Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising Formats - PPC Back to Basics

 Understanding The Different PPC Advertising Formats

Welcome to the first in my blog series of "PPC Back to Basics". Each week I will feature a new blog post on useful information on pay per click advertising for beginners. My first blog post is about the different advertising formats you can select.

With paid search ads proving to increase brand awareness by 80% (source:  Google) and PPC visitors, 50% more likely to purchase from your website than organic customers, (source: unBounce) these statistics prove PPC is a channel your business can no longer ignore. 

For those that are new to PPC advertising, I thought I’d go back to basics and create a series of “ PPC Back to Basics” which will be a short series of blog content for businesses /entrepreneurs interested in utilizing PPC to generate new business.

First in my series is understanding the different advertising formats available for you to use. Today’s blog post will focus on Google’s platform.  

There are several different advertising formats available for businesses to use for Google Advertising. These include:

• Text Ads
• Local Ads
• Shopping Ads

PPC: Text Advertising Format

These are the ones you’ll be familiar with, they appear at the top and bottom of the search results for both desktop and mobile. (view image 1)

Image 1

Text Ads Pro’s

• Text ads are easy to produce and implement
• Text ads are an affordable way to advertise your business online because you decide how much you want to spend
• Your website is not dependent on Search Engine Optimisation.

Tex Ad’s Con’s

• There is a character limit so you may not be able to include all the text you want.

PPC: Local Advertising Format

If your business has a physical location, they can show in both local packs and google maps, which I didn’t realize. (view image 2)

Image 2 

Local Ads Pro’s

• You are more likely to reach local people looking for your services on their mobile
• 
  
• When your Google Location extension is turned on which allows you to list your address, phone number and hours of business, the ad will be served with a map, making it easier for potential customers to find you
• You can enable call extensions, which will show your phone number and have a “call directly” button making it easier for customers to call.

Local Ads Con’s

• There are none I've found.

PPC: Shopping Advertising Format

Otherwise known as Product Listing  Ads (PLA) are image-based ads which appear in carousels at the top of the search results in mobile or desktop and on the right side of the screen on your desktop. (View image 3)

Image 3 

Shopping Ads Po’s

• These ads stand out in the Google Search so your brand will be noticed easily
• Google Shopping ads have a proven high conversion rate in comparison to text-only ads
• Google offers Bids Benchmarking allowing business to measure how ads are performing against competitors. 

Shopping Ads Con’s

·       This form of advertising does not support all product category’s, so if you are promoting something quite niche there may not be a category for you to select

·       If you sell less than 500 products, you experience having as much visibility on Google shopping in comparison to your competitors.
  
   If you’re still unconvinced by these stats, read my blog post on 4 Facts Every Business Owner Should Know about PPC Advertising.

Thanks for tuning in again and have a great week. 

Would be great to hear your thoughts too.