Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)

Akmam ChowdhuryAgila ElsaidKawthar Jan

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is an old marketing model with a long history that

started at the end of the 1990s during the dot com boom, however (due to rampant

problems with click fraud) most advertisers have switched for advertisements on

other websites in favor of CPA and CPS affiliate marketing.

Google started search engine advertising in December 1999. It was not until

October 2000 that the AdWords system was introduced, allowing advertisers to

create text ads for placement on the Google search engine. However, PPC was only

introduced in 2002; until then, advertisements were charged at cost-per-thousand

impressions. Overture has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Google, saying

the rival search service overstepped its bounds with its ad-placement tools.

History

Definition

Pay-Per-Click advertising also known as PPC is a form of online advertising whereby

internet users are directed to an advertiser’s website after clicking on

advertisement. This marketing method involves keywords and phrases in small

text ads. Advertisers bid on keywords or phrases to get ads displayed in search

engine result pages. Ads can also be displayed on other web sites provided by the

service you are using for your ad campaigns. Many search engine providers have

PPC offerings, the most notable & profitable are Google, Yahoo & MSN.

The mechanism of PPC

Choosing PPC as a method for web advertising campaign can have a numerous

benefits if it was planned, founded and monitored properly. Planning a successful PPC

campaign is none other than doing all researches thoroughly and making sure the right

gears have been set to the right direction without wasting valuable time and resources.

So what are the steps of a successful PPC??

Define attainable goals: setting clear and simple goals for the campaign make it

so easy to achieve and reach. For example: Raising brand awareness, increasing traffic

volume and sales figures.

Set up appealing Campaigns: having a relevant geographic and or demographic

targets helps to track campaign efficiently.

Develop tightly themed Ad Groups: the more relevant your ad text is the higher

the CTR (click through rate), the Quality Score and the Page Rank. As for Ad Text

Optimization, place catchy calls to action and inter- capitalize your display URL. For

instance, instead of having www.helpmyresume.org,show ww.HelpMyResume.org In

addition, rotate various ads and you can track individual performance.

Keyword research (niche research): coming up with keywords from the User’s

perspective, not the business’s is actually vital to the entire business itself. Using the

right keywords will unlock your path towards a successful pay-per-click advertising

campaign.

Landing Page Optimization: having an effective layout landing page makes it so

easy to monitor and measure the efficiency of different advertisements.

AccountUnique e-mail address & password

Billing informationAccount preferences

CampaignStart & end dateDaily budgetGoogle Network preferenceLanguage & location targeting

CampaignStart & end dateDaily budgetGoogle Network preferenceLanguage & location targeting

Ad GroupOne set of keywords

/ placements one more Ads on CPM or

CPC bids

Ad GroupOne set of keywords /

placements one more Ads on CPM

or CPC bids

Ad GroupOne set of keywords /

placements one more Ads on CPM

or CPC bids

Ad GroupOne set of keywords

/ placements one more Ads on CPM or

CPC bids

How to start Google Ad Wards

Determining cost per click

There are two primary models for determining cost per click: flat-rate and bid-based. In

both cases the advertiser must consider the potential value of a click from a given source.

This value is based on the type of individual the advertiser is expecting to receive as a

visitor to his or her website, and what the advertiser can gain from that visit, usually

revenue, both in the short term as well as in the long term. As with other forms of

advertising targeting is key, and factors that often play into PPC campaigns include the

target's interest (often defined by a search term they have entered into a search engine, or

the content of a page that they are browsing), intent (e.g., to purchase or not), location

(for geo targeting), and the day and time that they are browsing.

1)-Flat-rate PPC:

In the flat-rate model, the advertiser and publisher agree upon a fixed amount that will

be paid for each click. In many cases the publisher has a rate card that lists the CPC

within different areas of their website or network. These various amounts are often

related to the content on pages, with content that generally attracts more valuable

visitors having a higher CPC than content that attracts less valuable visitors. However, in

many cases advertisers can negotiate lower rates, especially when committing to a long-

term or high-value contract.

The flat-rate model is particularly common to comparison shopping engines, which

typically publish rate cards. However, these rates are sometimes minimal, and

advertisers can pay more for greater visibility. In many cases, the entire core content of

these sites is paid ads

Bid-based PPC

In the bid-based model, the advertiser signs a contract that allows them to compete against other

advertisers in a private auction hosted by a publisher or, more commonly, an advertising network. Each

advertiser informs the host of the maximum amount that he or she is willing to pay for a given ad spot

(often based on a keyword), usually using online tools to do so. The auction plays out in an automated

fashion every time a visitor triggers the ad spot.

When the ad spot is part of a search engine results page (SERP), the automated auction takes place

whenever a search for the keyword that is being bid upon occurs. All bids for the keyword that target

the searcher's geo-location, the day and time of the search, etc. are then compared and the winner

determined. In situations where there are multiple ad spots, a common occurrence on SERPs, there

can be multiple winners whose positions on the page are influenced by the amount each has bid. The

ad with the highest bid generally shows up first, though additional factors such as ad quality and

relevance can sometimes come into play.

In addition to ad spots on SERPs, the major advertising networks allow for

contextual ads to be placed on the properties of 3rd-parties with whom they have

partnered. These publishers sign up to host ads on behalf of the network. In return,

they receive a portion of the ad revenue that the network generates, which can be

anywhere from 50% to over 80% of the gross revenue paid by advertisers. These

properties are often referred to as a content network and the ads on them as contextual

ads because the ad spots are associated with keywords based on the context of the

page on which they are found. In general, ads on content networks have a much

lower click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate (CR) than ads found on SERPs and

consequently are less highly valued

Content network properties can include websites, newsletters, and e-mails.

Advertisers pay for each click they receive, with the actual amount paid based on the amount bid.

It is common practice amongst auction hosts to charge a winning bidder just slightly more (e.g. one

penny) than the next highest bidder or the actual amount bid, whichever is lower. This avoids

situations where bidders are constantly adjusting their bids by very small amounts to see if they can

still win the auction while paying just a little bit less per click.

To maximize success and achieve scale, automated bid management systems can be deployed.

These systems can be used directly by the advertiser, though they are more commonly used by

advertising agencies that offer PPC bid management as a service. These tools generally allow for bid

management at scale, with thousands or even millions of PPC bids controlled by a highly automated

system. The system generally sets each bid based on the goal that has been set for it, such as maximize

profit, maximize traffic at breakeven, and so forth.

The system is usually tied into the advertiser's website and fed the results of

each click, which then allows it to set bids. The effectiveness of these systems is

directly related to the quality and quantity of the performance data that they

have to work with - low-traffic ads can lead to a scarcity of data problem that

renders many bid management tools useless at worst, or inefficient at best.

How does bidding work?

When we set up keywords we specify the amount we are willing to pay for each

click through to our website. Based on our bid & our quality score, Google will place

our Ad in the search results at the position they see fit

Key in keywords or website URL from

search engine

Click PPC Ad

Direct Linking

Affiliate linking page pre-selling build lists

Merchant website

Authority site Affiliate Networks

Purchase Eam

Click away

Differences between Flat rate (Budget) & Bidding

Flat rate (Budget) Bidding

In the flat-rate model, the advertiser and publisher

agree upon a fixed amount that will be paid for each

click.

The amounts are often related to the content on

pages, with content that generally attracts more

valuable visitors having a higher CPC than content that

attracts less valuable visitors.

The flat-rate model is particularly common

to comparison shopping engines, which typically publish

rate cards. However, these rates are sometimes

minimal, and advertisers can pay more for greater

visibility.

In the bid-based model, the advertiser signs a

contract that allows them to compete against

other advertisers in a private auction hosted by a

publisher or, more commonly, an advertising

network. Advertisers pay for each click they

receive, with the actual amount paid based on the

amount bid.

The ad with the highest bid generally shows up

first, though additional factors such as ad quality

and relevance can sometimes come into play.

It is common practice amongst auction hosts to

charge a winning bidder just slightly more (e.g. one

penny) than the next highest bidder or the actual

amount bid, whichever is lower. To maximize

success and achieve scale, automated bid

management systems can be deployed.

Benefit and reasons of using PPC advertising

PPC advertising offers the fast & quantifiable methods of generating excellent level of

traffic to our website &can easily be used in conjunction with any form of online and offline

advertising to create a potent marketing mix.

If managed correctly PPC marketing generates targeted visitors to our website.

Get instant visibility

Cost to enter is small

Easy to track ROI

The advantages of pay per click marketing are-

Instant increase in traffic: This strategy of pay per click marketing works marvels because the

advertisement gets displayed on networks as it is set up. So this implies that you get visitors within

minutes and no other strategies tend to match up with PPC marketing. There are various other methods

that actually take weeks or even months to show effect. However, with PPC you can get visible results

within a few minutes and hours.

Controlling the ad: Through the method of PPC marketing one can choose when your ad should be

displayed, and also determine the maximum amount that you are willing to pay for particular keyword.

There are options of choosing the daily budget and one can also track and monitor the results given

through ads. You can modify the results accordingly.

Targeting visitors: Through PPC marketing, you can benefit by getting visitors, who are already

looking, for similar kinds of product or websites. Hence, the advertisement would offer you with

relevant keywords that are focused only on highly targeted visitors that may convert into customers.

Paying only for one click- Another benefit of pay per click marketing is that you have to

pay only for one click. There are no additional charges for any kinds of ad impressions or ad

view. Hence, there is a need to pay only when somebody clicks your ad and there are no charges

for display.

Easy usage- Even the newbie's can easily set up and use the pay per click marketing

campaigns within minutes. The easy usage ensures additional benefits for all investors.

Disadvantages of pay per click marketing

Paid marketing- This pay per click marketing service is not for free and so one needs a

separate budget. It can be a big disadvantage for all the small business owners, and those

who are starting with lower budgets.

Traffic lasts till you pay- In pay per click marketing the visitors come only through click.

So you need to pay for each click and the traffic stops coming in as the campaign stops.

Experience- Setting up would require some expertise as there are chances of very high

losses in the initial days.

Companies Provide PPC for Health care

One of the companies that provide PPC for Health care is The Healthcare Marketing Group; it

provides integrated medical marketing strategies covering all PPC:

Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing

Display Ad Marketing

Contextual Marketing

Behavioral Marketing

Remarketing

This group provides Pay-Per-Click, Search engine optimization, Social Media Management,

Online Reputation Management and Online Marketplace for the physician and other medical

practitioners.