Paid search refers to the marketing strategy which involves paying a fee each time your advertisement is clicked by a user on search engines such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo. Essentially, it’s a way of buying visits to your site, rather than attempting to “earn” those visits organically. The most common form of paid search is the Pay-Per-Click (PPC). According to Moz, a leading software as a service company focused on search engine optimization, PPC is a method of driving traffic to your website by paying a publisher every time your ad is clicked.
When you engage in paid search advertising, you set up an ad that would appear on a search engine’s sponsored links whenever someone searches a keyword that’s related to your business. For instance, if we take Google AdWords as an example: you choose some keywords that a searcher might use on Google, then create an advertisement that will appear on the SERP based on those keywords. If your ad is clicked, you pay the cost you bid, hence, pay-per-click. The User Experience Professionals Association defines the SERP or Search Engine Results Page as the page that a search engine returns with the results of its search.
Paid search marketing has many benefits. One of them is that it’s incredibly cost-effective. You only pay when your ad is clicked. With traditional advertising, you pay for the ad to simply exist. Another major benefit is a faster return on investment (ROI). Unlike organic SEO, PPC ads can show results very quickly. We could also think of PPC as a form of keyword advertising, which will help people looking for your type of business to find it.
Paid search can also include advertising beyond text-based ads. These can be product listing ads (PLAs, also known as Shopping ads) that are more visual, allowing consumers to see important information at-a-glance, such as prices and reviews, as described by Search Engine Watch, a web publication that covers different aspects of digital marketing.
In conclusion, paid search is an effective way to drive traffic to your website and increase visibility on search engine result pages. It is a strategic way to outbid your competitors and rank above organic search results, which can be especially beneficial for commercial searches where people are looking to buy products or services.
Sources:
1. Moz – https://moz.com/learn/seo/paid-search
2. UXPA – https://uxpa.org/glossary/search-engine-results-page-serp/
3. Search Engine Watch – https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2016/01/21/guide-to-google-ranking-signals-part-10-backlinks/
