A Layman's Guide to Reaching the Top

Let’s begin by defining the goal here. This is not a how-to guide for someone looking to launch and manage their own pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaign. There are many tutorials on the web designed for DIY personality types. If you are a business owner looking to sell a product or service online, you probably have more important things to do than become an expert in digital marketing. However, since you’re here, you’re smart, and would probably appreciate a high-level understanding of how this works. So, let’s get started.

Googlebot, the Heavyweight Champ of the Internet!

If you’ve ever wondered how the magical system of scanning the entire internet for information to be delivered in search engine results works, look no further than Googlebot. It’s a bot with a mission:

• Systematically crawl the web... all of it.
• Discover new websites... leave no one behind.
• Gather and index information... every jot and tittle.

To determine out how successful this little bot is, one only needs to consider the amount of information it collects. Currently, Google processes more than 20 petabytes of data every day which includes 3.5 billion search queries, (source). Just one petabyte is equivalent to 500 billion pages of standard print.

The Value of Big Data

Next, the founders of Google were among the first realize how valuable the data was that search engine users entered into search fields. Their main challenge was to figure out how to monetize it. There reasoning went like this: “What if we developed an exchange (something like the stock market) where business owners could bid on certain keywords and phrases that people search for every day. The market would set the value of each search term(s). The higher the bid compared to other bidders, the more likely their ad would appear first on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

What they discovered is that many words and phrases people search for have little market value. For instance, if you wanted to create an ad linking back to your website that sells the leaves you raked in your backyard, the cost of that ad would be minimal. There’s not much demand or competition for used leaves in the marketplace. However, if you are an attorney trying to find clients who have been injured in a truck accident, expect to pay hundreds of dollars for that click. The cost of every pay-per-click campaign is determined by how high the bidder is willing to go to get their ad placed prominently in Google Search. There are other factors involved, but the details are beyond the scope of this article.

Furthermore, it is important to consider the fact that search engine optimization (SEO) is a key factor in determining how well your ad will perform. Not all leads translate into conversions. We recommend that you budget SEO into any digital marketing campaign. SEO will also help your website gain organic authority. That basically means you can rank higher in SERPs without having to spend a ton of money on search ads.

Pay-Per-Impression (PPI)

Social media companies like Facebook have a different model. Here, they use the vast amount of social data they collect on their users to monetize their platform. Let’s say you want to target women between the ages of 35-55 who live in a certain zip code with a line of cosmetics. You can pay for your ad to appear as an impression within their feed. The more money you budget, the more impressions you will get.

How Business Owners Can Launch Successful Digital Marketing Campaigns

Many business owners try to save money and do this by themselves. In nearly every case we’ve know, they give up because it’s too complicated, too time consuming, and too expensive for so little return. Our strategy at SUURV Marketing is to begin slowly. Spend little, find out what works and doesn’t work, then increase the budget incrementally.

In realty, most people who manage ad campaigns want you to spend a lot of money because their contract is structured to return a percentage of the amount spent. They may know very little about your business and the marketplace you compete in, and that’s a problem. You don’t want your ads being clicked by people who are not your preferred customers and will most likely not buy your product.

A true marketing professional is someone who is determined to help you succeed. Also, it helps if they understand business in general and your niche in particular. SUURV Marketing is not the company that will promise to get you on the first page of Google in 30 days or less, or increase your revenue by 30% in 30 days… although we do have a few of those success stories. Our preferred clients are the business owners who want it done right the first time and improve on the process over time. That’s most likely the same strategy you used to build your business.    

We would be happy to talk with you more about this in person. Please call (210) 874-5900 or fill out our contact form by clicking here.