Paid search marketing is one of the best ways to drive leads and revenue online. In this article, I’m going to give you an overview of paid search. By the end, you are going to be an expert.
What is Paid Search?
This guide offers beginners an entry-point into the world of search campaigns, covering the following key points:
Let’s dive in.
What is Paid Search and How Does it Work?
Paid search is a type of digital marketing in which advertisers pay for ad space from search engines like Google, YouTube, Yahoo, and Bing.
Marketers bid for a spot in the sponsored links by entering into an auction where they’ll bid on the keywords that will trigger their ad.
This kind of advertising operates on a pay-per-click model, meaning you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
Ads generally appear above and below organic search results and typically include three key elements: a headline, a URL, and a description, which, when done right, entice searchers to click. Text ads might also include extensions, which expand your ad by including additional information.
Paid search ads are often found at the top of the search results
For a deeper dive into how PPC works, read my full guide here.
Why Should You Use Paid Search Marketing?
If you’re new to paid search, you might be wondering if it’s worth the effort. Why bother with it when you can rank in the organic results for free?
Unfortunately, ranking organically is neither easy nor free.
Gaining the domain authority and brand recognition needed to rank on the front page of Google demands a lot of resources, including time and money required for developing and distributing high-quality content.
Search ads can offer a shortcut, bringing qualified traffic directly to your site, while simultaneously supporting your organic efforts.
A paid search strategy consists of several moving parts: keywords, ad groups, match types, and a whole lot more.
In this section, I’ll go over some of the basic things you’ll need to know before setting up a campaign.
It Starts with a Goal
Most failed marketing campaigns have one thing in common: they launched with no end-game in mind.
As you start putting together your search campaigns, you’ll need to establish just what it is you hope to accomplish.
Your goals might include the following:
Ultimately, the real purpose here is to convert website visitors, not generate a bunch of clicks. Otherwise, you’re wasting money.
Keep in mind, conversions don’t always equal sales. The term refers to any action matching the advertiser’s goal for the ad. Meaning, it might include:
Whatever your target outcome, you’ll need to make sure you’re tracking conversions. This helps you understand how effective your ads are and how many conversions can be attributed to your paid campaign versus other channels.
Selecting Keywords
Keywords are at the heart of any search marketing campaign and are used to connect marketers to users’ search queries.
Queries represent the words that users type into a search engine to find information, while keywords are the words and phrases that marketers use to target those searchers.
If you have the time, here is a video I made on how to select the right keywords. Enjoy the free class! You can view some of my other classes here.
Essentially, marketers select keywords that they believe are a match to the queries someone would use to find their website.
In Google Ads, you’ll have the option to choose from the following match types when you set up a campaign:
In addition to match types, marketers can also use negative keywords to prevent ads from running on queries containing the target keyword but suggest a different intent.
This allows you to avoid irrelevant clicks—which increase campaign costs, raise bounce rates, and lower quality scores.
Crafting Your Ad Copy
When you write your ad copy, you’ll need to immediately establish the product or service you offer and what separates it from the competition, while also making sure to include your keyword the appropriate number of times.
Here’s a breakdown of how you can make the most out of that limited space:
Additionally, Google guidelines strongly recommend against using all caps or too many exclamation points. The flourishes likely won’t do anything but annoy your audience.
Need some inspiration for turning ads into action? Here are 18 of the best CTAs on the web you can look to as an example.
Extensions
In Google Ads, you’ll also be able to include Extensions, which are those links included below the main ad copy.
This feature allows you to take up more space in the search results while adding more context to your ad copy.
Ad extensions include the following options, which you can pick and choose based on your campaign goals.
Ad extensions, like this Call one, can be powerful additions to your paid search ads
Structure Your Ad Groups the Right Way
I recommend creating your campaign structure by creating ad groups based on one topic or idea at a time.
While Google recommends adding about 7-10 keywords to each ad group, targeting the right audience is easier when you keep things as narrow as possible, limiting ad groups to three or four keywords a piece.
For example, your ad groups might look like this:
Additionally, you’ll need to consider the buyer’s journey when setting up your ad groups. For example, if someone is just starting their buying journey and beginning to gather information, they don’t necessarily know which brands they might buy from.
This example from AdEspresso breaks down how an ad for the same product changes based on a user’s funnel stage.
Your paid search ads should align with each stage in the sales funnel. Source
Targeting
Keyword targeting isn’t the only factor in reaching your target audience. Marketers can optimize their campaigns using other targeting options like:
Beyond the “basics,” Google has introduced several new targeting options for search ads, which break down as follows:
Google offers multiple methods for targeting your paid search ads
These audiences can be layered over one another or combined with imported audience data from your website or Facebook Insights.
Here, I’ll go over some best practices for using Google’s life event targeting to deliver the right content at the right time.
How Does Google Rank Search Ads?
Google, for example, looks the following to determine ad rank.
Ad Relevance and Paid Search Marketing
Ad Relevance measures how successful you are in matching your keyword to your ad. You’ll also need to create ads that are relevant to the searcher’s query.
Make sure your ad addresses the query directly, then leads the user to a landing page that corresponds with both the ad copy and the query.
There are a few key reasons why relevance is a huge deal for paid search ads.
For one, relevant ads lead to higher click-through rates (CTRs), which leads to more cost-effective PPC campaigns, as they give your Quality Score a boost (more on that below).
Second, a close match between ads, queries, and post-click landing pages will help you get more conversions.
Quality Score
According to Google, Quality Score is a metric that determines ad relevance by taking the following into account:
There are different types of quality scores: keyword-level, account-level, and ad group-level.
Additionally, your post-click landing page factors into your quality score, as Google will display your ads less often if it detects they lead searchers to sites offering a poor experience.
Per Google’s landing page guidelines, you can improve the experience by applying the following steps:
Forgetting to Use Negative Keywords to Refine Your Campaigns
Negative keywords prevent intent mismatch from messing with your search performance—and by extension—eating up your budget.
Not sure where to start with negative keywords? Here are a few of my favorite hacks for finding the right negative keywords for your brand.
Stuffing Your Ad Copy with Keywords
These days, searchers are conditioned to spot spammy language and avoid it like the plague. Along with spelling errors and emails addressed with “Dear Sir,” overusing keywords set off consumer alarm bells.
This graphic from Unbounce highlights was to use your keyword, striking a balance between optimizing your ad and talking like a human:
Applying Broad Match to Your Initial Paid Search Campaigns
Starting with the broad match will allow Google to show your ad to anyone who types in all kinds of variations of your keyword.
When you’re new to paid search, casting a net as wide as the broad match may not be to your benefit. You’ll likely end up showing ads to many unqualified searchers and limiting your ability to target your audience effectively.
Keep in mind, your campaigns will be assigned broad match by default, which is where many new paid advertisers trip up, either by assuming it’s the best option or simply being unaware of the other match types.
Instead, I recommend searchers start with exact or phrase match to gain more control over their campaign and targeting options.
This way, you’ll start to collect data that you can later use to refine your strategy.
Failing to Research Demographic Information
Paid search success hinges on a combination of keyword research and a deep understanding of demographic information.
While the concept of keywords, queries, and match types are relatively straightforward, conducting research the “right way” may be intimidating for newcomers.
Remember, your goal is to “match” keyword targets to user queries. As such, you’ll want to rely on data to make decisions, not guesswork based on what you think people might enter into a search bar to find your website.
Luckily, Google offers free demographic reports that you can access from your Google Ads account, which help you understand your customer base and assess campaign and ad group performance.
As you gather more data over time, your reports can help you refine your strategy and develop campaigns targeted to specific groups.
Not Getting Granular with Targeting
As Google continues to roll out new ways to reach audiences based on interests, income, and a whole lot more, brands that don’t take advantage of the targeting options available may get left behind.
While keywords remain a core element of search marketing, relying on search queries alone means you might get it wrong when it comes to buyer intent.
Capitalizing on hyper-specific audience targeting allows brands to drop the hard sell and focus on developing messaging that offers helpful, personalized solutions to buyers at each stage in the journey.
Focusing on the Wrong Problems and Solutions
If you want people to click on your ad, you’ll need to make sure you focus on the right pain point or need in your ad copy.
One common mistake I see a lot of marketers make is that they fail to identify the motivating factors that trigger a search in the first place.
Instead, they go ahead and assume that the consumers share the same set of goals as they do—and continue to emphasize the point they feel brings the most value to the table.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through a few simple formulas for uncovering the customer pain points you can use to target audience intent and make an emotional connection.
Wrapping Up Paid Search Marketing
Paid search allows you to connect with searchers at the exact moment they are searching for whatever it is you have to offer.
When done right, paid search is one of the fastest ways to grow your business online. However, there are a lot of potential pitfalls (learn about more PPC mistakes and how to avoid them) that can lead to irrelevant clicks and wasted ad dollars.
Related Articles:
How Does PPC Work? Pay-per-click (PPC) is a major component of search ads. Learn all about how PPC and the ad auction works in this article.
The Best Calls-to-Action on the InternetGreat paid search ads start with effective calls-to-action (CTAs). Read this article for a little inspiration on how to craft a CTA that draws clicks.
How to FInd the Right Negative KeywordsNegative keywords play a big part in your ad campaign. But using them correctly is harder than you might think. Here, I’ll show you how to choose and use the right negative keywords for your campaign.
How to Find Your Customer’s Pain PointsEffectively communicating with your audience starts by understanding their problems, or pain points. No matter what channel you’re using, clearly demonstrating how your product or solution can alleviate that pain point is one of the best ways to connect with and convert users.
What’s the best Google Ads Bid Strategy For My Business? Paid search doesn’t come cheap, but ensuring you’re using the right bid strategy for your brand and business objective will help ensure you’re investing the right way.
Common PPC Campaign Mistakes Your Brand is MakingWe mentioned a few beginner mistakes above, but this article offers a deep dive into some of the PPC mistakes we most commonly see, and how brands can avoid making them.
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