Attracting visitors to your website requires a strong presence within Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS), often the top three results are the best place to be to obtain a click through to your website.
There are two fundamental types of search result – organic (free) or paid (pay-per-click or PPC Marketing). PPC comes under the SEM (Search Engine Marketing umbrella) – SEM is now typically used to describe the process of purchasing and managing ‘paid placements’ or ‘advertisements’ within Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS).
There are other forms of search advertising but the focus of this blog post is Pay Per Click or PPC.
The importance of a PPC strategy for your business cannot be underestimated, for starters you may have poor organic rankings for your website, as a result the search traffic you receive is very low. You’re probably missing out on valuable prospects.
The ‘low hanging fruit’ keywords (often company names or brand titles) will always reap traffic but that is dependent on the brand reputation of your company.
The question is how will your company be found in Google, bing or Yahoo! for the services you provide? especially if your organic results are not where you would like them to be.
The answer is you buy advertising space. Pay Per Click or PPC Marketing will gain you a presence in the search results for free! You will only pay for the ad when a user clicks on the ad to learn more about what your advertising.
Example: An accountancy firm based in Liverpool wishes to generate local leads via its website for its ‘payroll services’ – following an SEO audit of the company website it is understood that the firm is not in the top 10 (or first page) results in Google (Merseyside area). The likelihood of generating interest is very small unless a presence can be gained in the top of the search results. PPC Marketing is the immediate answer, SEO is the long-term strategy.
PPC Marketing can get your brand in the right place at the right time. Remember searchers are highly qualified prospects and you need to be seen in search results when they are searching for your products or services.
If you are unsure where your website ranks organically, we can help. We can provide you with up to the minute organic rankings for your website. Without this information, it is difficult to understand how you can start with an PPC strategy. Once you have obtained this information you can begin to decipher where the missed SERPS opportunities are and plug the gaps with engaging ads.
If your organic results are not what you expected or you have lower positions than you thought you will also need to adopt a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy.
Why is PPC Marketing Important?
Traditional marketing techniques have been challenged like never before in recent years as consumers have become wise as to how to find what they want.
Exhibitions, trade shows, national press advertising and other forms of traditional marketing are not only expensive but often fail to deliver a strong return on investment.
Customers know they can reach for a laptop, smart phone or tablet and research an answer via a search engine. You need to be there when they do.
PPC is also different from every other form of marketing. Traditionally, marketing has taken a ‘push’ approach to promote a product or service. Glossy full page magazine ads, radio ads, bus shelters, direct mail amongst many others, continually ‘push’ and disturb our daily lives with interference messaging and relentless interruptions.
PPC Marketing is the exact opposite to ‘push’ marketing. When a search is entered in to Google, bing or Yahoo! – answers are presented immediately.
This presents todays businesses with an unprecedented opportunity – appear in results before potential customers in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS).
Remember, they have asked for the result, you can present the user with a direct answer using PPC Marketing techniques.
Your chance to ‘pull’ in the interested searcher lies within the advertisement that displays. This is the time to either ‘solve their problem’ or ‘help them in their research’.