Pay-Per-Click Basics

If you’re new to all this SEO and SEM stuff, this is a must read.  Let’s talk a little bit about the four keys to starting out building your first Pay-Per-Click campaign.  Here’s a hint–it starts in reverse. 

First off, What IS Pay-Per-Click?

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is an online advertising model designed to send traffic to your website where you, the advertiser don’t pay a thing unless someone clicks the link in your ad (usually a text-ad).

In search engines (like Google), Pay-Per-Click ads are served when a user searches using a keyword or phrase you’ve selected as relevant and are willing to bid some amount-per-click.  Other advertisers may want the same key word or phrase and, in real time, the advertiser who both has the most [tooltip content=”More on this landing page business in Step 2 of our PPC process.” url=”” ]relevant landing page[/tooltip] and bids the most has their ad served.  Again, you (the advertiser) don’t pay a penny unless someone clicks your ad.

You can see how this advertising model differs from more traditional, print advertising models, which use a “cost-per-thousand-impressions” model.  In other words, you pay more for the ad placement the more eyeballs are likely to see your ad–but there’s no guarantees anyone will notice or care.

At JDM, our personal favorite is Google’s Pay-Per-Click product, “Adwords.”  Google is enormous for a reason.  Their Adwords product is what pays for the party and Google is better at this stuff than anyone.  I’ll give you a few reasons:

Adwords offers quality refunds :: If clicks appear fraudulent or of low-quality, they will automatically refund your account.

Adwords can work on debit :: If you’re unsure about this stuff, just deposit the maximum you’re willing to spend and let ‘er rip.  Change your mind?  Google will cut you a check for the difference left in your Adwords account.

Google is #1 :: Their Adwords product is top-notch, but that’s only half the battle.  Google is THE most trafficked site in the world–by a large margin.  That means more impressions, more clicks and more traffic.

Pay-Per-Click Campaign Basics in 4 Steps

You get it.  The next step is trying it out.  Here’s our basic 4 step process for beginning your first Pay-Per-Click campaign.  I’m sure it will feel a little like starting in reverse, but bare with me.  It’ll make sense.  This IS what we do after all.

01. Start with an Offer

Humans are incentive-driven animals.  Center your PPC ad around an offer available on your website.  It doesn’t have to be a discount.  It could be a white paper, eBook, iTunes Card, whatever.  Keep in mind, a “Free Consultation” is not an offer.  Do you EVER charge for taking a sales call?  Of course not.  It’s basic marketing psychology.

02. Nail the Landing—page

Landing pages (also known as squeeze pages) are purpose-built web pages designed to explain the offer in the ad and get prospects to take the action you want (complete the form, sign up, whatever) at the highest conversion rate possible.  To run a successful PPC campaign, you’ll need a really great landing page.

03. Build the PPC Campaign

Google’s got slews of resources on how to build, maintain, support and optimize your Pay-Per-Click campaign.  The basics of setting it all up are simple.  The process for building a really successful PPC campaign is much more art than science.  Start by searching for the key words or phrases you think are most relevant to your campaign and see what comes up.  Are a lot of other advertisers advertising for that key phrase?  Is there a variation you could use?  What is it about the other ads that draws your eye to them?  Answer for yourself a few of these questions and you’re already heads and shoulders above most first-time PPC buyers.  Need a little help?  Don’t be afraid to look into outsourcing to a digital agency.

04. Dial It In

You’re not going to hit the nail on the head the first time out.  Just admit that and move on.  The whole point of all that tracking is so you can disable keywords that are costing you money but not converting.  Bump up your bid for keywords that do.  Look into PPC ad variations and auto-populating search queries into your ad headlines.  Keep tinkering and you’ll find the right balance.

Pay-Per-Click V.S. Organic SEO

You may be all excited about the traffic your awesome PPC campaign is sending, but don’t discount good old fashioned Organic SEO.  Organic (read, unpaid) SEO takes a lot longer to build and maintain, but it’s free per-click and these are NOT mutually-exclusive.  In fact, they work better together than apart.

Need a refresher course on Organic SEO?   Download our Crash Course in SEO presentation (PPT).

If in Doubt, Ask for Help.

Google Adwords comes with a pretty smart little wizard that will automatically monitor and optimize your campaign for you on a daily rate, but it’s not that smart.  It can’t fix a poorly executed campaign (offer, landing page, ad content).  It only makes sure you’re not paying way too much.   If in doubt, ask for help.  Search for Pay-Per-Click best practice white papers, presentations, videos.  Look into 3rd party software.  Consider outsourcing to a digital agency that offers SEM and SEO as a service.