When running an online campaign, there are dozens of features to take advantage of to make the program fruitful. The trouble is that so many marketers don’t fully understand these features, placing limitations on their own success. One such example is the pay-per-click (PPC) model.
Even though PPC is nothing new, many people don’t understand its full potential. It helps to go back to the basics to truly understand what PPC is instead of building on top of something that you don’t fully grasp. For instance, many marketers use PPC and Google AdWords interchangeably, but AdWords is actually one particular platform for PPC. And through AdWords, you get Quality Score.
What is PPC?
Going back to the basics, here’s how PPC works: You place ads in the search engines, social media and so on, and pay only when someone clicks on the ad. The platform is great for marketing on a dime because you only pay when someone engages with your ad rather than for impressions. This means you get FREE exposure for your brand simply by having the ads out there.
What is Quality Score?
Google AdWords is the most popular platform for PPC, and Quality Score is what is used to determine how relevant your ads, keywords and landing pages are. Each keyword gets a score of 1-10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. Learn how to check your Quality Score by clicking here.
Having a high Quality Score means that the PPC cycle – clicking on an ad and being directed to a landing page – are useful and relevant, resulting in a better customer experience. It can make all the difference in how successful your PPC campaign is. Higher Quality Scores:
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make it easier and cheaper to enter a keyword into the ad auction.
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lead to lower cost-per-click, meaning you pay less for each click.
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result in lower first-page bid estimates.
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mean higher rankings on the search listings.
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grant more eligibility for ad extensions and ad formats.
There is no single formula for how Quality Score is calculated, but some of the elements that Google takes into consideration are:
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Click-through rates
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Landing page quality
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Keyword ad relevance
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Keyword search relevance
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Geographic performance
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Ad performance
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Targeted devices
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Account history
There are many ways to improve your Quality Score, so don’t get discouraged if your score isn’t where you want it to be. At the same time, don’t expect a high number to stay that way. By actively checking the score and making relevant updates to landing pages, keywords and ads, you can create an effective PPC campaign that boosts ROI.
Whether you’re looking to begin a new PPC campaign or boost your current campaign’s success, SEMGeeks has you covered. Call us at 1-866-772-4335 to find out how our digital marketing team can help!
