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On Google first page in 5 minutes.
At the moment there is no more advanced advertising tool than Pay-Per-Click, that is, the possibility of displaying your advertisements in front of someone searching for something on the Internet. What other means, in fact, allows you to advertise your company by appearing ONLY in front of someone who is looking for your product or service right now?
And you only pay for this advertisement if this person CLICKS on it to find out more.
That is, it’ s not an advertisement on a newspaper, which costs you regardless of whether one person sees it, or 1,000, or 100,000.
And it’s not even a mailing, which you send to 1,000 names without knowing if and how many will be interested in what you’re telling them.
Pay-Per-Click reverses this logic. Your ad in fact:
- appears ONLY to those who are looking for something on a search engine;
- it appears ONLY to those people who are looking for something related to your product type;
- and it costs you an “X” figure ONLY for each person who clicks on your ad.
It’s therefore a highly targeted, variable-cost form of advertising.
What is Pay-Per-Click?
It all starts when someone search on one of the main search engines: Google, Yahoo, Bing. The example in the figure shows the results of the search of the keyword “toner”, on Google.
Sponsored links – highlighted in red – are paid ads placed by advertisers, or companies that want to advertise their product or service.
These sponsored links always appear in the right column (8 ads). In some markets, Google also displays 1 to 3 ads in a coloured area at the top (as in the picture):
Through AdWords – the Pay-Per-Click service offered by Google – as an advertiser you can:
- display your ad when someone searches for a certain keyword (e.g. “toner”);
- decide the text of the ad you want to appear (obviously respecting a series of rules imposed by the search engine);
- declare how much you are willing to spend each time someone clicks on your ad (a click can cost from 0.02 Euro up to 5 Euro or 10 Euro and even more, depending on the market).
Simple concept, then. But taking advantage of this prodigious direct marketing machine is anything but simple.
First of all, on the front page there’s only room for 8 advertisers (or 11, at most), and the companies that compete with each other are usually much more.
Secondly, the position depends not only on the amount you are willing to spend on a click, but also on the “relevance” of your ad (relevance that is decided by Google based on a number of factors).
But “getting clicked” is only the first step.
Once the user clicks on your ad, and lands on your website, you must know how to play all your cards to make the most of what you spent, and turn this visitor into a lead or a buyer.
And doing the latter right is exactly what makes the difference between using Pay Per Click effectively and just throwing away money.
Differences, advantages and disadvantages between Pay-Per-Click and SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
One of the differences between Pay-Per-Click and SEO is that in Pay-Per-Click you need a few minutes to start your campaign and appear on the front page of Google, while with SEO it can take months.
Another advantage of Pay-Per-Click is its ease of use from a technical point of view. The only specific knowledge required is to use the program to publish ads (e.g. AdWords in the case of Google).
Optimising a website according to the logic of SEO requires rather advanced technical skills, just to deal with the website.
Pay-Per-Click, on the other hand, requires above all a business vision.
The disadvantage of Pay-Per-Click is that it costs money, while SEO is free (apart from the investment of time, which is never to be underestimated).
Moreover, the position you get will also depend – but not only – on the price offered to appear on the front page, and therefore the higher you want to stay the more you can spend.
Actually, this is not always the case in all engines: Google, for example, applies a meritocratic algorithm, not based only on the auction price.
To understand if Pay-Per-Click suits you, you must be able to make an analysis of how much it costs you and how much you earn, how much each visitor is worth, the return of each keyword, etc..
It is no coincidence that Google AdWords provides advertisers with a series of tools for reporting and analysis of results, a keyword prompter, etc..
The smartest form of lead generation on the internet
Like any real lead generation tool, Pay-Per-Click therefore has absolutely scientific aspects. Especially when talking about the most popular service, Google AdWords.
In AdWords, in fact, it’s not only what you are willing to offer for a certain keyword that matters.
The quality of your ad compared to that keyword matters too, and also the quality of the page on which you land the visitor who clicks on your ad, and the overall quality of your website.
Do you want to use Pay Per Click as a lead generation tool?
Take your next step now:
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