SEO – Search Engine Optimization

What is PPC?

PPC stands for Pay Per Click. There are many search engines which have various forms of PPC. Some may have different names or slightly different approaches, but overall the idea is that you pay to have your search results listed higher and each time someone clicks on oneof your links, you are charged a fee.
PPC results are usually in a different area of the results page listed as “sponsored” ads or results. These sponsored results are typically the top two or three results as well as results in the right margin. Results not appearing in the sponsored area are called “organic” results.NOTE: Organic results receive a 5:1 click ratio over sponsored results. Therefore users are five times MORE likely to click on non-paid ads.

It is also important to define the term impression vs. a click. Let’s say there are 5,000 monthly searches for your PPC keyword. If you have cornered the market on the keyword, your ad should appear to 5,000 searchers. It is similar to an ad in a magazine with a local circulation of 5,000. Or think of it as the number of people who drive by a highway ad sign. The impression means someone has had a chance to see your ad, but may not necessarily actually read it.

A click-through means someone saw your impression and actually clicked on the ad and visited your site. Some search engine PPC programs may or may not charge for impressions as well as click-throughs – though at a much lower rate.

How do I setup a PPC Campaign?

PPC campaigns are difficult to manage for the inexperienced. First of all there is education and experience needed to use the tools provided. Next, there is the difficult and ardous task of selecting keywords. This is typically where many users fail.

For instance, if you run a chiropractic clinic in Arlington, Texas, you wouldn’t want to purchase just the word “chiropractic” because then you are competing against everyone in the world for that term. Instead you would try to geographically narrow your scope. So perhaps you change your search term to “chiropractic arlington”. Congratulations – your site starts to receive hits! Unfortunately, you later realize that half of the budget is wasted on searchers in Arlington, Virginia. A more appropriate search phrase would be “chiropractic arlington tx”. It is easy to quickly waste a budget by poor keyword choices.

PPC has gone through many evolutions. In the recent past there were several proven abuse schemes where engines paid users to click on ads and run the costs up. Currently, with the major search engines you tend to receive a good product.

So do I need a PPC campaign? How can eKrum help?

Overall, a PPC link is less effective than a highly placed organic link. Also, the monthly budget required to obtain good ad spots can be much higher than monthly SEO charges by a reputable firm. Therefore, overall a PPC campaign is not needed.

However, there are circumstances where PPC campaigns are handy. For instance, if your site is really new and you want to jump in the rankings quicker and get indexed by Google quicker – you can start a PPC ad campaign. Instead of waiting months for Google to index your site and list it – it becomes more immediate.

PPC campaigns when used in conjunction with other SEO techniques can provide quicker ranking surges and usually after the organic techniques achieve a higher ranking – the PPC campaigns can be discontinued.

eKrum helps with PPC campaigns by helping to set them up, strategically select keywords and phrases, monitor click throughs and charges, and help check conversation ratios and ROI.

eKrum charges either a straight hourly fee or a percentage of the ad campaign to setup and implement it. If you would like more information or have questions, please email our sales department.