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Good PR Professionals Can Make PPC Advertising Work Even Better

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Good PR pros are not oblivious to the benefits of using online tools and metrics.

And while many PR firms these days are active in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), it’s never good to place all one’s eggs in one basket. Another form of direct marketing is pay-per-click (ppc). PPC is when advertisers pay a flat fee every time their ad is clicked. So, it’s a useful way of buying visits to a preferred site, as opposed to “earning” them organically.

One of the most popular forms of PPC is search engine advertising. This lets advertisers compete for ad placement in a search engine’s sponsored links whenever a user searches a keyword related to a business offering. So searching for a nearby print shop often places companies with extensive SEO web, blog or FAQ presence (like Staples) shows at the top.

Why Use PPC?

Each time a PPC ad is clicked and the clicking visitor is referred to the website, the ad’s owner pays the search engine a modest fee. This is a good deal for the business if the sale is more than the purchase price – and if not, then not.

PR Pros Can Help PPC

PR professionals can help build PPC campaigns by beginning with research and selecting the right keywords – and placing those words in articles, both organic and native content. Placing keywords into neat, organized ad groups and campaigns, the PR specialist sets up landing pages optimized for conversions. Search engines reward companies who consistently produce relevant, thoughtfully targeted campaigns. If the landing pages and ads directing users there are decidedly practical and satisfying in the minds of users, reduced charges for PPC can help balloon a business’ profit margin.

It’s important to recognize the most popular PPC advertising system in the world: Google AdWords. Operating on the PPC model, users bid for preferred keywords and pay for each click on their ad. Once a keyword is searched on Google, Google collects the total number of AdWords advertisers and picks a group of winners to appear at the top of the search results page.

There are a few factors involved in how Google chooses the winning ads. The top tier search results are based on advertiser’s Ad Rank. This is calculated by multiplying two important factors – CPC Bid, which is the highest amount of payment an advertiser pays, and Quality Score, which is a compendium of click-through rate, relevance, and landing page quality. This calculation helps advertisers reach more potential customers at an appropriate cost.

The Guess-And-Check Method of PPC Optimization

At its core, PPC advertising is a guess-and-check process of improving potential ranking via Google’s system by perfecting three factors. First is Landing Page Quality. It should go without saying the page a business develops for users is persuasive, useful, and enticing enough to elicit action on the part of the user.

Next is Keyword Relevance. This can be tricky as writers must balance topic with keyword use while maintaining a group of keywords the business keeps using in the future.

Finally, there is the Quality Score. As stated above, quality score is a performance record, reflecting how well a website and its respective ad follow the rules. The better an ad’s keywords and text represent a thoughtful, relevant landing page, the higher the Quality Score rises, the more the cost of PPC advertising, and the greater margin of profit.

Why Hire a PR Pro for PPC Advertising?

While a business can elect to do their own PPC research by brute force, they will probably do much better by hiring a pro. Good PR firms and marketing professionals are immersed in the ever-changing keyword market, and the strengths and weaknesses of other businesses competing for Ad Rankings. Use of PPC advertisements are an on-demand market requiring time and ongoing effort to understand.

PR agencies know a variety of methods and tricks to mix and match organic SEO with PPC. They can run an ad on brand names with negative information in organic search results. This shows what users see when they search under terms suggesting the opposite view on one’s business. For example, searching “paypal sucks” will still place PayPal at the top, which means it is actively bidding on and displaying an attractive ad for its landing page.

The Public Relations industry has changed – and good PR pros get PPC and SEO.

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Ronn Torossian

Ronn Torossian is the Founder and Chairman of 5WPR, one of the largest independently-owned PR firms in the United States. With over 25 years of experience crafting and executing powerful narratives, Torossian is one of America’s most prolific and well-respected Public Relations professionals. Since founding 5WPR in 2003, he has led the company’s growth, overseeing more than 275 professionals. With clients spanning corporate, technology, consumer and crisis, in addition to digital marketing and public affairs capabilities, 5WPR is regularly recognized as an industry leader and has been named “PR Agency of the Year” by the American Business Awards on multiple occasions. Throughout his career, Torossian has worked with some of the world’s most visible companies, brands and organizations. His strategic, resourceful approach has been recognized with numerous awards including being named the Stevie American Business Awards 2020 Entrepreneur of the Year, the American Business Awards PR Executive of the Year, twice over, an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year semi-finalist, Metropolitan Magazine’s Most Influential New Yorker, a 2020 Top Crisis Communications Professional by Business Insider, and a recipient of Crain’s New York 2021 Most Notable in Marketing & PR. Torossian is known as one of the country’s foremost experts on crisis communications, and is called on to counsel blue chip companies, top business executives and entrepreneurs both in the United States and worldwide. Torossian has lectured on crisis PR at Harvard Business School, appears regularly on CNN & CNBC, is a contributing columnist for Forbes and the New York Observer, and has authored two editions of his book, “For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results With Game-Changing Public Relations,” which is an industry best-seller. A NYC native, Torossian is a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO), and active in numerous charities.

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