Paid Search 101

A beginners guide to PPC advertising (paid search)

A Beginners Guide to PPC Advertising (Paid Search)

Paid Search is a form of paid online advertising where you pay for your ads to appear on search engine results pages (SERPs) like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. When someone searches for a product or service that your business offers, your ads can appear alongside the organic search results (SEO).   

Let’s say you're looking for the best pizza restaurant in your city. You’re likely search for "best pizza near me" on Google to bring up your options. Paid search allows pizza restaurants in your area to have their ads appear at the top of the search results, increasing their visibility to people in the area looking for pizza. It’s a form of paid advertising that helps you get in front of customers ahead of your competitors.

Key Players in Paid Search:

• Google Ads is the most popular platform. It offers a wide range of targeting options, campaign types and bid strategies to help you succeed. Google accounts for the majority of global searches, so if you’re going to run PPC ads, start with Google.

• Microsoft Advertising is a strong alternative to Google Ads, particularly for businesses targeting audiences in the United States and Canada. Bing doesn’t generate as many searches as Google, but it is slowly gaining market share and should remain an option for PPC advertising.

How Does Paid Search Work?

Paid Search runs off of complex algorithms to determine which ads to show for specific search queries taking into account a wide range of audience and intent signals to decide where and how to display your paid search ads.

• Keyword Selection: You start by selecting relevant keywords that your target audience is likely to be using when searching for your products or services. For example, a fashion brand might bid on keywords like smart brown shoes or black tie outfit for men.

• Ad Creation: You then move on to create compelling ads with messaging relevant to your keyword and include a clear call to action (eg. Order Online).

• Bidding and Auctions: You set yourself a maximum bid for each keyword, and the platforms will conduct real time auctions to determine which ads will appear and in what position. This could vary depending on the maximum amount you’re willing to pay per click.

• Targeting: You can target your ads to specific audiences based on a wide range of factors such as:

• Location: Targeting users in specific cities, regions, or countries.

• Demographics: Targeting users based on their age, gender, and other demographics.

• Devices: Targeting users that are searching using specific devices (desktop, mobile, tablet).

• Interests: Targeting users based on their online interests and browsing behaviour.

• Monitoring and Optimisation: Paid Search campaigns require ongoing monitoring and optimisation to be successful. You need to keep track of key metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and return on ad spend to identify areas of success and for improvement.

Key Benefits of Paid Search

There are so many benefits to using paid search within your overall paid digital marketing strategy. PPC can help drive faster and better results than organic efforts, and paid campaigns across other channels.

• Fast Results: PPC helps generate traffic and leads quickly when compared to organic search.

• High Visibility: Gain prominent placement on search engine results pages ahead of your competitors to maximise your brand visibility and click through rates.

• Targeted Reach: Precisely target your ideal customers based on their search behaviour and demographics to help your site gain the most relevant visitors for your business.

• Measurable Results: Track and analyse campaign performance with detailed data and reporting with vast actionable insights to optimise your advertising campaigns.

• Flexibility: Easily adjust budgets, targeting, and bids based on campaign performance.

• Control: You have control over when your ads appear and to whom they are displayed to, so you can choose who to show your ads to and when (and who not to show your ads to)

Paid Search is an extremely powerful advertising tool for businesses of all sizes and helps to increase their online visibility, generate leads, and drive sales. By utilising paid search platforms like Google and Bing, you can reach the right customers at the right time and achieve your marketing objectives faster than through organic efforts.

Do you need a PPC expert to guide and implement your paid search strategy? Get in touch with us today and see how we can help!