertisers send all of their campaign traffic to a single page, while 20 percent send their clicks straight to the homepage.”
Unfortunately, these people sent to a home page or unrelated single page are most likely not finding what they were looking for. They will be more likely to leave your site, and yet, you are still paying for their click.
By utilizing analytics, you can figure out which keywords lead to the highest customer intent and ultimately customer conversion. This will help you form a PPC campaign that is cost effective and reaches the clientele you want to target.
Balance
Combining these two approaches of focusing on the ad text (keywords and ad copy) as well as customer intent can increase the effectiveness of your PPC ads. You need effective keywords and phrases for people to find what they are looking for, but to create and utilize those effective keywords and phrases, you need to know who your audience is and how they will be searching for your company.
Written by: Alexandra Kennedy
Alexandra is a freelance and contract writer based in the Greater Boston area. She is a biologist, animal lover, lifelong student, and traveler.