What Is Paid Search Marketing?

Paid search marketing, commonly referred to as pay per click (PPC), or cost per click (CPC) advertising, is one of the most popular and effective methods of online advertising because it allows you to drive qualified traffic to your site at a low cost per lead. Free listings or “organic rankings” can take several months to achieve. In the meantime, advertisers, will set up a paid search campaign and bid on keywords that relate to their product or service.

There are three major paid search programs; Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and MSN AdCenter; all three having similar platforms.

Google AdWords

A highly effective and frequently used keyword-based advertising tool which lets you create cost-effective ads for display on the Google Network.

Key features include:

• Reach: your ads are eligible to appear on numerous search and content sites. The Google Network is the largest advertising network available online, reaching over 86% of Internet users worldwide.
• Flexible ad formats: text, image, animated, video, mobile and local business ads
• Geo-targeting: target your potential customers by language, country, region or city
• Links easily to your Google Analytics account

Yahoo! Search Marketing

One of the original pay per click search engine tools used to help connect advertisers and qualified traffic has taken a big leap.

Yahoo! launched its new search marketing platform in 2006 and ranking scheme 2007. The new model is more powerful and intuitive than before, and more successful at creating effective search marketing campaigns.

Key features include:

• Reach: ability to feature your ads on numerous search and content sites. Advertisers have the opportunity to reach over 80% of users online.
• Geo-targeting: target our potential customers by country, region or city

Microsoft adCenter

MSN adCenter lets you advertise on Live Search, where you’ll have access to a large audience of potential customers.

Key features include:

• In-depth demographic targeting: based on location, selected days and hours of the week and even gender and age groups.
• Reach: ability to feature your ads on sites that are relevant to your product or service. You’ll have access to an audience of 98 million potential customers.

When a user enters a search query into and of these three engines, a variety of results will appear. This list includes: articles, websites and documents that are relevant to that query. Also included on each page are “sponsored links” which are found at the top of the page, down the right-hand side and at the bottom of each results page. This type of advertising program allows you to bid on key phrases, create targeted ads and display them to users who are already searching for information related to your business.

According to a study by DoubleClick, 41 percent of US customers used search engines to research a purchase. Only 10 percent used a print ad and 9 percent a TV ad.

Example of CPC Advertising

In this example, a vendor is selling baby shoes online. Once you sign up for a paid search account you select keywords that customers would use to search for your product such as – baby shoes, cut baby shoes, and baby shoes online. Then you design targeted ads based on your keywords and determine how you are willing to pay each time someone clicks on your ad when it appears in the search results. To control this spending a daily budget is set. This is also the amount you are willing to spend on a daily basis. Budgets will vary depending on your industry – a business like “baby shoes” is very competitive and requires a higher daily budget.

In the example below, 6S Marketing helped Robeez design a series of targeted ads that connect with its audience – each time a user clicks on the ad, Robeez will be charged. “Baby shoes” is a challenge to rank for in the free search engines because of its competitiveness, however, by bidding on this term, Robeez can show their ad each time a potential customer does a search for “baby shoes” or variations of this term.

CPC Campaigns – Summary of How They Work

• Auction-based positioning; allows the advertiser to control where the ad is placed on the search engine results page for reach key phrase.
• By bidding on the correct search terms, a CPC campaign can immediately begin driving qualified traffic to your site.
• Design ads that are relevant to your target market. You can also edit your existing ads, and then see your update within 15 minutes.
• Pay only when a customer clicks on your ad, regardless of how many times it is displayed.
• Set your own daily spending limits. There is no minimum spending limit. Edit your budget at anytime.
• You choose keywords which are words or phrases related to your business. Keywords can be added or removed at anytime.
• Pick the location of your target market through geo-targeting.
• Obtain maximum return on investment; results are measurable through free programs like Google Analytics.

Search Marketing vs. Network Sites

There are two types of ad placement in Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing and MSN adCenter. While search results pages are an important part of finding information on the web, they make up a very small fraction (around 5%) of all pages viewed on the Internet. Purchase decisions are made all over the web; on shopping comparison sites, professional interest pages, hobby sites, targeted newsletters, and other properties. Distributing ads on the Google Network and other search networks provides a cost-effective way to reach customers on the remaining 95% of the web (Reference Google Learning Center).

Google AdWords Search vs. Content Targeting

• Search Targeting:
• Google ads appear on the top or right side of (search engine results pages (SERPS)).
• Ads are displayed on larger network partners site — these include search sites as well as shopping comparison sites.
• Content Targeting/Image Ads:
• Ads displayed on relevant smaller sites.
• Allows separated bids from search targeting.

Example of Content Targeting

Google also offers image ads on its content network sites. Google allows a number of banner, skyscraper and rectangle formats. This is highly effective way to brand your site and deliver your message to thousands of users.

Yahoo! Sponsored Search vs. Content Match

• Yahoo! Sponsored Search:
• Yahoo! ads appear on the top, down the side and at the bottom of each search results page.
• Content Match:
• Displays your ads alongside related articles, product reviews, online publishers and more.
• Allows separated bids from search targeting.

Content match is similar to Google’s content targeting network. Ads are distributed to the Yahoo! content network, which helps provide additional exposure and leads to your website. Yahoo! Search Marketing does not allow image ads at this time.

MSN adCenter vs. Content Ads

• MSN adCenter:
• Ads appear on the top and down the side of each search results page.
• Content Ads:
• With content ads your text ads are displayed next to relevant content on quality sites within the Microsoft network. Currently in pilot in the US only.

Keyword Match Options

Keyword matching allows you to control how precise a keyword must be to show your ads. By defining how broad or narrow you want your keywords to be, the more targeted and qualified your customers will be.

Google’s primary matching options are broad, phrase and exact.

If we ue the example “baby shoes” and we have the broad match option on, your ad will show for the following queries:

• Baby and cute shoes
• Baby shoes for sale

Broad match is Google’s default setting; it will trigger your ad whenever your keyword or similar keyword is queried.

With phrase match your ads will appear only in the exact sequence and form you specified with phrase match, your ads will appear in the following queries:

• Baby shoesstore
• Cute infant baby shoes

Exact match is the most precise way to trigger your ads. This feature is used when you want your ads only to appear on specific queries.

For example you want your ad to appear for “cute baby shoes” and not “used baby shoes”, exact match is the best option.

Yahoo! Sponsored Search offers two matches; standard match and advanced match. Although this is the same concept as Google they work a little different. Standard match refers to exact matches of your keywords, for example you advertise the word “Vancouver Restaurant” your ad will show up for the following:

• Vancouver Restaurant (exact)
• Vancouver Restaurants (singular/plural variations)
• Vancouver Restarant (misspelling)

Advanced match matches your keywords in various contexts. If we use the same example “Vancouver Restaurant” your ad will show up for the following:

• Vancouver Restaurant (exact)
• Vancouver Restaurants (singular/plural variations)
• Vancouver Restarant (misspelling)
• Best Vancouver Restaurant (phrase)
• Vancouver fine dining Restaurant (separated by words)
• Restaurant Vancouver (reverse order)

Negative Words

Negative words are an important feature in CPC advertising. Negative keywords allow advertisers to block unwanted searches that may not be relevant to their site. Your ad will not appear when a negative keyword you have specified is included in a search query.

For example your negative keyword is “used” and your keyword is “cars” you will not show up for “used cars”.

To find out how our Paid Search Marketing services can help you, contact 6S Marketing.

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