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Paid Search

Paid Search, Pay-for-Performance (PfP), Pay-for-Position and Pay-per-Click (PPC) are all terms used to describe online advertising campaigns In which small advert panels appear either alongside natural search results or beside the copy on defined content web sites. The appearance of the ad is triggered by the match of a search term or content item (word or phrase) with one in the list, created by the advertiser, belonging to the advert.

Although associated with search, the practice is, in reality, advertising. The placement of the ads may be free of charge, but the advertiser pays for each click a visitor makes on the link in the ad. It usually leads them to a particular page on the advertiser’s website associated with the ad – the landing page.

Paid Search is the means by which our customers rapidly achieve a valuable presence on Search Engine results pages – specifically in the sponsored search listings. They appear alongside the very best performing Natural Search results.

Like all advertising, however, it operates in an increasingly competitive market. To stand out from the crowd, it is vital to combine creative research and an inventive strategy with thoughtful bid management. Continuing performance analysis and meaningful reporting follow to ensure that the ads deliver relevant and valuable visitor traffic.

ivantage combines these techniques to achieve both rapid entry to sponsored search listings and impressive returns. By means of diligent and imaginative keyword research, we can both build brand visibility and attract customers further down the buying process. Our long experience of writing focused ad copy stimulates the right sort of visitor – the one that converts to a customer – to click-through. We devise effective landing pages to direct those visitors efficiently to their goals, and track their progress with web analytics so as to be able to improve their experience and your conversion rates.

ivantage’s services for Paid Search include:

Consultation and planning – we talk with you at length and take time to understand your business. We can then agree on cost and conversion objectives and make decisions about where to place the advertising

Keyword research – our painstaking and imaginative keyword research identifies the terms which the customers you are seeking are currently using to find your type of product and service

Effective ad copy – creative ad copy and side-by-side testing selectively increases the click-though and conversion of the right sort of visitor. Good copy additionally promotes brand visibility and recognition

Advice on web-site design – the design of landing pages is vital in encouraging visitors to follow through to the goals that you intend them to reach

Web site analytics – if not already in place, we apply web analytics to the site so as to get rapid feedback and analysis of visitor behaviour. We are then able to advise on optimising the site for conversion

Conversion rate optimization – by using persuasive copywriting and eye-catching design together with the most effective software tools for comparative analysis, we create pages to maximise the rate at which paid-search visitors reach the goals intended for them

Account Management – ivantage is both a Qualified Google Adwords Company and a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant. Our paid search account managers look after all aspects of your Paid Search advertising campaign so as to ensure continual fine-tuning and improvement

Reporting – we report regularly and frequently to make sure you can keep track of all aspects of your campaign’s performance including the return on your advertising spend

Building, running and managing a successful Paid Search campaign requires a combination of creativity, copywriting skills, an advertiser’s instinct and attention to detail. If not conducted properly, a PfP campaign can cost a great deal but deliver very little.

ivantage provides a campaign management service called PfP Manage to ensure that advertisers maximise the potential of their Paid Search campaigns.

Learn more about PfP Manage

When to use Paid Search

Beacause the route to ranking highly in natural search (SEO) includes a lot of work optimizing a site's content and building a list of inbound links, the process is costly both in money and time.

In contrast, the use of paid search (PPC or PFP) brings visitors to a site with little delay.

Web site publishers therefore use paid search to attract traffic while their natural search campaigns are developing and where new products are frequently being added to the site.

Web analytics are important

Many agencies offer services to manage their clients' paid search campaigns. A large proportion fail to acknowledge the vital role of using web analytics to measure their campaigns' effectiveness and improve conversion.

We are repeatedly surprised to learn of agency clients who pay large amounts for paid search campaigns yet remain uninterested in web analytics – to their great cost.