Apr/090
SEO 10 Step Run-Down - Step 7 - PPC
Before we get into the practices that should be applied to a PPC campaign, it is tremendously important to understand why you’re interested in getting started. When people read about a PPC campaign, they often think of a Google AdWords campaign geared around making a sale. While this is generally the main use, there are certainly other aspects of PPC. The environment you are in will have a massive impact on how you manage your campaign. This will likely make more sense after they are outlined. So let’s do this dance:
Environment One: For the Sale
A lot of PPC campaigns are ran purely for the benefits they themselves provide. The goal of the campaign is to produce a lead or sale. The main issues you are going to face with this type of PPC environment involve budget, tracking, conversion and targeting. We will discuss this at another time.
Environment Two: For Research
When you’re considering launching a major organic search engine optimization campaign it is often smart to launch a Pay-per-click campaign first. When you’re conducting your keyword research for your organic campaign, you’ll get a good idea of the volume of traffic you can expect from each keyword but that doesn’t really tell you what you can expect as far as conversions.
Environment Three: The Whole Lot
There are also those aggressive types, that run Pay-per-click campaigns in conjunction with successful organic SEO campaigns. These are companies that want to be found in both sets of results and/or who want to use PPC to target those phrases that they aren’t ranking for in the organic results. Again, for people engaged in this type of promotions the metrics and the focus are very different than those running campaigns in a different environment.
Doing your Homework is Key
Just like organic SEO campaigns - PPC campaigns begin with keyword research. It is wise to use the keyword tools provided by the engine you are engaging in a campaign with. While all tools have their pros and cons - if you are launching an AdWords campaign with Google - the data provided by Google will be that which they’ve gathered from their own searchers and thus is far more likely to be more accurate than data gather from any other source. The same can be said for other PPC engines.
Here at Primary Target, we’re not the hugest supporters of Pay-per-click as a whole, however if you can get market some solid keywords at a low enough cost, and are willing to really stay on top of your PPC campaigns, they may perform well for you.
If you have any questions regarding Pay-per-click, don’t hesitate to drop us a line, or give us a call at 519-253-8885.