What is Paid Search (PPC)?
Paid search (also referred to as Pay-Per-Click or PPC) refers to the adverts or sponsored links which appear on the right hand side of the search results page on search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Advertising programs such as Google’s Adword have become a major sales channel for many businesses.
How does Paid Search Work?
Paid search programs work by displaying adverts based on the search query which a user enters. An advertiser will create an advert and specify the list of keywords or phrases for which they wish that advert to appear. Adverts tend to be text based with four lines of copy to attract a click from a user. Advertisers do not pay when their advert is displayed, but only when the advert is clicked. For this reason paid search is also referred to as pay per click or PPC marketing.
Search engines such as Google display adverts in a vertical column. Typically the higher an advert is in the column the more clicks it will receive. Positioning is competitive and to gain higher positions, advertisers must typically pay a higher cost-per-click. However, money is not the only factor determining positioning. Google and Yahoo both use measures of the ‘quality’ of an advert to influence the positioning. Google’s uses a measure called ‘quality score’, based on the click though rate (ratio of times an advert is displayed to clicks) and the relevance of the ad copy to the search, as positioning factors. An advert with a higher quality score will get a better position at a lower cost.
The Benefits of Paid Search
Paid search programs are an excellent way for businesses to reach customers at a time when they are searching for information or looking for products to buy. In addition it also allows small businesses to compete directly with large businesses for the same customers. Other benefits include:
- Targeted. Allows businesses to target specific phrases relevant to their business
- Cheap. A search campaign can be started with as little as £50
- Trackable. Paid search is highly trackable, allowing the effectiveness of a campaign to be measured with great accuracy.
- Instant traffic. Unlike search engine optimisation, a paid search campaign can start generating traffic immediately.
