What is Paid Search? How to Create a Paid Search Strategy

Paid search marketing represents a type of digital marketing strategy where companies pay search engines to place their ads higher in the results of search. The main goal of paid search is to drive more traffic to a website. 

The most common forms of paid search marketing are Pay-per-click or PPC marketing. If your website has an effective PPC marketing strategy it should increase sales, raise brand awareness, and should be able to differentiate from the other brands. 

Paid search marketing can reach a wide audience of users because it uses all the major search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo. The ads are usually short and succinct and they are listed at the top of search results, making them almost impossible to miss. To differentiate them from the organic search results, ads generally have the label “ad” or “sponsored”, and generates paid traffic.

A paid search strategy includes an approach for planning, implementing, and optimizing the paid search campaigns. This approach includes some actions like selecting the proper keywords, targeting the correct audience, setting a budget, and lastly optimizing the campaigns for maximum performance. 

A strategy that is well developed and optimized helps your brand reach the target audience, generate some qualified leads, increase significantly the brand visibility, and drive conversions. 

The quality of the ads in the paid search strategy is determined by the search engines based on some considerations like: 

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Bidding 

In a paid search strategy, the bidding process includes the businesses that bid on some specific keywords or phrases that are very related to their products or services. This way, advertisers bid on the maximum amount that they want to pay when their ad is clicked by a user. When users search for something that matches the keywords bidded by an advertiser, the auction process takes place. 

The CPC or the cost per click is directly influenced by the bidding process. And when an advertiser pays only when a user clicks on their ad, this is the PPC meaning. 

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Extensions 

Extensions represent an additional piece of information or a feature that is added to a search to offer more context, value, and options to users.

These are some commonly used ad extensions: 

• Sitelink- these play the role of directing users to specific web pages from additional links in the ad.  
• Call extension- is used mostly to make direct contact with the advertiser through a click or a tap on the phone number.
• Location extension- this is used with the ad and it shows the specific location of the business. 
• Callout extension- advertisers can highlight specific features or benefits to make them stand out more in the ad. 
• Review extension- this is used to show positive reviews and ratings from reliable sources.
• Price extension- is used to show products and services with their prices. 

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Quality of Landing Pages and Ads

In Google search engines the ads and landing pages are scored by the relevance and the usefulness level of your website. 

If you want your brand to convert paid search traffic into leads it is very important to have a well-designed and intuitive landing page. Everything from the landing page must align with the ad copy to offer a more seamless user experience. The rank on the search engine will be directly determined by the landing page experience, the relevance of your ad, and the click-through rate.

Keywords 

The use of keywords in your content and ads can have an impact on the rankings from the search engine. The more relevant keywords you use, the better, because the keyword research represents the base of any paid search strategy. 

First, you need to identify some keywords that your target audience is interested in, and then use research tools to see the search volume, competition, and relevance of the keywords. After that, make a list of potential phrases and put each in a category based on their intent. 

If by now we have developed relevant information about what it is and how paid search strategy works, it’s time to tell you the steps of building a successful paid search strategy. 

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1. Set your Goals and Outline Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

First, you need to define the main goal of your campaign and think about the key performance indicators or KPIs. What are you looking for in your campaign? To increase website traffic? To boost sales? To generate leads or to increase brand awareness? If you can set some SMART goals that can be measurable and achievable, it’s more likely that your strategy will be more effective based on paid search monitoring. 

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2. Choose your match types

In paid search, the match types are the options that advertisers have to control the reach and the particularity of their keywords. The Match types can determine how close a search needs to be to match the keywords to show an eligible ad. 

The most used match types in paid search are : 

Broad Match: Ads will show for the keywords that include variations, synonyms, and more related terms to the target keywords. A broad match can offer a wide reach but can be an imprecise targeting. 

Modified Broad Match: If you add a “+” symbol in front of the keywords, advertisers indicate that the phrases need to be added in the search query to show the ads. This type can offer more control than a broad match but still has some variations. 

Phrase Match: An ad is shown only if the search queries include the target keywords in the right order, but it can have some additional words before or after the query. This Phrase Match offers a more precise target but has some flexibility in the words. 

Exact Match: A user must search the target keywords exactly or very close variations to see an ad. Thai exact match provides a higher level of control and precision in the keywords and can help users see the exact thing that they are looking for. 

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3. Conversion Tracking and Analytics

Paid search monitoring is crucial in the process of evaluating the paid strategy’s success. You need to set up conversion tracking codes on your website that can measure key actions like submissions, purchases, or even downloads. You can use Google Analytics to obtain insights about your campaign performances and track important metrics. It’s important to know that the KPIs will modify depending on the most important conversion for your brand. 

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4. Create the Perfect Ad Copy

The most important step in creating a paid search campaign is to create a copy that is attractive and interesting for your target audience. You need first to create an engaging headline that can highlight your USP ( unique selling proposition) or that can present a good offer. Then focus on writing a persuasive ad copy that can emphasize the benefits and the features of your products and services. Lastly, create a strong CTA ( call to action) that encourages users to take action. Use verbs like “shop now” or “sign up now” to stimulate urgency. 

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5. Always test and optimize your strategy 

A successful paid search strategy requires constant testing and optimization to make it better every time. If you want your campaign to generate leads and conversions, monitor it regularly and analyze it to improve its performance. It’s okay to test different ads and ideas until you find the right one, and this way you can gather insights and expand your reach to maximize your return on investment. Make sure to also analyze your competiton!

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Create a Successful Paid Strategy with Traction Keys

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