Pay Per Click (PPC)

What is PPC?

Simply put, PPC is a way of advertising on search engines, every time you search for something, a number of 'sponsored links' appear to the right hand side (and occasionally at the top of the main section), you've probably clicked a few yourself but if you're unsure click here and take a look. Sponsored links are usually four lines of text decided by you; each time someone clicks on them, you pay. If no one clicks, then you pay nothing at all (although you might question if something is wrong with your ad!).

A good website will be optimised for search engines and should appear in the organic section of the search results (that is, all search results apart from the sponsored links), however if it's not appearing on the 1st or 2nd page, then it's unlikely too many people will find your site - how often do you search after the first few pages?. That's how a PPC campaign can help.

Getting Started

To start a PPC campaign, you'll need an account with a provider, currently the biggest three in the UK are Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter. From here you'll need to bid on keywords that are relevant to your product, service and/or location. greything can help your business set this up.

A well thought out PPC campaign will enable your site to appear on the 1st page regardless of where your site sits organically. What we mean by 'well though out' is a car manufacturer shouldn't bid on the word 'car' - it's too genetic; too much competition exists. Instead bidding on relevant and targeted terms such as 'new 5 door hatchback' or 'low emission city car' would be both cheaper and precise to the audience you want to attract. In fact the general rule is, the more targetted your are, the cheaper the cost per click. The following are examples only:

  • 'cars' may cost £1.30 per click
  • 'new cars' may cost £1.00 per click
  • '5 door new cars' may cost 70p per click
  • 'low emission 5 door new cars' may cost 10p per click

Most providers will highlight the level of traffic you should expect from keywords, with this you should decide how targeted you can become before no one finds your ad, for example you shouldn't get carried away, how many people will search for 'yellow low emission 5 door new cars in bristol'.

If you want to find out more about Pay Per Click and how it can help your business, contact greything today.