On average, companies earn $2 on every $1 they spend on pay-per-click advertising (PPC), so understanding how it works is crucial, especially for ecommerce brands.
With the potential for massive returns and with content ranking above organic results, having an ecommerce PPC strategy in place could help your business become the ‘queen bee’ in your industry.
Skip to
- What is PPC for ecommerce?
- The PPC process
- The different forms of PPC for ecommerce
- The benefits of an ecommerce PPC strategy
- Key takeaways
What is PPC for ecommerce?
PPC for ecommerce sites is built around the the concept of bidding for keywords.
The way this works is simple; adverts appear based on keywords that users search for, and the more a keyword is searched for, the more in-demand it will be. For high-volume, in-demand keywords, you’ll need to bid higher amounts to compete.
A successful ecommerce PPC strategy is all about knowing what words to bid on, and when. It’s highly recommended for companies who need a quick boost, achieving faster results than SEO strategies.
The PPC ad creation process: a step-by-step guide
Despite being a comparatively quick means of drawing more traffic to your website, PPC for ecommerce is a journey that requires strategy and flexibility. Take a look at our five-step process for crafting PPC ads.
1. Keyword research
Keyword research is just as vital for PPC as it is for SEO. It helps you understand what the high-volume keywords and their prices are, which helps to shape your campaigns.
Tools like Google Trends and Semrush can give you an idea of what terms people are searching for, and just as importantly, their search intent. For example, PPC may be better spent pushing people towards a transaction, rather than information gathering alone.
2. Ad creation
When it comes to creating your ads, your keywords should inform the ad text, and the corresponding landing pages should match your keywords, which we’ll explain later.
Using the wrong keyword, and attracting the wrong searchers, can lead to a high bounce rate. This wastes time and money and doesn’t target the correct customer, so be careful and specific with your ad text.
A tool like Google Keyword Planner helps find cheaper, less competitive, but high-converting keywords.
3. Bidding on your keywords
Ensuring you’re bidding on the right keywords is the foundation of PPC and will result in a lower bounce rate and better site rankings in general. So, once your keywords have been selected and your ads are ready to go, you’ll need to calculate your PPC budget.
In essence, this is a case of weighing up the competitiveness of each of your keywords. For example, high-volume keywords have more businesses targeting them and are more likely to make businesses money. As a result, these will be more expensive than lower-volume keywords that aren’t as sought-after.
4. Landing page design
As we covered above, it’s crucial that your landing pages match your advert. If not, you’ll attract the wrong customers, and your bounce rates will skyrocket. This will make your ads unsuccessful and inefficient.
Navigating the page should also be straightforward to maximise conversion rates, and loading times need to be sharp. If not, users will go somewhere else.
5. Optimisation
After you’ve tackled the above, you may think you’re finished with your PPC to-do list, and the conversions will come rolling in. However, a strong PPC strategy requires continual optimisation and reviews to be successful. Using Google Analytics and Tag Manager, you can track conversions, and refine your keywords accordingly.
As you conduct reviews, poorly performing keywords should be removed from the strategy, and under-seen pages may require higher bids. Whilst bidding can be automated, manual bidding gives you more control over what you are spending and when.
Generally, while PPC gets you to the top faster than SEO, it needs the time put into it to be effective.
What are the different forms of PPC for ecommerce?
Paid advertising is full of benefits for any marketer. Here are the most popular forms of PPC for ecommerce sites:
Google Shopping
Google Shopping is something we see every day on search engine pages, even if we don’t know it by name.
It displays relevant products at the top of Google’s search results and allows you to compare images of them from different companies. Clicking on these takes you straight to the product page, which avoids friction and simplifies the purchasing journey.
Google Shopping PPC has several advantages, and is an important element of PPC for ecommerce because:
- Adverts will only display if the relevant keyword is searched for
- The advertiser will only pay if the advert is actually clicked on
- It takes advantage of attractive and relevant photography.
Retargeting
Retargeting adverts are the ones we see for products we’ve viewed but haven’t bought (yet). For ecommerce businesses, retargeting is a great way to stay in touch with prospects, even if they didn’t purchase on their first visit, and it gives a little reminder and a push towards conversion. It also keeps your product fresh in their mind and gives your website content a boost.
This technology uses tracking pixels and is extremely popular on Facebook. If you install the Facebook Pixel on your site, your PPC advert can appear again on a visitor’s Facebook feed. This is helpful because you know that the customer is already interested, which keeps your cost-per-conversion lower.
Social media
Social media is an important battleground for PPC marketing, with Facebook being hugely popular due to its vast database of users. Tech Jury found that “9.21% of Facebook ads convert, making it the highest converting platform available”, and while this is certainly the case, it isn’t the only player in town.
WordStream conducted research across 8 countries and found that 32% of digital marketers advertised on X (formerly known as Twitter) at least once a month, with 30% advertising on Instagram just as often. They also found LinkedIn to be the most expensive, which is probably why only 23% of marketers advertise there, with Snapchat and Pinterest the most cost-effective options. TikTok is also particularly cost-effective, with a cost per click of just $1.77 compared to $7.32 on LinkedIn.
However, just because more marketers use certain platforms more often, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. That’s why it’s important to have a PPC management strategy in place, so you can make the right decisions, navigate the various platforms successfully, and reduce wasted spend.
Five benefits of an ecommerce PPC strategy
1. Instant traffic
Unlike traditional SEO and organic ranking, paid ads are already at the top of Google’s search results. This means that they offer a quick way to be seen online.
However, it’s important to understand that organic rankings are necessary for long-term success and brand-building, even though results will take more time.
2. Provide data for your SEO strategy
Don’t think of PPC as separate from your overall SEO strategy because you can use the two in tandem by testing your keywords in PPC first. Doing so helps you understand what works and what doesn’t and gives you helpful information you can use in your website content.
3. No need to worry about algorithms
PPC ads aren’t affected by the Google algorithm, so you can enjoy stability and plan for the future without worrying about any nasty surprises.
4. Find your target audience
The options for targeting are vast when it comes to PPC ad creation. Covering everything from specific areas to age groups, genders, interests, and more, you can find and target your relevant audience.
5. Easy to make
PPC ads are much easier to create than high-ranking organic content. With no complex design experience needed and Google Ads providing help along the way, PPC is incredibly accessible and useful for any ecommerce business.
Key takeaways
A well-run ecommerce PPC strategy can be beneficial for businesses trying to gain visibility quickly and draw potential customers to specific or niche products.
It’s also useful for your longer-term strategy, with retargeting pixels and keyword research giving you access to a vast trove of data. This can benefit your ongoing and sustainable SEO campaigns, but there’s no doubt that it requires time, effort and insight.
beefound.agency can manage your PPC journey from start to finish, so you can become more than just another company with poor ad conversion rates, and ‘bee’ a company with a winning ecommerce PPC strategy.
Email our PPC experts at hello@beefound.agency or give us a ring at 01904 373 069 to get started.
