What is Paid Search Traffic
PPC traffic is when you pay search engines or other platforms on a pay-per-click or pay-per-impression model. Utilizing paid traffic has the advantage of bringing in traffic quickly but at a higher cost. While buying traffic is easy, buying the right traffic that will convert for you is the primary challenge.
What Kind of Paid Traffic Do you Need?
Consider different paid traffic channels as they best fit your business goals and needs. Some are better on social and some better from search engines.
Google AdWords has the advantage of appearing in front of more targeted users than any other platform. Needs constant maintenance.
Bing
With a smaller amount of traffic than Google, oftentimes clicks from this platform are more affordable, if lower in volume.
Social
With Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn as several popular options, consider which audience would resonate best for your brand.
Youtube
Re-targeting campaigns on Youtube’s display network can be a powerful way to guide potential customers down their buying journey to you.
How to get started
Researching the specific demographics of a paid search traffic channel is a great starting point. Some industries are easy to figure out while others require a bit of data testing to figure out where they will get the best results. One of the heaviest advantages search engines has over social networks though is that the person searching the paid-for keyword shows an intent to make a purchase. However, many companies do better with native social advertising because they reach the right segmented and targeted audience which is easier to do on a social network than within search engines.
Landing Page Experience
Consider that your brand is going to pay to bring people into your doors, onto your website, and calling your business. Every business knows how important it is to make a great first impression when a potential client calls but this is exactly what happens when a potential buyer comes to your website. That is your companies chance for a first impression. When you are paying per person that comes to your website it is critical that you offer the most relevant and converting landing page experience for the potential customers coming to your website.
Data Science & Scaling
You’ve picked the channel you are going to run ads on and chosen what parameters to run for your campaign. Next, you will want to evaluate conversion data as it related to your weekly or monthly paid ad traffic. Focus on areas with the lowest cost vs. highest value. This is where paid traffic goes from the equivalent of a game of checkers to a thoughtful game of chess. While most anyone can set up a paid traffic campaign in an hour or so, they should not, and paid traffic can take a lifetime to master just like chess.
Paid Ad Segmentation
When we review paid ad campaigns on behalf of a potential client or company, we oftentimes notice that a lack of segmentation is the leading cause of a poorly running paid search traffic campaign. For example, if you built one campaign targeting people looking for dentists you would get people looking for dentists coming to your website. However, if you further segmented ads based on segmented searches such as tooth extraction or dental implants you would be able to bring in exactly the type of business and client you were looking for.
Quality Score & Optimization
Platforms like Google AdWords reward advertisers with a lower cost for position based on their quality scores. While many factors affect your quality score, having a 10/10 quality score means that you will pay less for a higher position. Paying close attention to ad experience, keyword relevance, and landing page experience will allow you to increase your quality scores and the overall cost per acquisition for new leads. Social platforms trigger user experience data sets as well and if properly optimized can lead to a better return on these platforms as well.
Landing Page Experience
When starting any paid search traffic to your website, don’t just run all the traffic to your home page. The better targeted the messaging is for the users you brought to your site, the better they will convert. By offering value points within your ad copy and some media about the subject you will make the buying experience for your customers one they can complete with a sense of confidence. Not only with this help the overall performance of your campaign but it will also eliminate any confusion as you, onboard new customers.
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