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PPC (Paid Search)

PPC (Paid Search)

PPC stands for Pay Per Click. When you search on Google you see two kinds of results on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) – You see Paid links (sometimes called sponsored links) which are at the very top and on the side. You can bid in an auction for certain keywords and every time someone clicks on one of these links, Google makes money. That’s how Google makes its money!

If you love Excel you’ll love Paid Search. But even the most hardcore Excel users will probably fall asleep during this next video but it is the best video to explain how Google ranks adverts and we highly recommend all our clients watch it:

The Eighty Twenty Rule and the other Keywords

It’s a rule of thumb and doesn’t apply to all business, but it’s a helpful reminder that there may only be a handful of keywords that really work for your PPC campaign. The 80:20 rule says that 20% of your keywords will delivery 80% of traffic (and vice versa). At Raison Online we split our keywords into three broad groups: Generic, Brand and Long-tail. (We also have another group – products – if you are an ecommerce client).

First off we find out those key keywords and hone in on them. Find out who your customer is and how they search for you. These will be your key generic terms. There are many ways to learn what keywords are relevant for your company, from looking at what already works for your natural search campaigns, through to looking at what your competitors are doing. The key is to find these ‘generic’ keywords. These will be your staple for the majority of your site traffic.

We looked at brand keywords in the opening introduction to these guides. We saw how some brands bid on their own name – sometimes it is important, especially when other companies are bidding on your companies keyword! We normally contact the company and politely ask them to stop – we wont bid on your keyword if you don’t bid on ours. This gentleman’s agreement is usually enough and keeps your PPC cost down.

You’re keyword list may be 80% long-tail and this may only generate 20% of your sales, but it is still important and often overlooked because it is more work. Long tail keywords have about 3 or more words and can be obscure. Below are some examples of the different keywords, based on our shop selling blue hats:

Generic – Blue Hat Shop
Brand – BlueHatter inc.
Product – MadHatter Blue Hat v.2
Long tail – where do I buy a blue hat in England?