Are AdWords And PPC The Same Thing?

Placing keyword-specific adverts online can be one of the most powerful modern marketing strategies employed by businesses, both large and small. However, the world of search engine marketing (commonly referred to as SEM) can be filled with industry-specific buzzwords and instruction and this can lead to some confusion when it comes to choosing your next steps.

Here, we break down the basics of two prominent areas of SEM; AdWords and PPC, to make things that little bit easier and you help master these must-know marketing terms. It sounds obvious but placing a static advert somewhere where potentially uninterested people will see it can be a waste of resources, but by placing that advert only in view of people who have a good chance of being interested, a business can greatly improve the risk/reward ratio of investing in online advertisements.

This is where PPC and AdWords come in.

Identify Interested Users Using Search Engine Results

Paid for search engine results are a highly focused method of determining which people are potentially interested in your products or services. It is the main reason why AdWords has proven to be so successful, becoming one of Google’s primary sources of income.

AdWords is not quite the same thing as PPC though, so it is worth learning the differences if you are contemplating whether or not an investment will be worthwhile.

So… Just How Do You Use PPC?

Let’s take it back to basics- PPC stands for pay-per-click and is an online advertising model which requires the advertiser to pay the website or search engine it is advertising on a predetermined amount for each click the advert receives. This method places your ads at the top of your screen on Google (it is also offered by other search engines) or across Facebook, for instance.

The adverts themselves can appear in a variety of forms, either as text, images or videos above, below or to the side of a search engine result or on certain web pages. PPC doesn’t affect the organic search results that the user sees, but a pay-per-click advert will simply appear alongside the organic result. For example, a company selling camping gear might pay to have their online store or a particular product appear alongside the results of a search for keyword phrases such as ‘camping gear’ or ‘buy tent’.

Usually, PPC ads cost nothing to display. It is only when a viewer clicks on the ad, that an advertiser is charged.

How AdWords uses PPC

AdWords is Google’s paid auction-based advertising product. Launched originally by the search engine giant all the way back in 2000, the platform is fast evolving from taking a keyword focus to adopting a truly customer-centric approach. By way of a summary, AdWords is a service that both businesses and organisations use to display their adverts across the search engine and website partners, using targeted keywords and other information gathered from cookies.

Cookies enhance the functionality of AdWords by incorporating previous data such as websites visited and even online shopping information conducted through that browser for the purposes of re-marketing, for instance. Using this additional information alongside sophisticated algorithms and the keyword term currently being searched by the user, AdWords is able to more accurately target an advert at users who are likely to be interested in that product or service. This approach has the benefit of maximising the impact of the advertising company’s chances of enticing a visit to their own website, while also maximising Google’s chances of receiving payment for a click on a PPC advert.

The Benefits Of Using AdWords

• You have the ability to drive highly targeted traffic to specific landing pages
• You are able to set your budget, this includes setting a maximum spend per day and how much you’re willing to pay for a click
• Using tools like Google Analytics you can track your conversions
• You only use it when you decide and it can easily be switched off and on again

Other AdWords Options

Businesses have a variety of AdWords options besides PPC, which will be available to choose as a payment method when navigating through the AdWords interface. Also available is the option to create either a single advert or multiple related or unrelated adverts. Along with keyword-targeted adverts, there is also the possibility of creating location-specific adverts, or even platform-specific adverts which can be used to reach a particular niche demographic.

For a (jargon-free) no pressure chat about how we can improve your online presence drop us a line at hello@float-digital.com, we would love to hear from you!