The end objective of most online activity is to attract visitors to a website. Once there, the goal is generally to have the visitor take some type of action, from providing an email address to buying something to clicking through on a link. Generating that traffic is accomplished through two basic methods. The first type of traffic is created by organic search visibility. This involves the use of such SEO tactics as keywords and relevant content. The second, and often most effective method, involves carefully planned and implemented Internet advertising.
An Important Item in the Internet Marketing Toolkit
From the earliest days of the commercial Internet, the concept of Pay-Per-Click has attracted attention as a primary form of advertising on the web. After a few ideas were floated, Goto.com, a startup later named Overture and now owned by Yahoo, introduced its concept at the annual TED conference in 1998. From that point forward, the PPC advertising model has risen to a highly utilized multibillion dollar business. The best PPC services help provide clients with an excellent return on their PPC spend.
In fact, Google’s survival and growth came in the earliest days, starting in 2000, from its offering of its proprietary AdWords. Early advertisers were charged on the basis of cost-per-thousand impressions, or CPM. With the introduction of Google PPC in 2002, other players followed, including Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter. Today, BingAds is the PPC vehicle that operates as AdCenter.
As it is understood today, the best PPC services, such as SearcherMagnet, work with advertisers to select certain ways and methods to place ads on search results and web pages. When a web user clicks on that ad, the advertiser is charged an agreed-upon fee. This fee is split among the website owner and other players. The amount of spend on such ads is referred to as the ad investment spent to earn a click.
Matching Ads with Prospects
The role played by search engines is focused on keywords that generate specific search results. The placement of ads based on these keywords is generally driven by a bidding process, which can be managed by the best PPC services.
On the other hand, content-driven websites often sell placement, or banner ads, at a fixed price. In this situation, the best PPC services work with advertisers to select websites with content relative to their business and/or interests.
PPC offers a number of efficiencies to Internet marketers and advertisers. One version of the concept is centered on the affiliate concept and is fully implemented by the best PPC services. In this case, the goal is to generate interest from a sale made by an add click-through. Companies will pay affiliates a percentage of revenue generated rather than paying for the ads themselves. With this pay-for-performance approach, the risk in on the web page owner giving up their ad space. If no sales are generated, there is no return on that advertising space. Likewise, the company with the offer has no cost unless a revenue-producing sale occurs.
Websites most commonly match the PPC ads to keywords provided by the advertiser or merchant. The best PPC services use this process to ensure relevant ads are shown along with the content. Often called sponsored links or ads, they are physically located very close to the actual search results. On the other hand, website owners can specify any location they desire for the ads, allowing them to maximize potential revenue.
In the earliest days of rapidly growing use of PPC, there were a number of concerns over click fraud. This occurred in two primary ways. First, individuals could generate revenue by having individuals repeatedly click on selected ad. Since the revenue was prepaid by the advertiser, the income was assured. On the other hand, some competitors set about drying up a rival company’s PPC account by generating multiple clicks without any purchases being made. Today, however, Google has led the way with developing monitoring systems to detect such fraudulent uses of PPC. The best PPC services are adept at helping their clients avoid this potential problem.
Measurable Results
Aside from producing profitable returns on advertising spends, the best PPC services help their clients measure the effectiveness of their PPC programs with very detailed metrics and statistics. Increasingly sophisticated attribution models allow advertisers and the best PPC services to modify their spending in near real time. The key factors in the effectiveness of PPC include:
- Quality of ads
- Placement of ads
- Frequency of ads
- Relevancy of keywords used
The best PPC services also help clients determine the most effective programs for their ads, looking beyond such standard measures as click-through-rates, or CTR, and the actual cost per click, or pay-per-click
By the Numbers
Contrasted with traditional non-digital advertising expenditures, the marketer can calculate a precise value of their pay-per-click. The initial cost of the advertising, as noted above, is set either by bidding or as a flat rate. Once the total clicks on ads are calculated, the actual PPC cost is calculate. The best PPC services monitor the industry standards and can quickly compare the effectiveness of selected ads and campaigns. They work with advertisers and clients to determine how best to target true prospects. While precise targeting is the Holy Grail of all advertising, PPC is one of the most important Internet marketing tools that allows a very significant ability to focus on qualified prospects.
In addition to the initial targeting of the potential viewer of the ad, the best PPC agencies help their clients glean a number of other important insights from their campaigns. These include:
- Intent to purchase
- Level and type of interest
- Location of viewer
- Time of viewing including the day and specific time
All of this information is carefully studied by the best PPC services to modify existing campaigns and to design future advertising programs.
Flat versus Bid Pricing Models
It takes the best PPC services, such as SearcherMagnet, to properly educate advertisers concerning how rates are set for various keywords. The automated auction systems used by the search engines are primarly based on the Search Engine Results Page. If an ad is to be displayed on a SERP in a bid situation, the advertiser will determine their interest in a number of factors. These include those items listed above, as well as the ultimate placement of an ad on the SERP. Once a contract is signed and money deposited, the automated system will evaluate the bids on each search and award, and charge, the placement to the winning advertiser. There are a number of ways these bids are evaluated. Additionally, the major systems allow advertisers to use match types, most popularly in the exact, broad and phrase categories.
In some cases, the best PPC services will encourage their clients to use flat-rate PPC. This form of advertising is generally less expensive and used on a different type of website, such as comparison shopping engines. Placement is often a key factor in the pricing for these sites.
With this basic overview of PPC Internet advertising, it is worth the time any advertiser will invest with one of the best PPC services, such as SearcherMagnet to design and implement and effective campaign.
