A report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) showed search ads accounted for $9.1 billion, or 39 percent, of the total Internet advertising revenue for the first half of 2014. Why the huge spend? PPC holds a slight edge in conversion rates, and are 1.5x more likely to convert click throughs from the search engine. Also, getting on the first page in SEO can seem impossible for some companies, so giving more resources to paid ads could make sense. It's clear that a complete strategy for search engines should include both SEO and PPC. Read this slideshare to learn some of the best practices for PPC in 2016. Also you will learn how to increase conversions and minimize your Cost Per Click, or CPC, which is the cost you pay each time someone clicks on your ad.

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The Best PPC Practices

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3. • Coding since 6 years old
• Creating websites since 1997
• Working in e-commerce since 2005
• Marketing MBA
• Agency since 2011
Pam Ann Aungst, MBA
President & Chief Web Traffic Controller
Pam Ann Marketing LLC

4. Table of Contents
4
1. Intro
What is PPC? Slide 5
Google AdWords Slide 7
2. Basics
PPC vs SEO vs SEM Slide 9
3. Getting Started
SEM Slide 11
Other PPC Options Slide 23
4. Optimizing
Analytics and Metrics Slide 32
Google Analytics Slide 37
Useful tips & tricks included throughout! Slide 41

5. What is PPC? 5
PPC = Pay Per Click. A model of
internet marketing in which
advertisers pay a fee each time
one of their ads is clicked.
In essence, it is buying visits to
your site instead of gaining organic
traffic to your site.

6. What is PPC?
6
Search engine marketing (aka
“SEM”) is one of the most
popular forms of PPC
advertising.
It enables businesses or
advertisers to bid for ad
placement in a search engine’s
sponsored links when someone
searches a keyword related to
their business.

7. Google AdWords
Google AdWords is the
most popular platform
for SEM.
To the right you’ll see
an example SEM ad
for converse trainers.
7

8. Google AdWords
8
This store bid on those
terms against others in
order to be first in the
list.
It’s labeled with “ad” and
bidding is much like an
auction run by Google.

9. How does SEM differ from SEO? 9
SEO = Search Engine Optimization.
It is the art of influencing search
engines to rank your content higher
in organic (non-paid) results.
So with SEM you pay for ads to
increase visibility and with SEO you
don’t.

10. SEM vs. SEO: Pros & Cons 10
SEO SEM
• Don’t have to pay for every click, allows
for exponential ROI over (a long) time
• Have to pay for every single click. Certain
industries have high CPCs and can be VERY
expensive to advertise this way
• Challenging/technical to manage, very
heavy workload every month across
multiple departments, rapidly changing
• Challenging/technical to manage, but not
very rapidly changing and doesn’t require
as much cross-department involvement
• Takes a LONG time to work (anywhere
from 3 to 12 months for initial gains)
• Instant exposure
• A common strategy for newer businesses is to rely on SEM at first while ramping up SEO
efforts (and use the ROI from that to help fund SEO efforts) and then pull back on
reliance on SEM over time

11. Top 10 Tips to Get Started with SEM 11
1. Always start with a plan.
2. Determine your goals, what do
you hope to achieve? Increase
brand awareness, more
subscribers, sales, content
downloads, etc.
3. This will help determine the
right direction of the campaign
and KPIs for measurement of
success.

12. Top 10 Tips to Get Started with SEM 12
 For example, a brand with a new and innovative product or service
that was just introduced to the market will focus on driving
awareness through impressions and clicks, versus a brand with a very
established offering that just wants to get more leads (conversions).

13. How to Get Started with SEM 13
4. Determine your budget. This will help figure out which keywords
you can afford. Take the average CPC for your target words and
multiply it by 200. That’s a simple way to establish a bare-minimum
monthly budget you’ll need to advertise on those terms.

14. How to Get Started with SEM 14
5. Do keyword
research with
AdWords Keyword
Planner and
SEMRush or SpyFu
(for competitor
keywords). Select
keywords that you
can afford, and
organize them into
tightly-themed ad
groups.

15. How to Get Started with SEM 15
Tip: For conversion-focused campaigns, focus on words that have a
high level of intent, i.e. “sneaker store near me.” That person is
more likely to be ready to buy than someone searching on “trendy
sneaker styles”.

16. How to Get Started with SEM 16
6. Use those keywords
in your ad copy
along with strong
calls-to-action.
Follow Google’s
guidelines for ad
copy and quality
score.
 Tip: Also take
advantage of ad
extensions where
appropriate!

17. How to Get Started with SEM 17
Tip: Whenever you
can, include specifics &
offers that will also
appear on your landing
page, such as “20% off
All T-Shirts until
Friday!” or “Save $100
by registering before
11/5”.

18. How to Get Started with SEM 18
Tip: Also do competitive research (SEMRush & SpyFu). Other brands
likely tested their ad copy, so learn from what they are doing.

19. How to Get Started with SEM 19
7. Create landing pages: A
simple page (short
skimmable copy with
bullet points) with a
single/clear call-to-
action form.
Tip: Use bright red or
orange for your CTA
button, and put
compelling text on it such
as “Get Me Started!”
instead of “Submit”.

20. How to Get Started with SEM 20
8. Optimize PPC
campaigns regularly.
Place a strong focus
on the “Search
Terms” report and
applying negative
keywords as needed.

21. How to Get Started with SEM 21
9. Always, always, always
be testing. Experiment
with different sets of ad
copy, match types, and
landing page content.
PPC campaigns can
ALWAYS be improved
upon.

22. How to Get Started with SEM 22
10. Monitor your campaigns closely. Make sure the ROI supports the
investment – but do give the campaign at least 90 days of ramp-up
time before starting to fully assess KPIs.

23. PPC Strategy – Other Options 23
SEM isn’t the only choice for PPC
advertising, but it’s a great start
because people searching on Google
have a high level of intent to find a
business like yours.
In addition, consider display (banner
ads) and/or social media ads like
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest,
Instagram, and YouTube.

24. PPC Strategy – Other Options 24
Display (banner)
ads can be run
through the
Google AdWords
platform in
addition to SEM
search ads, as can
YouTube video ads.

25. PPC Strategy – Other Options 25
YouTube ads work well
for just about any
brand with solid video
content, with the
exception of pre-roll
ads (the “skip ad”
ones).
Tip: Keyword-based
search ads on YouTube
are most affordable and
effective.

26. PPC Strategy – Other Options 26
LinkedIn is great for B2B-
focused brands. “Direct
Sponsored Content” ads are
the most affordable and
effective ads on LinkedIn.
Facebook is great for B2C-
focused brands. News Feed
ads are most affordable and
effective on Facebook.

27. PPC Strategy – Other Options 27
Pinterest & Instagram are
best for brands with a
visually-compelling product
or service, as they are all
about the imagery.
Twitter is very real-time, so
consider promoted tweets for
campaigns based upon
certain events where people
may be following an event
hashtag, like the #Superbowl.

28. PPC Strategy – Other Options 28
Retargeting is
another option for
PPC advertising
that can be
incredibly effective
for any purchase
decision that is not
immediate for
consumers to
make.

29. PPC Strategy – Other Options 29
Example: People do a lot of
research online when buying a car,
and they don’t decide right away.
Retargeting ads will remind them
which dealer website they had
looked at. This is very effective in
this case, versus someone who
researched emergency furnace
repair in winter. That person likely
made their decision very quickly,
and it’s not worth following them
with ads for 30 days or more.

30. PPC Strategy –
Other Options
30
Retargeting options
are available on
several networks,
including Google,
Facebook, and AdRoll.
Most brands start with
Google & FB.

31. PPC and the Customer Journey
31
Once your PPC is set-up,
you’ll need to monitor
traffic closely.
Data on your visitors is a
necessary part of
achieving your goals.
It will tell you what to
improve.

32. Analytics and
Metrics
Google Analytics is a
crucial for evaluating
PPC campaigns, and all
digital marketing
initiatives.
Google Analytics and
Google AdWords can be
directly integrated to
track detailed
information about SEM
campaigns.
32

33. 33
Analytics and
Metrics
Other PPC options
(Facebook, LinkedIn,
etc.) often require
manual tagging (a.k.a.
“UTM Tagging”) of
landing page URLs in
order to inject specific
campaign information
into Google Analytics.

34. 34
Analytics and Metrics
Call-tracking
software like CallRail
can also be used to
show in Google
Analytics when a PPC
visitor viewed a
phone number on a
site, wrote it down,
and called it – even
if that happens at a
later time.

35. Analytics and Metrics
35
Google Analytics can tell you
the “Who, What, Where and
Why” of your traffic.
“Who” = your audience:
characteristics of who
visited your site (geo
location, browser/device
used, language spoken, etc.)

36. Analytics and Metrics
36
“What” = behavior: what the
user did on your site, how
long they stayed, etc.
“Where” = acquisition:
where users came from and
how they found you.
“Why” refers to conversions:
if they completed the goal,
which could be a download,
purchase, or signup.

37. 4 Steps to Setup Google Analytics 37
1. Set up an account
using your URL. This
will give you a
tracking script.
2. Add the tracking
script to the header
of your website, so
it appears on all
pages.

38. 4 Steps to Setup Google Analytics 38
3. Identify critical actions users
should take on site and set
those up as goals and events.
Set up E-commerce tracking
if applicable. You will likely
need a programmer for some
of this.
4. Link your Google Analytics
and AdWords accounts if
applicable.

39. 4 Key Google Analytics Reports 39
Critical reports to review:
1. Traffic Sources by Channel:
where visitors come from.
(Acquisition -> All Traffic ->
Channels).
2. Top Landing Pages: insight into
content that draws in your
visitors.
(Behavior -> Site Content ->
Landing Pages).

40. 4 Key Google Analytics Reports 40
3. Top referring sources: the referral sites that lead users to you.
(Acquisition -> All Traffic -> Referrals)
4. Conversions: Goals & transactions completed by visitors.

41. Some Google Analytics Examples 41
Video Event Tracking

42. Some Google Analytics Examples 42
Call Tracking with CallRail

43. Some Google
Analytics Examples
43
A goal conversion funnel
that shows steps taken
towards a registration-
based goal.

44. Some Google Analytics Examples 44
Channels Report with E-Commerce

45. Some Google Analytics Examples 45
Social Ad Campaign Tagging with Goals

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