M2Inbound InboundMarketing
Utilizing PPC
Scott Miller is an Inbound Marketing Author Strategist and Consultant He founded Marketing Matters in 1996 and leads a team of Inbound Marketers He invented the Einstein Inbound Assessment amp AGI Pyramid His clients realize unusually high measurable ROI
Scott A Miller
Scott A Miller Follow him on Twitter
tuxmiller
M2Inbound 2
PPC eBook bull What is Paid Search
bull How to Use Paid Search
bull How Paid Search Works
bull Paid Search Strategy
bull Measuring with Metrics
bull Conclusion amp Additional Resources
4 - 6 7 - 12 13 - 17 18 - 23 24 - 26 27 - 29
M2Inbound 3
What is Paid Search
Introduction
Paid vs Organic Search
1
M2Inbound 4
PPC
Ultimately learning to properly utilize the essential basics of search engine marketing (SEM) increases
the revenue of your website and business
There are several predominant search engines but the way each one operates in terms of paid search (pay-per-click or PPC) is based on the model used by Google so this eBook will use Google AdWords as the example You can extrapolate the principles and use them on just about any search engine you choose
Understanding the fundamental differences between paid and traditional search marketing allows you to drive more traffic and leads to your website
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 5
Paid vs Organic Search
Although it would be nice to succeed online solely based on organic search results the reality for every business is that paid search helps supplement your efforts to get found online and can symbiotically over time improve your organic search efforts while driving traffic to your website now
Organic search results are the results naturally produced by a search engine Theyrsquore based on complex algorithms search engine companies develop to provide answers to the searchersrsquo queries they believe are most relevant Utilize search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to influence these results Paid search provides the option to purchase an Ad above or alongside the organic search results as they are displayed on the search engine results page (SERP) The Ads displayed are based on keywords used in search queries how often theyrsquore shown is based on two criteria ndash how relevant the Ad is to a search query and how much yoursquore willing to pay for the Ad
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 6
How to Use Paid Search
Using Paid Search
Landing Page Testing
Finding New Keywords
Getting in the Game
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
2
M2Inbound 7
Using Paid Search
Paid search is not a replacement for anything but should rather be an integral part of a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy You can use it to accomplish many of your inbound marketing goals
Paid search is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition To use paid search properly you must understand how itrsquos best implemented to drive real-time results while improving organic search results long-term
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 8
Landing Page Testing
ldquoCompanies with 30 or more landing pages
generate 7x more leads than those with fewer
than 10rdquo
Paid search is an ideal way to test and optimize landing pages using AB testing to assess two variations of a given campaign element You can set a single Ad to drive users to two distinct destination URLs and therefore two different landing pages
With AB testing you can find the elements of your campaigns that drive the highest conversion rates from lead to customer
To assess one offerrsquos effectiveness against another you can test
1 Different layouts
2 Varying features on forms
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 9
Finding New Keywords
Paid search is also an excellent way to find new keywords to use in your overall inbound marketing campaigns
As you construct your paid search campaign GoogleAdWords generates a Search Terms report Although you may have chosen to only use ldquolawn mowersrdquo as your search Googlersquos Search Terms report will also display effective ancillary terms such as ldquoelectric lawn mowers or ldquopush lawn mowersrdquo You can then decide if adding any of these terms to your campaign is worthwhile
Knowing which keywords result in high search traffic can help improve your paid campaigns and organic efforts You can use these words for SEO or to build landing pages thus optimizing all your inbound marketing efforts
ldquo44 of online shoppers begin by using a search enginerdquo - Interconnected
World
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 10
Getting in the Game
You can also use paid search to improve your visibility in areas and search terms where you have not yet been as successful as yoursquod like to be
Utilizing PPC
A well-placed search ad will Get you seen and noticed Boost favorable ranking efforts in organic search
results for secondary keywords Appear at or near the top of the list giving you a
competitive edge
ldquo75 of users never scroll past the
first page of search resultsrdquo - Hubspot
M2Inbound 11
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
Paid search while effective is not intended to be a standalone strategy It will however complement your
inbound marketing efforts to drive organic traffic
When a user sees your website display in both organic search results as well as a paid search Ad it signals to them that you are a force to be reckoned with in your
niche
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 12
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Scott Miller is an Inbound Marketing Author Strategist and Consultant He founded Marketing Matters in 1996 and leads a team of Inbound Marketers He invented the Einstein Inbound Assessment amp AGI Pyramid His clients realize unusually high measurable ROI
Scott A Miller
Scott A Miller Follow him on Twitter
tuxmiller
M2Inbound 2
PPC eBook bull What is Paid Search
bull How to Use Paid Search
bull How Paid Search Works
bull Paid Search Strategy
bull Measuring with Metrics
bull Conclusion amp Additional Resources
4 - 6 7 - 12 13 - 17 18 - 23 24 - 26 27 - 29
M2Inbound 3
What is Paid Search
Introduction
Paid vs Organic Search
1
M2Inbound 4
PPC
Ultimately learning to properly utilize the essential basics of search engine marketing (SEM) increases
the revenue of your website and business
There are several predominant search engines but the way each one operates in terms of paid search (pay-per-click or PPC) is based on the model used by Google so this eBook will use Google AdWords as the example You can extrapolate the principles and use them on just about any search engine you choose
Understanding the fundamental differences between paid and traditional search marketing allows you to drive more traffic and leads to your website
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 5
Paid vs Organic Search
Although it would be nice to succeed online solely based on organic search results the reality for every business is that paid search helps supplement your efforts to get found online and can symbiotically over time improve your organic search efforts while driving traffic to your website now
Organic search results are the results naturally produced by a search engine Theyrsquore based on complex algorithms search engine companies develop to provide answers to the searchersrsquo queries they believe are most relevant Utilize search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to influence these results Paid search provides the option to purchase an Ad above or alongside the organic search results as they are displayed on the search engine results page (SERP) The Ads displayed are based on keywords used in search queries how often theyrsquore shown is based on two criteria ndash how relevant the Ad is to a search query and how much yoursquore willing to pay for the Ad
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 6
How to Use Paid Search
Using Paid Search
Landing Page Testing
Finding New Keywords
Getting in the Game
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
2
M2Inbound 7
Using Paid Search
Paid search is not a replacement for anything but should rather be an integral part of a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy You can use it to accomplish many of your inbound marketing goals
Paid search is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition To use paid search properly you must understand how itrsquos best implemented to drive real-time results while improving organic search results long-term
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 8
Landing Page Testing
ldquoCompanies with 30 or more landing pages
generate 7x more leads than those with fewer
than 10rdquo
Paid search is an ideal way to test and optimize landing pages using AB testing to assess two variations of a given campaign element You can set a single Ad to drive users to two distinct destination URLs and therefore two different landing pages
With AB testing you can find the elements of your campaigns that drive the highest conversion rates from lead to customer
To assess one offerrsquos effectiveness against another you can test
1 Different layouts
2 Varying features on forms
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 9
Finding New Keywords
Paid search is also an excellent way to find new keywords to use in your overall inbound marketing campaigns
As you construct your paid search campaign GoogleAdWords generates a Search Terms report Although you may have chosen to only use ldquolawn mowersrdquo as your search Googlersquos Search Terms report will also display effective ancillary terms such as ldquoelectric lawn mowers or ldquopush lawn mowersrdquo You can then decide if adding any of these terms to your campaign is worthwhile
Knowing which keywords result in high search traffic can help improve your paid campaigns and organic efforts You can use these words for SEO or to build landing pages thus optimizing all your inbound marketing efforts
ldquo44 of online shoppers begin by using a search enginerdquo - Interconnected
World
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 10
Getting in the Game
You can also use paid search to improve your visibility in areas and search terms where you have not yet been as successful as yoursquod like to be
Utilizing PPC
A well-placed search ad will Get you seen and noticed Boost favorable ranking efforts in organic search
results for secondary keywords Appear at or near the top of the list giving you a
competitive edge
ldquo75 of users never scroll past the
first page of search resultsrdquo - Hubspot
M2Inbound 11
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
Paid search while effective is not intended to be a standalone strategy It will however complement your
inbound marketing efforts to drive organic traffic
When a user sees your website display in both organic search results as well as a paid search Ad it signals to them that you are a force to be reckoned with in your
niche
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 12
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
PPC eBook bull What is Paid Search
bull How to Use Paid Search
bull How Paid Search Works
bull Paid Search Strategy
bull Measuring with Metrics
bull Conclusion amp Additional Resources
4 - 6 7 - 12 13 - 17 18 - 23 24 - 26 27 - 29
M2Inbound 3
What is Paid Search
Introduction
Paid vs Organic Search
1
M2Inbound 4
PPC
Ultimately learning to properly utilize the essential basics of search engine marketing (SEM) increases
the revenue of your website and business
There are several predominant search engines but the way each one operates in terms of paid search (pay-per-click or PPC) is based on the model used by Google so this eBook will use Google AdWords as the example You can extrapolate the principles and use them on just about any search engine you choose
Understanding the fundamental differences between paid and traditional search marketing allows you to drive more traffic and leads to your website
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 5
Paid vs Organic Search
Although it would be nice to succeed online solely based on organic search results the reality for every business is that paid search helps supplement your efforts to get found online and can symbiotically over time improve your organic search efforts while driving traffic to your website now
Organic search results are the results naturally produced by a search engine Theyrsquore based on complex algorithms search engine companies develop to provide answers to the searchersrsquo queries they believe are most relevant Utilize search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to influence these results Paid search provides the option to purchase an Ad above or alongside the organic search results as they are displayed on the search engine results page (SERP) The Ads displayed are based on keywords used in search queries how often theyrsquore shown is based on two criteria ndash how relevant the Ad is to a search query and how much yoursquore willing to pay for the Ad
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 6
How to Use Paid Search
Using Paid Search
Landing Page Testing
Finding New Keywords
Getting in the Game
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
2
M2Inbound 7
Using Paid Search
Paid search is not a replacement for anything but should rather be an integral part of a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy You can use it to accomplish many of your inbound marketing goals
Paid search is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition To use paid search properly you must understand how itrsquos best implemented to drive real-time results while improving organic search results long-term
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 8
Landing Page Testing
ldquoCompanies with 30 or more landing pages
generate 7x more leads than those with fewer
than 10rdquo
Paid search is an ideal way to test and optimize landing pages using AB testing to assess two variations of a given campaign element You can set a single Ad to drive users to two distinct destination URLs and therefore two different landing pages
With AB testing you can find the elements of your campaigns that drive the highest conversion rates from lead to customer
To assess one offerrsquos effectiveness against another you can test
1 Different layouts
2 Varying features on forms
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 9
Finding New Keywords
Paid search is also an excellent way to find new keywords to use in your overall inbound marketing campaigns
As you construct your paid search campaign GoogleAdWords generates a Search Terms report Although you may have chosen to only use ldquolawn mowersrdquo as your search Googlersquos Search Terms report will also display effective ancillary terms such as ldquoelectric lawn mowers or ldquopush lawn mowersrdquo You can then decide if adding any of these terms to your campaign is worthwhile
Knowing which keywords result in high search traffic can help improve your paid campaigns and organic efforts You can use these words for SEO or to build landing pages thus optimizing all your inbound marketing efforts
ldquo44 of online shoppers begin by using a search enginerdquo - Interconnected
World
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 10
Getting in the Game
You can also use paid search to improve your visibility in areas and search terms where you have not yet been as successful as yoursquod like to be
Utilizing PPC
A well-placed search ad will Get you seen and noticed Boost favorable ranking efforts in organic search
results for secondary keywords Appear at or near the top of the list giving you a
competitive edge
ldquo75 of users never scroll past the
first page of search resultsrdquo - Hubspot
M2Inbound 11
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
Paid search while effective is not intended to be a standalone strategy It will however complement your
inbound marketing efforts to drive organic traffic
When a user sees your website display in both organic search results as well as a paid search Ad it signals to them that you are a force to be reckoned with in your
niche
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 12
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
What is Paid Search
Introduction
Paid vs Organic Search
1
M2Inbound 4
PPC
Ultimately learning to properly utilize the essential basics of search engine marketing (SEM) increases
the revenue of your website and business
There are several predominant search engines but the way each one operates in terms of paid search (pay-per-click or PPC) is based on the model used by Google so this eBook will use Google AdWords as the example You can extrapolate the principles and use them on just about any search engine you choose
Understanding the fundamental differences between paid and traditional search marketing allows you to drive more traffic and leads to your website
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 5
Paid vs Organic Search
Although it would be nice to succeed online solely based on organic search results the reality for every business is that paid search helps supplement your efforts to get found online and can symbiotically over time improve your organic search efforts while driving traffic to your website now
Organic search results are the results naturally produced by a search engine Theyrsquore based on complex algorithms search engine companies develop to provide answers to the searchersrsquo queries they believe are most relevant Utilize search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to influence these results Paid search provides the option to purchase an Ad above or alongside the organic search results as they are displayed on the search engine results page (SERP) The Ads displayed are based on keywords used in search queries how often theyrsquore shown is based on two criteria ndash how relevant the Ad is to a search query and how much yoursquore willing to pay for the Ad
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 6
How to Use Paid Search
Using Paid Search
Landing Page Testing
Finding New Keywords
Getting in the Game
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
2
M2Inbound 7
Using Paid Search
Paid search is not a replacement for anything but should rather be an integral part of a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy You can use it to accomplish many of your inbound marketing goals
Paid search is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition To use paid search properly you must understand how itrsquos best implemented to drive real-time results while improving organic search results long-term
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 8
Landing Page Testing
ldquoCompanies with 30 or more landing pages
generate 7x more leads than those with fewer
than 10rdquo
Paid search is an ideal way to test and optimize landing pages using AB testing to assess two variations of a given campaign element You can set a single Ad to drive users to two distinct destination URLs and therefore two different landing pages
With AB testing you can find the elements of your campaigns that drive the highest conversion rates from lead to customer
To assess one offerrsquos effectiveness against another you can test
1 Different layouts
2 Varying features on forms
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 9
Finding New Keywords
Paid search is also an excellent way to find new keywords to use in your overall inbound marketing campaigns
As you construct your paid search campaign GoogleAdWords generates a Search Terms report Although you may have chosen to only use ldquolawn mowersrdquo as your search Googlersquos Search Terms report will also display effective ancillary terms such as ldquoelectric lawn mowers or ldquopush lawn mowersrdquo You can then decide if adding any of these terms to your campaign is worthwhile
Knowing which keywords result in high search traffic can help improve your paid campaigns and organic efforts You can use these words for SEO or to build landing pages thus optimizing all your inbound marketing efforts
ldquo44 of online shoppers begin by using a search enginerdquo - Interconnected
World
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 10
Getting in the Game
You can also use paid search to improve your visibility in areas and search terms where you have not yet been as successful as yoursquod like to be
Utilizing PPC
A well-placed search ad will Get you seen and noticed Boost favorable ranking efforts in organic search
results for secondary keywords Appear at or near the top of the list giving you a
competitive edge
ldquo75 of users never scroll past the
first page of search resultsrdquo - Hubspot
M2Inbound 11
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
Paid search while effective is not intended to be a standalone strategy It will however complement your
inbound marketing efforts to drive organic traffic
When a user sees your website display in both organic search results as well as a paid search Ad it signals to them that you are a force to be reckoned with in your
niche
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 12
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
PPC
Ultimately learning to properly utilize the essential basics of search engine marketing (SEM) increases
the revenue of your website and business
There are several predominant search engines but the way each one operates in terms of paid search (pay-per-click or PPC) is based on the model used by Google so this eBook will use Google AdWords as the example You can extrapolate the principles and use them on just about any search engine you choose
Understanding the fundamental differences between paid and traditional search marketing allows you to drive more traffic and leads to your website
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 5
Paid vs Organic Search
Although it would be nice to succeed online solely based on organic search results the reality for every business is that paid search helps supplement your efforts to get found online and can symbiotically over time improve your organic search efforts while driving traffic to your website now
Organic search results are the results naturally produced by a search engine Theyrsquore based on complex algorithms search engine companies develop to provide answers to the searchersrsquo queries they believe are most relevant Utilize search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to influence these results Paid search provides the option to purchase an Ad above or alongside the organic search results as they are displayed on the search engine results page (SERP) The Ads displayed are based on keywords used in search queries how often theyrsquore shown is based on two criteria ndash how relevant the Ad is to a search query and how much yoursquore willing to pay for the Ad
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 6
How to Use Paid Search
Using Paid Search
Landing Page Testing
Finding New Keywords
Getting in the Game
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
2
M2Inbound 7
Using Paid Search
Paid search is not a replacement for anything but should rather be an integral part of a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy You can use it to accomplish many of your inbound marketing goals
Paid search is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition To use paid search properly you must understand how itrsquos best implemented to drive real-time results while improving organic search results long-term
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 8
Landing Page Testing
ldquoCompanies with 30 or more landing pages
generate 7x more leads than those with fewer
than 10rdquo
Paid search is an ideal way to test and optimize landing pages using AB testing to assess two variations of a given campaign element You can set a single Ad to drive users to two distinct destination URLs and therefore two different landing pages
With AB testing you can find the elements of your campaigns that drive the highest conversion rates from lead to customer
To assess one offerrsquos effectiveness against another you can test
1 Different layouts
2 Varying features on forms
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 9
Finding New Keywords
Paid search is also an excellent way to find new keywords to use in your overall inbound marketing campaigns
As you construct your paid search campaign GoogleAdWords generates a Search Terms report Although you may have chosen to only use ldquolawn mowersrdquo as your search Googlersquos Search Terms report will also display effective ancillary terms such as ldquoelectric lawn mowers or ldquopush lawn mowersrdquo You can then decide if adding any of these terms to your campaign is worthwhile
Knowing which keywords result in high search traffic can help improve your paid campaigns and organic efforts You can use these words for SEO or to build landing pages thus optimizing all your inbound marketing efforts
ldquo44 of online shoppers begin by using a search enginerdquo - Interconnected
World
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 10
Getting in the Game
You can also use paid search to improve your visibility in areas and search terms where you have not yet been as successful as yoursquod like to be
Utilizing PPC
A well-placed search ad will Get you seen and noticed Boost favorable ranking efforts in organic search
results for secondary keywords Appear at or near the top of the list giving you a
competitive edge
ldquo75 of users never scroll past the
first page of search resultsrdquo - Hubspot
M2Inbound 11
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
Paid search while effective is not intended to be a standalone strategy It will however complement your
inbound marketing efforts to drive organic traffic
When a user sees your website display in both organic search results as well as a paid search Ad it signals to them that you are a force to be reckoned with in your
niche
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 12
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Paid vs Organic Search
Although it would be nice to succeed online solely based on organic search results the reality for every business is that paid search helps supplement your efforts to get found online and can symbiotically over time improve your organic search efforts while driving traffic to your website now
Organic search results are the results naturally produced by a search engine Theyrsquore based on complex algorithms search engine companies develop to provide answers to the searchersrsquo queries they believe are most relevant Utilize search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to influence these results Paid search provides the option to purchase an Ad above or alongside the organic search results as they are displayed on the search engine results page (SERP) The Ads displayed are based on keywords used in search queries how often theyrsquore shown is based on two criteria ndash how relevant the Ad is to a search query and how much yoursquore willing to pay for the Ad
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 6
How to Use Paid Search
Using Paid Search
Landing Page Testing
Finding New Keywords
Getting in the Game
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
2
M2Inbound 7
Using Paid Search
Paid search is not a replacement for anything but should rather be an integral part of a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy You can use it to accomplish many of your inbound marketing goals
Paid search is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition To use paid search properly you must understand how itrsquos best implemented to drive real-time results while improving organic search results long-term
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 8
Landing Page Testing
ldquoCompanies with 30 or more landing pages
generate 7x more leads than those with fewer
than 10rdquo
Paid search is an ideal way to test and optimize landing pages using AB testing to assess two variations of a given campaign element You can set a single Ad to drive users to two distinct destination URLs and therefore two different landing pages
With AB testing you can find the elements of your campaigns that drive the highest conversion rates from lead to customer
To assess one offerrsquos effectiveness against another you can test
1 Different layouts
2 Varying features on forms
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 9
Finding New Keywords
Paid search is also an excellent way to find new keywords to use in your overall inbound marketing campaigns
As you construct your paid search campaign GoogleAdWords generates a Search Terms report Although you may have chosen to only use ldquolawn mowersrdquo as your search Googlersquos Search Terms report will also display effective ancillary terms such as ldquoelectric lawn mowers or ldquopush lawn mowersrdquo You can then decide if adding any of these terms to your campaign is worthwhile
Knowing which keywords result in high search traffic can help improve your paid campaigns and organic efforts You can use these words for SEO or to build landing pages thus optimizing all your inbound marketing efforts
ldquo44 of online shoppers begin by using a search enginerdquo - Interconnected
World
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 10
Getting in the Game
You can also use paid search to improve your visibility in areas and search terms where you have not yet been as successful as yoursquod like to be
Utilizing PPC
A well-placed search ad will Get you seen and noticed Boost favorable ranking efforts in organic search
results for secondary keywords Appear at or near the top of the list giving you a
competitive edge
ldquo75 of users never scroll past the
first page of search resultsrdquo - Hubspot
M2Inbound 11
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
Paid search while effective is not intended to be a standalone strategy It will however complement your
inbound marketing efforts to drive organic traffic
When a user sees your website display in both organic search results as well as a paid search Ad it signals to them that you are a force to be reckoned with in your
niche
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 12
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
How to Use Paid Search
Using Paid Search
Landing Page Testing
Finding New Keywords
Getting in the Game
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
2
M2Inbound 7
Using Paid Search
Paid search is not a replacement for anything but should rather be an integral part of a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy You can use it to accomplish many of your inbound marketing goals
Paid search is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition To use paid search properly you must understand how itrsquos best implemented to drive real-time results while improving organic search results long-term
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 8
Landing Page Testing
ldquoCompanies with 30 or more landing pages
generate 7x more leads than those with fewer
than 10rdquo
Paid search is an ideal way to test and optimize landing pages using AB testing to assess two variations of a given campaign element You can set a single Ad to drive users to two distinct destination URLs and therefore two different landing pages
With AB testing you can find the elements of your campaigns that drive the highest conversion rates from lead to customer
To assess one offerrsquos effectiveness against another you can test
1 Different layouts
2 Varying features on forms
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 9
Finding New Keywords
Paid search is also an excellent way to find new keywords to use in your overall inbound marketing campaigns
As you construct your paid search campaign GoogleAdWords generates a Search Terms report Although you may have chosen to only use ldquolawn mowersrdquo as your search Googlersquos Search Terms report will also display effective ancillary terms such as ldquoelectric lawn mowers or ldquopush lawn mowersrdquo You can then decide if adding any of these terms to your campaign is worthwhile
Knowing which keywords result in high search traffic can help improve your paid campaigns and organic efforts You can use these words for SEO or to build landing pages thus optimizing all your inbound marketing efforts
ldquo44 of online shoppers begin by using a search enginerdquo - Interconnected
World
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 10
Getting in the Game
You can also use paid search to improve your visibility in areas and search terms where you have not yet been as successful as yoursquod like to be
Utilizing PPC
A well-placed search ad will Get you seen and noticed Boost favorable ranking efforts in organic search
results for secondary keywords Appear at or near the top of the list giving you a
competitive edge
ldquo75 of users never scroll past the
first page of search resultsrdquo - Hubspot
M2Inbound 11
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
Paid search while effective is not intended to be a standalone strategy It will however complement your
inbound marketing efforts to drive organic traffic
When a user sees your website display in both organic search results as well as a paid search Ad it signals to them that you are a force to be reckoned with in your
niche
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 12
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Using Paid Search
Paid search is not a replacement for anything but should rather be an integral part of a comprehensive inbound marketing strategy You can use it to accomplish many of your inbound marketing goals
Paid search is not a set-it-and-forget-it proposition To use paid search properly you must understand how itrsquos best implemented to drive real-time results while improving organic search results long-term
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 8
Landing Page Testing
ldquoCompanies with 30 or more landing pages
generate 7x more leads than those with fewer
than 10rdquo
Paid search is an ideal way to test and optimize landing pages using AB testing to assess two variations of a given campaign element You can set a single Ad to drive users to two distinct destination URLs and therefore two different landing pages
With AB testing you can find the elements of your campaigns that drive the highest conversion rates from lead to customer
To assess one offerrsquos effectiveness against another you can test
1 Different layouts
2 Varying features on forms
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 9
Finding New Keywords
Paid search is also an excellent way to find new keywords to use in your overall inbound marketing campaigns
As you construct your paid search campaign GoogleAdWords generates a Search Terms report Although you may have chosen to only use ldquolawn mowersrdquo as your search Googlersquos Search Terms report will also display effective ancillary terms such as ldquoelectric lawn mowers or ldquopush lawn mowersrdquo You can then decide if adding any of these terms to your campaign is worthwhile
Knowing which keywords result in high search traffic can help improve your paid campaigns and organic efforts You can use these words for SEO or to build landing pages thus optimizing all your inbound marketing efforts
ldquo44 of online shoppers begin by using a search enginerdquo - Interconnected
World
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 10
Getting in the Game
You can also use paid search to improve your visibility in areas and search terms where you have not yet been as successful as yoursquod like to be
Utilizing PPC
A well-placed search ad will Get you seen and noticed Boost favorable ranking efforts in organic search
results for secondary keywords Appear at or near the top of the list giving you a
competitive edge
ldquo75 of users never scroll past the
first page of search resultsrdquo - Hubspot
M2Inbound 11
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
Paid search while effective is not intended to be a standalone strategy It will however complement your
inbound marketing efforts to drive organic traffic
When a user sees your website display in both organic search results as well as a paid search Ad it signals to them that you are a force to be reckoned with in your
niche
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 12
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Landing Page Testing
ldquoCompanies with 30 or more landing pages
generate 7x more leads than those with fewer
than 10rdquo
Paid search is an ideal way to test and optimize landing pages using AB testing to assess two variations of a given campaign element You can set a single Ad to drive users to two distinct destination URLs and therefore two different landing pages
With AB testing you can find the elements of your campaigns that drive the highest conversion rates from lead to customer
To assess one offerrsquos effectiveness against another you can test
1 Different layouts
2 Varying features on forms
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 9
Finding New Keywords
Paid search is also an excellent way to find new keywords to use in your overall inbound marketing campaigns
As you construct your paid search campaign GoogleAdWords generates a Search Terms report Although you may have chosen to only use ldquolawn mowersrdquo as your search Googlersquos Search Terms report will also display effective ancillary terms such as ldquoelectric lawn mowers or ldquopush lawn mowersrdquo You can then decide if adding any of these terms to your campaign is worthwhile
Knowing which keywords result in high search traffic can help improve your paid campaigns and organic efforts You can use these words for SEO or to build landing pages thus optimizing all your inbound marketing efforts
ldquo44 of online shoppers begin by using a search enginerdquo - Interconnected
World
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 10
Getting in the Game
You can also use paid search to improve your visibility in areas and search terms where you have not yet been as successful as yoursquod like to be
Utilizing PPC
A well-placed search ad will Get you seen and noticed Boost favorable ranking efforts in organic search
results for secondary keywords Appear at or near the top of the list giving you a
competitive edge
ldquo75 of users never scroll past the
first page of search resultsrdquo - Hubspot
M2Inbound 11
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
Paid search while effective is not intended to be a standalone strategy It will however complement your
inbound marketing efforts to drive organic traffic
When a user sees your website display in both organic search results as well as a paid search Ad it signals to them that you are a force to be reckoned with in your
niche
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 12
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Finding New Keywords
Paid search is also an excellent way to find new keywords to use in your overall inbound marketing campaigns
As you construct your paid search campaign GoogleAdWords generates a Search Terms report Although you may have chosen to only use ldquolawn mowersrdquo as your search Googlersquos Search Terms report will also display effective ancillary terms such as ldquoelectric lawn mowers or ldquopush lawn mowersrdquo You can then decide if adding any of these terms to your campaign is worthwhile
Knowing which keywords result in high search traffic can help improve your paid campaigns and organic efforts You can use these words for SEO or to build landing pages thus optimizing all your inbound marketing efforts
ldquo44 of online shoppers begin by using a search enginerdquo - Interconnected
World
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 10
Getting in the Game
You can also use paid search to improve your visibility in areas and search terms where you have not yet been as successful as yoursquod like to be
Utilizing PPC
A well-placed search ad will Get you seen and noticed Boost favorable ranking efforts in organic search
results for secondary keywords Appear at or near the top of the list giving you a
competitive edge
ldquo75 of users never scroll past the
first page of search resultsrdquo - Hubspot
M2Inbound 11
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
Paid search while effective is not intended to be a standalone strategy It will however complement your
inbound marketing efforts to drive organic traffic
When a user sees your website display in both organic search results as well as a paid search Ad it signals to them that you are a force to be reckoned with in your
niche
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 12
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Getting in the Game
You can also use paid search to improve your visibility in areas and search terms where you have not yet been as successful as yoursquod like to be
Utilizing PPC
A well-placed search ad will Get you seen and noticed Boost favorable ranking efforts in organic search
results for secondary keywords Appear at or near the top of the list giving you a
competitive edge
ldquo75 of users never scroll past the
first page of search resultsrdquo - Hubspot
M2Inbound 11
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
Paid search while effective is not intended to be a standalone strategy It will however complement your
inbound marketing efforts to drive organic traffic
When a user sees your website display in both organic search results as well as a paid search Ad it signals to them that you are a force to be reckoned with in your
niche
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 12
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Paid Search Canrsquot Stand Alone
Paid search while effective is not intended to be a standalone strategy It will however complement your
inbound marketing efforts to drive organic traffic
When a user sees your website display in both organic search results as well as a paid search Ad it signals to them that you are a force to be reckoned with in your
niche
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 12
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
How Paid Search Works
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Quality Score
Keyword Match Types
3
M2Inbound 13
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Keywords Ads amp Landing Pages
A paid search campaign consists of three elements Keywords Ads and Landing Pages
Begin by telling Google which keywords you want to buy to trigger your ads to display on their search engine results page(s) (SERPs) Design your ads around these keywords to make them relevant to the query and compelling enough to get users to click on them Once users click through direct them to a landing page where you will try to persuade them to take the next step buying your product downloading an offer or otherwise moving further down the sales funnel By managing matching and optimizing these three
elements you can improve the effectiveness of your paid search initiatives
1 2 3
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 14
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Bidding
Google offers two ways your Ad can be displayed and billed Pay-per-click (PPC) and pay per 1000 impressions (CPM) Most businesses will want to use the PPC option meaning you pay every time your Ad is clicked in stead of simply paying for its display Typically the people who click Ads have an interest what is being offered Therefore PPC is almost always the most cost-effective advertising choice as compared to CPM The amount paid per click is based on Googlersquos auction-style of bidding for Ad placement Google will evaluate the various top bids of advertisers and place the Ads accordingly with the lowest bids at the bottom
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 15
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Quality Score Although the amount you bid for ad placement plays a significant role in determining whether or where your Ad gets placed so too does the Adrsquos relevancy to searcherrsquos queries Google also gives each Ad a ldquoquality scorerdquo The algorithm behind the quality score evaluates how relevant your Ad and the landing page it takes users to is to any given search query This is done to ensure buyers are not simply buying keywords to boost their exposure on Google After all if someone who sells bowling balls bid on haircuts Chinese food and Honolulu airfare the resulting Ads would ultimately be of little use to the vast majority of searchers making Googlersquos search results increasingly irrelevant and ineffective over time Googlersquos quality scoring ranks Ads from 1 to 10 10 being best If your Ads are ranked 8 while your competitorsrsquo Ads are ranked 4 your Ads should be placed higher even if you bid a bit less than the competition because your Ads are perceived to better meet searchersrsquo needs When you get this strategy of bidding and relevancy right (in Googlersquos eyes) you should end up with the lowest possible cost for the best placement of your Ads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 16
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Keyword Match Types
Google uses three variants of matching keywords to prompt ad placement Exact Match Displays your ad only when the keyword search matches your keywords exactly For example ldquopizza delivery Harvard Squarerdquo Phrase Match If you choose phrase match your ad can display if it contains the same order of words but also if it contains additional words in this case ldquopepperoni pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo Broad Match Ad will display when those keywords are queried not necessarily in that order or not just with those words For example your ad might display if people queried ldquopizza Harvard Squarerdquo ldquopepperoni pizza Harvard Squarerdquo or ldquofree pizza delivery in Harvard Squarerdquo You can also set negative match keywords to prevent your ads from being shown if the negative keyword is present in the search query
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 17
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Paid Search Strategy
Keyword Strategy
Account Structure
Setting Your Budget
Optimizing Ad Copy
4
M2Inbound 18
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Keyword Strategy
How do you choose which keyword match type to apply
Choose too narrowly and yoursquoll miss out on plenty of search results opportunities Choose too broadly and you may pay for far more click-throughs than are effective and thus squander Ad budget
The answer is to experiment and monitor your results very closely One popular strategy is setting all keywords to broad match and pairing it with negative match This will help you corral a lot of users quickly while still excluding the most irrelevant ones You will need to pay close attention to the results and do so often but by studying which keywords are working best you will quickly hone in on the most relevant and qualified leads
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 19
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
You can also see which keywords are most effective by using broad match (and phrase match) setting keywords then using the Search Terms report Use that knowledge to set the best ones to exact match because they have proven themselves Perhaps the most important aspect in keyword strategy is your willingness to continue to test analyze and adjust Not only will you refine results but since keyword performance is a constantly evolving your keyword strategy should likewise develop over time to keep up with contemporary search habits and results
Keyword Strategy Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 20
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Account Structure
As part of your inbound marketing strategy you will want to keep your Google AdWords Ads properly organized so you can efficiently monitor their success
ldquo79 of marketing leads never convert into sales Lack of lead nurturing is the
common cause of this poor performancerdquo
(MarketingSherpa)
You can organize similar Ads into Ad groups and further organize those groups into campaigns This enables you to quickly and efficiently monitor those Ads targeting likeminded products and services Using our example you might group all your pizza delivery ads versus your pizza takeout ads and you might further bundle those under your pizza campaign as compared to a pasta campaign you might be running as well
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 21
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Setting Your Budget Google AdWordsrsquo Ads operate by depositing a preset amount you determine in your AdWords account letrsquos say $600 you intend to last you a month You can then set your Ad budget not to exceed a predetermined amount (perhaps $20 per day) and set your Ad display budget to dispense that $20 evenly over the course of a day Setting these parameters ensures that your entire budget isnrsquot used up in far less than time than you intended either for the month or by day By starting off slowly and monitoring your Ad results closely you can soon determine the best monthly and daily spending limits Of course just because you authorize Google vis a vis your deposit to spend $600 in a month or $20 per day doesnrsquot exactly mean your budgets will be spent accordingly If you donrsquot get enough clicks to accommodate your set limit that money remains in your account You will however want to rethink your keyword strategy if this is the case to make sure itrsquos effective and producing desired results
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 22
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Ad Creation
25 37 35 35
Remember those numbers Those are the character limitations for the title of your ad (the first line shown in blue text) your vanity URL (the URL shown in your ad not necessarily the one to which users are directed which is known as the destination URL) and two lines 35 characters each in the ad copy (or description) lines You may use the first line of ad copy as a call-to-action and the second line for an offer or vice versa Do your best to maximize the characters you use to make the ads as effective as possible
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 23
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Measuring with Metrics
Defining the 4 Basic Metrics
Combining the 4 Basic Metrics
5
M2Inbound 24
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
The 4 Basic Metrics
Impressions - This is the number of times your Ad has been displayed People may or may not have seen it or clicked on it but they have been given the opportunity to be exposed to it via an impression Clicks - This is when someone who has been exposed to your Ad actually clicks on it taking them to your landing page Conversions - When you set up your AdWords account you will be prompted to add a tracking code to your website That will allow Google and you to track user activity when someone has taken the desired action from your landing page like purchasing a product or downloading content Spend - Your spend is the amount of money you have spent on your AdWords campaign up to the present or for any given time period
There are four basic metrics that count most when evaluating your paid search efforts impressions clicks conversions and spend
1 2 3 4
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 25
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Combining the 4 Metrics Combinations or derivatives of the four metrics will help you optimize your campaign via the inbound marketing analytics you use to evaluate them and improve your offerings
1 Click-through Rate (CTR) - The percentage of
impressions that result in clicks The higher the CTR the more effective this aspect of your campaign is
2 Conversion Rate - The percentage of clicks that turn into conversions It also improves as the ratio improves fewer clicks to greater conversions
3 Cost-per-Click (CPC) - This cost metric is the amount of money spent to acquire each click You can determine your CPC by dividing the number of clicks into your total spend The more you can lower this ratio the more efficient your campaigns will be
4 Cost per Acquisition (CPA) - This cost metric is the amount yoursquore spending to convert prospects into customers Divide the total spend by the number of conversions The lower your CPA the better
The higher your percentage metrics and the lower your cost metrics the more efficiently yoursquore running your inbound
marketing campaigns Set goals monitor and analyze your results to continually optimize your marketing efforts
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 26
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Conclusion amp Additional Resources
Conclusion
Additional Resources
6
M2Inbound 27
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Conclusion
Use what yoursquove learned about paid search in this eBook as part of your overall inbound marketing strategy
Keep these things in mind when you do Paid search is based on a pay-per-click (PPC) model Keep your AdWords account structured properly to
help organize your campaigns Ad groups keywords and Ad copy for maximum effect
By improving your Ad quality scores you will not only increase performance but also reduce your advertising costs
Paid search is not a substitute for inbound marketing itrsquos an integral part of it Master your inbound marketing fundamentals first ndash blogging lead generation SEO and so on ndash then use what yoursquove learned from those efforts to optimize your paid search initiatives
Continue to track monitor analyze and optimize The
more you know about the effectiveness of every element of your paid search campaigns the more
effective and cost-effective they will be
Utilizing PPC
M2Inbound 28
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
If your wondering how you can get help with your businessrsquo PPC strategies visit our website and take a look at our
solutions
If you have any questions about PPC that werenrsquot answered in this eBook or
would just like to talk about inbound marketing strategies contact us at
Marketing Matters Inbound and set up a time where we can talk one on one about your strategies Wersquod be happy
to help you out
M2Inbound 29
Additional Resources Utilizing PPC
Top Related