Paid Search

Paid Search

Paid search is a type of digital marketing that allows you to pay to feature ads on major search engines like Google. Although it’s really important to rank organically by investing in digital marketing strategies like search engine optimisation (SEO), the power of paid search cannot be underestimated. 

An average of 41% of clicks are on the top 3 paid ads on SERP (Wordstream, 2019)

65% of clicks for high intent searches go to paid ads (Wordstream, 2019)

PPC users are 50% more likely to purchase something than organic visitors (Unbounce, 2019)

In this guide, we will cover:

• The basics of paid search
• How paid search works
• How you can start implementing a paid search strategy for your business.

What is paid search?

Paid search advertising, also known as pay-per-click (PPC), is a digital marketing strategy whereby you show ads on search engine results pages (SERPs) on Google, Bing, Yahoo and the like.

There are nine main types of PPC ads:

1. Search ads: These appear on SERPs to align with a user’s search query/intent.
2. Display ads: These are text-based or image-based ads that appear alongside original website content, e.g. a banner ad on a website.
3. Sponsored ads: A sponsored ad, or sponsored post, is a paid ad shown in the newsfeed on social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. 
4. Remarketing ads: This is an ad shown to people that previously interacted with your website or app.
5. Product listing ads: Also known as shopping ads, these ads display more detailed information than text-based ads to users and appear at the top or sidebar of a SERP.
6. Local service ads: Local service ads are targeted to people who are searching for your services in your service location(s).
7. Gmail sponsored promotions: Gmail Ads are part of the Google Display Network and are shown in your prospective customers’ inboxes before organic emails.
8. Instream ads: Instream ads are video ads that are placed before, during and after video content a consumer is watching. The ad usually taps into the same topic or themes of the original video content. 
9. Google Ads: Google Ads is one of the world’s biggest online advertising platforms where you can feature ads on the Google search engine, websites, videos and mobile apps (this one is really important - we’ll get to this in more detail a little later on).

Image: An example of paid search (PPC) ads in Google SERP

What is the difference between paid and organic search?

Paid search allows you to rank among the top listings on search engines for a fee, whereas organic search relies on optimising your site and web content to improve search visibility and rank.

Organic rankings signal your website’s authority and credibility for a specific search query. Google decides which websites should rank organically based on factors including user experience, site loading speed, quality and relevance of content, and more.

A robust marketing strategy will consider both paid and organic search to maximise brand visibility, site traffic and lead generation. 

What are the benefits of paid search advertising?

Paid search offers a multitude of benefits including:

• Increased visibility
• Facilitate brand awareness
• More web traffic
• Attract high-intent and high-value users 
• Access to detailed analytics for data-driven campaigns
• Cost-effective - PPC/CPC pricing models work well for businesses on a tight budget 

How does paid search work?

The most common model for paid search is pay-per-click (PPC), but there are other pricing models that may better align with your campaign:

1. Pay-per-click (PPC): An online advertising model whereby an advertiser only pays the publisher/platform when someone clicks on the ad. PPC is also sometimes referred to as cost-per-click (CPC).
2. Cost-per-mille (CPM): Another online advertising measurement whereby an advertiser pays for every thousand impressions (views) or clicks.

What are the common paid search terms to know?

• Impression: The number of times your ad is shown on a search result page.
• Bounce rate: The percentage of users who click and view a site without visiting any other web pages.
• Click: When a user clicks on an ad and goes through to the website.
• Broad match: A type of keyword match that makes your ad show with other relevant searches that match your target keyword.
• Ad position: Where your ad shows up on search engine results pages.
• Conversion: When a user clicks on an ad and completes a specific action, e.g. filling out a form or calling you.
• Conversion value: The total value of each conversion.
• Exact match: When your ad shows for specific keywords or phrases in relevant searches.
• Landing page: The web page a user is redirected to after they click on an ad.
• Negative keywords: Keywords used to prevent your ad from being triggered by specific words or phrases and minimise irrelevant traffic.
• Return on ad spend (ROAS): The total profit generated from a paid search campaign against the total amount spent on ad budget.
• Return on investment (ROI): The total profits of an investment against the total costs spent. 
• Search engine results page (SERP): The results shown on search engines when you type in a search query (including paid and organic results).

Although there are many types of paid search strategies available, Google Ads steals the show. Unsurprisingly, Google towers over its competitors with a market share of 86.86% (as of July 2020) in the search engine market (Statista).

When it comes to paid search, 73% of the paid search market belongs to Google (WebFX, 2020). If you’re going to invest your hard-earned cash into paid search advertising, you want to be spending it in the right place, i.e. Google. 

Let’s dive a little deeper into Google Ads.

Image source: Statista, 2020

What is Google Ads?

Google Ads is the world’s most popular online platform for paid search and PPC advertising. Until 2018, Google Ads was known as ‘Google AdWords’, but the terms are still used interchangeably. 

The Google Ads platform is split into two parts:

1. Google Display Network: A group of more than two million websites, apps and videos where your ads can appear
2. Google Search Network: Other sites and apps in the Google Network like Google Images, Maps and Shopping where your ads can appear.

Why use Google Ads?

As the biggest and most powerful search engine in the world, there’s a long list of benefits when it comes to advertising. Here are some of the reasons why businesses use Google Ads:

• Huge potential for audience reach
• Diverse targeting options
• It caters to all budgets
• Have full control of your campaigns 
• User-friendly dashboard 
• Opportunity to cut costs with various bidding strategies 

How does AdWords work?

Google Ads works by using a live auction system whereby advertisers bid on certain keywords to secure a desired position on SERPs. The actual position of your ad (also known as ad rank) is determined by several factors:

• Competition: The number of competitors who want to show their ad for the same keywords as you
• Others advertisers’ price bid: How much others are bidding on the same keywords as you
• Your maximum price bid: How much you agree to pay when users click on your ad
• Quality score: The quality of your landing page, optimisation of your ad and relevance of your ad for users

In order to ‘win’ the Google Ads auction so that your ads appear for the right keywords, you need to optimise your ad for quality score and bid amount. 

How do I create paid search ads?

Paid search platforms like Google Ads and Facebook are really easy to use, but if you’re new to these channels there is a bit of a learning curve to get over. To give you the gist of it, here is a generalised summary of how to create PPC ads:

• Conduct keyword research
• Spy on your competitor's keywords
• Set a campaign goal and budget
• Choose keywords you want to target
• Place your bids on keywords
• Create compelling ads
• Track campaign traffic with analytics tools
• A/B test your ads
• Track and optimise the campaign

How much do PPC ads cost?

There isn't a one-size-fits-all pricing model for paid search. Every PPC campaign is different and the cost of Google Ads can vary depending on factors including:

• Quality score
• Your keyword bid price
• Competition
• Industry
• Seasonality and weather-based advertising (WBA)
• Expected CTRs

The cost of running paid search campaigns will also depend on whether you create and manage your own campaigns or hire a professional PPC agency.

While it may seem like there’s a lot of information to take in, paid search isn’t as daunting as it may seem. There is a bit of a learning curve to overcome, but platforms like Google Ads, Amazon Advertising and Microsoft Advertising make it easy to familiarise yourself with creating and managing PPC campaigns. 

As a small business owner you probably have many moving parts to juggle. If paid search advertising is something you want to implement but you don’t have the time, consulting a PPC agency or AdWords consultant is a great option. They can either take the reins and manage your campaigns on all fronts, or if you want to manage your campaigns but want to know how best to tackle it, they can also help you develop a robust PPC strategy.

ll facets of digital marketing are constantly evolving with new trends, strategies and best practices to keep up with. But as the old adage goes - it’s a marathon, not a sprint. At SavvySME, we can help you connect with other business owners and service providers in over 400 solutions to help you build and grow your business, and ultimately, your business’s bottom line.