Build Your Web Presence with PPC Advertising (Pay-Per-Click)

Topics in this module Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising concepts PPC campaign sequence PPC bidding PPC budgeting Optimize and measure results PPC best practices Types of PPC ads Social media advertising

PPC ads appear in response to online searches Keywords are the phases and terms used in searches Like “digital asset management” or “outsourced IT services in Houston” Each keyword has a “cost per click” Expressed as a bid price to get on the first page The more popular a keyword, the higher the bid price You only pay for clicks Not for your ad being displayed

Search engine results page PPC Ads “Paid” In this example, a search for “small business outsourced IT services Houston” resulted in this page Organic Results “Unpaid”

Pay-per-click advantages Appears top of the search results More control of prospect experience Tailored ads to your target market Kick-start lead generation engine

Where should you place ads? Google has roughly 70% of the search market Bing offers typically lower CPCs Google (not logo) Bing and Yahoo (not logo)

Setting up a PPC campaign Define goals and budget Determine keywords Setup landing pages Create your PPC ads Develop calls-to-action

Identify keywords and variations Keyword, phrases, and variations Monthly searches Do research using: Google “autocomplete” Google and Bing Keyword Planning tools Keywordtool.io

Strategy: Which keywords to use? Use specific keyword phrases Outsourced IT = many searches / expensive Outsourced IT in Houston = fewer searches / less expensive Look at keyword variations May have significantly different monthly searches and costs Consider including or excluding keywords

Calls to action (CTAs) You need calls to action Multiple CTAs Register for our webinar You need calls to action Specific offers that will interest your prospects Offers must be clearly understood Multiple CTAs Ideally, different offers to address needs at each stage of buyer’s journey Allows you to nurture prospects along their journey Download our case study Test drive our free trial Schedule a free consultation Buy premium version now

Set up landing pages Landing page best practices Provide a way to expand on the short phrases in the ad Enable promotion of products and services via campaigns Provide a mechanism for processing calls to action Capture visitor contact information for further nurturing When working with ads, you’ll notice that you have a limited amount of space to get your idea across. A landing page gives you the opportunity to expand upon the topic of the ad. Furthermore you can use landing pages to promote your products and services that relate to the keywords in your campaign. Landing pages provide a way for visitors to pursue your call to action. Landing pages should always include a way to process that call to action – usually by completing a short form. This allows you to capture contact information for nurturing and guiding through the buyer’s journey. Most of the marketing automation solutions available on the market include a landing page creation tool. These products give you the opportunity to create multiple landing pages easily. If you don’t have a CMS or a marketing automation solution that supports landing pages, you may outsource it. There are several services such as Unbounce that provide turn-key customizable landing pages for a fee.

Setting up landing pages Clear call to action Short non-intimidating user input form No distractors or navigation off this page Company branding used www.smb.co.uk/free-trial-signup

Write and create ads Creating a text-based PPC ad Contains headline, body text and link to landing page Use a keyword in the headline Make it succinct – fits in the character limits Include a call to action Check competitor ads for wording Buy Microsoft® Office 365 Ad – www.microsoft.com/Office/365‎ Subscribe to Microsoft® Office 365. Download and Use Now! Fast, Easy Setup.

How PPC bidding works Pay for each click on your ad (Cost-per-click or CPC) Bid against others by setting the maximum cost per click (Max CPC: the most you want to pay for a click)

Highest bidder doesn’t necessarily win Google or Bing’s Ad Rank algorithm decides If your ad appears or not Where your ad is positioned if it does appear Different ranking signals used in determination Ad relevance to keywords Landing page experience and relevance Ad format and quality (some can include phone number, directions, link to website, etc.)

Example auction Bidder Bid Quality Ad Format Impact Bidder’s Ad Rank 1 $4 Low No Formats 5 2 $3 High 15 3 $2 20 4 $1 Medium 8

Example auction results Trainer Guidance This is an example of the results Example auction results Bidder Bid Quality Ad Format Impact Bidder’s Ad Rank 3 $2 High 20 2 $3 Low 15 4 $1 Medium 8 1 $4 No Formats 5

Measure PPC results Use reporting tools to Improve visibility, click-through, and conversion rates See how well your campaigns are performing See which keywords are most effective Spark new optimization ideas Measure return on investment Strive for a 10x ROI on PPC spend

PPC budgeting worksheet Enter your own numbers 1 How many site visitors does it take to get 1 client? 30 You may have to guess here if you don’t know. 2 How much does a client spend monthly? $1,000 3 What is the average cost per click for your keywords? $5.00 4 How many new clients do you want per month? 10 5 Monthly new revenues $10,000 Multiply value for #2 by value for #4 6 Allocate this much for your monthly PPC budget $1,500 Multiply value for #1 x value for # 3 x value for 4

Different types of ads Search ads Display network ads Mobile ads Buy Microsoft® Office 365 Ad – www.microsoft.com/Office/365‎ Subscribe to Microsoft® Office 365. Download and Use Now! Fast, Easy Setup. Search ads Typical ads shown in response to a web search on a search engine Display network ads Ads that appear on websites and in apps Can be targeted to your audience Mobile ads Specifically formatted for mobile devices Video ads Usually banner ads that appear during or at the beginning of a video It’s important to understand the different types of ads you can use in PPC. Search ads are the most typical PPC ads that appear in response to a search query on a search engine. You should start your PPC efforts with these. But newer types of ads have been emerging and they are beginning to overtake search ads. The fastest growing type are called Display Network ads. Display Network ads appear on websites and in apps, as opposed to within search engines. These may appear on news sites, blogs and other niche sites of special interest. They may or may not be relevant to the content of the page on which the ad appears, but the general idea is to allow advertisers to reach more potential customers. One option with display network ads is to use Targeted Placements. In this case, advertisers handpick specific sites and pages for their ads to appear. This allows ads to reach users visiting specific sites, independent of their interests or demographics. Display ads can be of various formats such as banner ads, text, images, flash, video, and audio. If you have a limited budget you probably will restrict your PPC efforts to search ads, but once you’ve mastered search ads you might choose to try display ads to see if you can gain additional traction and new clients with these. Mobile advertising is a method of advertising that appears on mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets or PDAs that have wireless connections. Ad formats include text ads or banner advertisements that appear embedded in search results, ads in mobile web pages, as well as in downloaded apps or mobile games. Ads can be tailored to mobile users, who currently make up over half of all Internet searches. Video ads are usually banner ads that appear during, or at the beginning, of a video. Let’s look at examples of these various types of ads.

Social media advertising LinkedIn ads Can target by industry, company size, location, job role, more Offers both cost per click and cost per impression Facebook ads Can target specific types of users, location and other factors Generally cost per click, but some cost per impression capabilities Twitter ads Helps reach people not yet following you

Review PPC is a great way to kick-start a lead generation engine PPC may also be a good long-term strategy Keywords, bids, quality ads and landing pages are crucial Measure your results consistently Refine to optimize success and reduce costs