A Marketer s Quick Guide To Getting the Most From Your Pay Per Click Advertising

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1 A Marketer s Quick Guide To Getting the Most From Your Pay Per Click Advertising

2 What is Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising? Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is a type of advertising where your ad (think of it as a cleverly disguised search result) will run at the top or side of a search engine page, and that is populated based on what the user is searching for. Unlike traditional advertising where you purchase media space, Pay Per Click ads are charged to your account only when people click them. No clicks, no cost. But since no clicks is actually the opposite of what you re trying to achieve, you want to make sure the people who are clicking your ads (and costing you money) are good prospects for your business.

3 Not all clicks are equal Every click on every ad you create costs you money whether the user stays on your site or not, whether they become a customer or not. So the secret to PPC advertising success is understanding who you re trying to reach, and what they are looking for, in as specific a way as possible. Think about how you use Google. Do you search for Restaurants? Or do you search for Sushi Restaurants in NW Calgary? If you are a sushi restaurant, getting your ad on a general listing page like Restaurants could generate clicks but would all those people be looking for exactly what you have to offer? Probably not. Now, in the second case, you at least know that since you are a Sushi Restaurant in NW Calgary, the people clicking on your ad will be getting what they re looking for.

4 Our top 4 ways to get the most bang for your buck in PPC advertising 1. Be specific Start by thinking about the top reasons people come to you with their business. What are their main pain points that you can help with? This is the difference between Tub Repair (general) and My tub is leaking into my kitchen (specific). Not only is the second example more specific, it s also more conversational and more in line with what people write when they are searching. Setting your ads to phrase or exact match might limit the number of people seeing your ad, but it will help ensure that your ads appear for search queries that are most relevant to your business. Think about how you use Google. Do you search for Restaurants? Or do you search for Gluten-free restaurants in Calgary?

5 2. Match your ad with your content There s nothing more frustrating than asking a question and getting an answer that has nothing at all to do with what you asked. If you are creating ads that are focused and specific, the answers you direct your link to should be just as focused and specific. Link your ads to the most relevant content that provides your visitors with an answer to their question. To go back to the example above, you wouldn t want to direct someone who has just searched my bathtub is leaking into my kitchen to a homepage for a plumbing company that does both installations and repairs because then your potential customer would have to work to find the information they asked for. Instead, link your ad to a landing page that is focused on tricky tub leaks and how to make sure they get fixed.

6 3. Write good It hurt to read that, didn t it? That s the point. It s important to take the time to write your ads well so that they are specific, fall within the search engine guidelines, and most importantly, are easy to read and understand. The more you know your potential customers and can write to their pain points in a professional, clear manner the better your ad will perform. Write your ads with the natural language your customers use. It s what your potential customers will be searching.

7 4. Plan for next steps It s all fine and good to attract visitors to your specific pages that are relevant to what they are searching, but then what? Make sure your landing pages are formatted to lead the visitor to your desired action. Do you want visitors to call you? Add a CALL NOW button. Do you have a helpful download they could use to help solve their problem? Add a quick form to request the download. Format your landing page to provide visitors with a next step towards helpful information to solve their problem. Remember, advertising is just one tool in your business marketing toolkit. And successful marketing helps you achieve your business goals. If everything you do from marketing to advertising is clearly tied to achieving your business goals, you ll know when you re successful. When it comes to PPC campaigns, your return on investment isn t really in generating traffic to your site, it s about generating conversions for your business.

8 KAYAK Online Marketing 4014 Macleod Trail SE #318 Calgary, AB T2G 2R7 Canada Call us today at (toll-free in both US and Canada) Connect with us in social and let us know how useful (or not) this guide was for you: google.com/+kayakonlinemarketing twitter.com/kayak360 linkedin.com/in/randymilanovic Further Reading Google s Guide to Keywords and Targeting Google s Best Practices