Why do you need a use PPC campaigns? What exactly is a PPC campaign?
PPC stands for Pay Per Click. That’s right, every time a potential lead clicks on a Google Adwords text ad or banner ad, you pay the going rate for the keyword or keyword phrase that’s in that ad.

Let’s explore this a bit more.
PPC campaigns have been around for a long time and many companies and individuals have been using them to reach potential new business. Many of the same people have pulled their hair out trying to figure out the most effective way to utilize this online advertising tool. Some have succeeded and some have wasted a lot of capital during the learning curve. There are a few very key steps to using PPC campaigns and getting the knowledge about how it works in depth is the most important factor.

You don’t want to crash using PPC.
You wouldn’t just jump into a jet fighter and pull the throttle without knowing how to fly the plane, would you? PPC campaigns can be very similar, only instead of crashing the jet, without knowledge of how PPC campaigns function you just throw money away with nothing to show for it. But, properly used, the sky is the limit, and lead generation and eCommerce can drive your business to new heights.

Searching, Searching and more Searching.
Searching. That’s what potential customers are doing 24-7 on the search engines for products and services using “keywords” and Keyword phrases. What’s the difference? Keywords are just that…a keyword that defines what is being searched for. A keyword phrase is the same but with more info attached to the search.

Pros and Cons
The pros are reaching out to your potential customers that are searching for those services or products you offer. If you run an ad that features a keyword that matches a searched term you have a percentage of having your ad clicked on and having a connection to your site and from there a conversion. The cons are you could be using a keyword that isn’t searched for very much or is not exactly the correct term…the result is wasted time and money.

What’s a conversion?
Conversions are the reason you’re running your ad. It’s the most important feature you want when running an AdWords campaign. You can have lots of clicks (which you pay for) but no follow-through to a conversion.

How do you get a Conversion?
When you start a campaign, you are testing different keyword and key phrases which you pay for. For example; a searched term has a price tag attached to it. The price for that term can vary by how popular that term is. And that popularity is determined by how often it’s searched for on the web. A highly searched term like fine art can be rated from as little as 25 cents to $1.50 per click and so you could wind up paying for a lot of clicks that don’t result in any conversions or could also result in a high conversion rate that does result in leads and hopefully sales.

How are Conversions rated?
Conversion rates are determined by the percentage of the clicks against how many times they are served or featured.

Test and then test more.
Testing is the key to success. Google wants you to test up to 25-35 keywords at a time, but that can hide which keyword is really working the best for you. The best way to test it to start out testing one keyword at a time so you can see if it’s really working or not. Google will also want you to raise your daily budget from say $10.00 a day to $50.00 a day but that’s just like having a german shepherd guarding the steak sandwich.

How to get started.
First, learn everything you can about running keyword PPC campaigns. Here’s a link to the Google Adwords info page: https://www.google.com/adwords/how-it-works/
This will take you through the steps to creating an ad. But wait. You’ll need to learn a lot more before just diving into this. Here’s are a few more knowledge-based links: https://www.google.com/adwords/ and even more info: https://www.google.com/adwords/benefits/

Variations are key.
Variations mean test at least three ads at a time. When creating your ads you can make your first ad and then copy and vary the wording slightly to see which version pulls the most click and more importantly conversions. Run the ads at a low daily dollar amount for at least five days which means be patient. At the end of the fifth day, you’ll have a pretty good idea of which of your three ads is succeeding with your chosen keyword. Then, do it all over again from picking a new keyword and setting up three new ads to test. And so on and so on until you understand and recognize how it all works.

What about Banner ads?
Banner ads can be your next step but only after you master the Adwords text ads. Banner ads are ads designed with images and are placed throughout the web as “sponsored” ads on the right columns of the searched pages and sprinkled on web pages as you search.

We’ve been helping our clients with PPC campaigns. Contact us and we can create a campaign for your business.