In recent years, paid search marketing has seen an increase. As more and more advertisers participate in the auctions on search engines like Google AdWords, prices have gone up. Paid search advertising is simple and self-serving, but this isn’t entirely accurate. To make the most of paid search, which has evolved into a specialized information environment, some level of competence is needed. Let’s dive deep into the topic.
What Is Paid Search or PPC or SEM?
As a form of digital marketing approach, paid search advertising is also known as PPC (pay-per-click) or SEM (search engine marketing). It enables businesses to pay search engines to display ads on their search results pages (SERPs) so they can drive traffic to their website. It is a cost-effective method of advertising and guarantees that your ads are seen by people who are actively looking for the goods or services your business offers. To learn more about PPC, understand the below terms to get familiar with the topic.
If a user searches for “paid search expert” on Google, the search engine results page (SERP) returns the following:
Important Paid Search Advertising Terms
You may encounter some strange terms while learning about paid search advertising. So it is better to go through them to gain some knowledge of the PPC industry.
- Click- When a person clicks on your advertisement.
- CTR (click-through rate)- The rate at which your ad has been clicked on compared to the number of times it has been shown or displayed is known.
- Conversion- When a customer completes a required activity on your website.
- CPC (cost per click)– Money advertising pays a search engine for each click.
- Impressions- The total number of times your advertisement appeared on a page, website, mobile application, or somewhere else. Impressions are free and, among other things, can help a business’s brand expand because customers will continuously see the name of the website, and the advertisement will be presented far more frequently than it will be clicked.
- Return on investment (ROI)– A profitability metric that determines an investment’s overall profits when comparing its earnings to its expenses. ROI is calculated by subtracting total profit from total expense.
- SERP- The results displayed after typing in a search query are known as the search engine results page (SERP), and they often comprise both sponsored and organic results.
Beginner’s Guide to Set up Paid Search Campaign
A successful PPC campaign must be planned from the beginning otherwise, you will end up wasting money. To strategize an effective pay-per-click campaign, follow these steps:
1. Setting locations
Choose a location you want your ad to appear in and specify the nations, zip codes, or cities by adjusting the location settings. Usually, these choices are based on the location of your business or the locations where clients can purchase your goods.
2. Choose Your Keywords
Select the terms that are most relevant to your brand recognition and business. By conducting keyword research, you can learn which terms are most crucial and what your target market is looking for. You may find out what keywords people across the world are using to find services and goods comparable to yours by using tools like Google Keyword Planner. Your keyword can be a single word, a phrase, or even a long-tail keyword. Here are some types of keyword matches.
3. Match Types
You must select a match type before putting a bid on a keyword in your paid search ad campaigns. How precisely you want your ads to match user searches is determined by the match type you select. There are three main match types available when using Google Ads to advertise:
A) Exact Match
When you use an exact match, consumers will only see your ad groups when they search for your specific keyword phrase, nothing related or near terms. Your ads may appear in searches that include synonyms, plural forms, or other variations of your keyword or phrase if you use an exact match.
B) Broad Match
The match type that will reach the largest audience is a broad match. If you select a broad match, your advertisement can show up whenever a search contains any of the keywords in your key phrase, regardless of their order. Additionally, your ad can show up in searches for synonyms of your keywords.
C) Phrase Match
Exact match and broad match are combined to form phrase match. With control characteristics close to an exact match, it provides some of the flexibility of a broad match. The phrase match feature in Google AdWords has recently been expanded to enable searches that include synonyms, plural forms, and other nearly related versions of your keywords and key phrases.
4. Create Your Ad
The next step is to write an ad with eye-catching words that will persuade your target market to click on your ad instead of other advertising or organic listings that show on the page. Good advertisements have several calls to action, related words and phrases to the target keywords, and unique and relevant content.
There are several things you must not include in your advertisements. Such as authorized terms or phrases, headlines with exclamation marks, capital letters, and unnecessary words.
5. Place Your Bid
Choose the price, and you will pay the same amount for each click on one of your ads, taking your keywords into account. For each keyword, a separate bid amount can be placed. Paid search platforms will provide you with recommendations for how much to bid for each keyword, but the final decision is yours.
6. Ad Extensions
Ad extensions can be used to give more details about your business and are displayed alongside your ad on various search engines. These can not only improve the user experience but also raise the quality score of your ad. This will help it appear at the top of the search results page.
7. Ad Launching and Payment
Ads usually begin to appear after a couple of hours, giving you more time to see the outcomes in your paid search accounts. Additionally, you have the choice to suspend your ad campaigns whenever you want to make room for fresh promotions or end outdated ones. Even though each sponsored search platform has a slightly different charging structure, you will probably experience all of them similarly. In most preferred methods, you will add a credit or debit card to the account when you create it. After that, you will be charged either when you reach a particular threshold or every 30 days, whichever comes first.
We hope this post about the paid search was useful to you. If you want to dominate the paid search competition, follow the tips above, or contact OTT, the best online marketing service provider.