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What is Pay per click or search engine marketing?
The major search engines (Google, Ninemsn, Yahoo! and Sensis) all provide pay per click advertising space within their search results, as do lots of the ad networks and affiliate networks.
For the sake of this article, we are going to keep to the major search engines.
Major Search Engines
Diagram of Google pay per click listings
The Pay per click model
When you advertise within a search engine you are charged on a per click basis. Thus you only pay for when people click on your advertisement. Sounds simple doesn't it? You only pay for someone who clicks, so there is no wastage, and you only get people who are interested in your product or service clicking on the links and coming to your Web site or landing page. In practice, it is a little more complicated than that - it is very easy to overspend on clicks, especially if you're operating in a very competitive market in Searches – eg 'online florists', or 'credit cards'. The art in managing Search Engine Market is to understand exactly how much you can afford to spend on a click, to achieve a result.
Key elements of pay per click search engine marketing
- Keyword selection
- Advertisement copy (I.e. what the actual advertisement reads)
- The landing page that the advertisement goes to.
Why do pay per click search engine marketing?
Most internet users and your customers use search engines to find things they are looking for online. Your customers and other internet users will not find your website without making it visible. Pay per click search engine marketing is a way to make your website immediately viewable to your customers.
What does success look like?
Success equates to a few other important measures:
The key metrics you want to monitor are:
- Cost per click - The average cost you pay for a click from the search engines to your website
- Conversion rate - The average conversion rate of your website from a click to a sales / signup or lead
- Cost per acquisition - The average cost to acquire a sale/ signup or lead.
These last two measures are absolutely crucial as they determine in large part how much you can afford to spend per click.
Here are three simple examples of how Search Engine Marketing can work as part of the sales process:
Example 1: Apply for a new credit card online
High Value, low involvement Banking Product.
Because of the potential high lifetime value of a credit card customer, it would be worth paying a higher CPC (cost-per-click).
Example 2: Search for a house or car to buy online
High margin, high involvement purchase.
Also a potential high CPC, in a very competitive environment, but also a long sales cycle, and not products usually bought online, but certainly products where online and searching are an important part of the mix
Example 3: Buy a ringtone instantly
Low value, low margin, low involvement but high turnover. You couldn't justify a high CPC, given the relatively low margin, but there would be a lot of searches to bid for, so this would be a matter of finding the correct value equation.
Features of pay per click advertising
- Accountable as every click can be tracked
- Cost effective since you only pay when someone clicks
- Extremely targeted since users are already searching for your keyword
Benefits of pay per click advertising
- Increased sales
- More traffic to website, and more sales in the long run
- Increased brand awareness from more internet users viewing your website
- Improved customer experience from being able to find your website easier
How much does pay per click cost?
The cost of a pay per click campaign is comprised of
- One off setup fee
- Monthly management fee
- Keyword budget to search engines
The cost depends on:
Competition - How many websites are competing for your keywords? The more competition the more expensive the keywords will be to purchase therefore a bigger keyword budget may be required.
Keyword popularity - How many people search for the keyword you are targeting. The more popular the keyword the more budget you will need to assign to the campaign.
Number of keywords - The more keywords you are targeting the greater the budget you will need to assign to the campaign.
How does Freestyle Media do it?
Fred Schebesta, Head of Search Marketing, FSM:
'Search Engine Marketing is about getting lots of little things right to achieve a result. It is also about continually testing and refining Keywords bought, the copy, and then the landing pages you send potential customers and clients to.'
We don't focus on any one aspect of Search Marketing, our key focus is on achieving the best results for our clients – it's pretty simple, if you invest $1 at one end of the process, and you get $1.10 at the other, then you've achieved your initial objective, but if we can reduce your $1 to 50 cents, and then achieve $2 at the end of the process, then you're marketing successfully online, and we have made a contribution to your success. That's what drives me, and gives me the greatest satisfaction.'
Search engine marketing Laser Sight Centres
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