With a small pay-per-click agency, your campaigns may be managed by the same people who pitched your business, while at larger agencies, your account will likely be handed to someone with less seniority. In either case, ask who would work on your account and ask to meet him or her in person or via phone. This is especially important if you’ve narrowed down your list to agencies with similar qualifications. All other things being equal, your decision may come down to the relationship that feels like a good fit.

Prospective PPC companies should be able to list and explain a number of metrics they can use to gauge how well your PPC campaigns are performing. These include click-through rates (CTRs), cost per click, cost per conversion, ad positions and more.

A comprehensive PPC campaign isn’t complete without a solid strategy for optimizing landing pages. There are proven best practices for every aspect of landing page creation and optimization, including:rn

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  • A clear connection between your PPC ad copy and the messages users see when they arrive at the landing page

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• • Concise statements of your offer and the benefits to users

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• • Prominent calls to action that clearly tell the user what to expect next

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rnAsk agencies how they collect landing page performance data and how they test and subsequently adjust the pages to improve conversions.

Excluding certain search terms is just as important to PPC success as including the right ones. The best PPC agencies know where PPC budgets can be wasted, and ignoring negative keywords is one such place. Managing a negative keyword list keeps you from paying for clicks that aren’t relevant—for example, if you sell replacement parts for barbecue grills, you don’t want to have your ads appear in searches for barbecue recipes. At DAGMAR, it’s standard practice to research and consider both relevant and irrelevant search terms for every PPC campaign.

Be sure to ask agencies for details on this topic. We’ve started working with more than one client and had difficulty obtaining the necessary credentials to access and take over the clients’ Google Ads accounts. You’ll want to have a clear understanding of ownership terms with any agency before you begin working with them. Plus, you’ll want transparency and that means having access.

Pay-per-click advertising can and certainly does succeed as a standalone service, but while you’re interviewing digital marketing agencies, ask about what else they may be able to do for you. If you expect your needs or your company to grow, you may want to add on other online marketing services and you’ll want those services to be in sync with your PPC. Ask about SEO (particularly local SEO if that’s your need), website design, social media advertising, and content writing. The answers may help position your marketing to be more successful in the future.

When looking for an agency to handle your PPC pest control campaign, it can help if they already have experience in your industry. This shortens the learning curve for the agency and gives you an opportunity to ask the agency about the challenges they faced and the successes they’ve had in PPC campaigns within your industry. 

Also ask if the agency you’re interviewing manages PPC advertising for any direct competitors of yours. You won’t want to work with one who is handling paid search for a competitor in the same geographic market but, if the clients are in other markets, this just gives the agency more experience with PPC pest control campaigns and this can benefit your company.

Pay-per-click advertising is a data-driven form of online marketing, which means an agency should be able to provide plenty of data: click-through rates, leads generated, impression shares, conversion rates, and more. Each month, you should be presented with this information so that you can clearly see results. These reports aren’t quick and easy to assemble, but an agency should provide this information so that you can have a clear picture of how your money is being spent and the results that are taking place. If an agency doesn’t provide thorough reporting, it makes sense to look for a different one that does.

PPC stands for “pay-per-click,” and it’s a form of digital advertising where companies only pay when a searcher clicks on one of their ads. Other names for this type of advertising include search engine marketing (SEM) and paid search. PPC can quickly drive traffic to your site, while boosting brand awareness. Platforms that sell PPC advertising include Google, Bing, YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter.

PPC campaigns are designed to deliver specific benefits, including:

• Brand awareness: First, a paid ad gets seen and, every time that happens, brand recognition is being built among users. This is true, even when it doesn’t get clicks. There isn’t a way to measure how many people simply see your ad, but having it near the top of the page is still an opportunity to promote your brand as one of quality. That’s something we know from traditional advertising and marketing.
• Accessibility: Because every company has equal access to Google Ads, this form of digital marketing really is a great equalizer. This means that an ad for your pest control company can appear right next to a global brand’s ad and, because it doesn’t have to cost much to get started, PPC does provide ease of accessibility for companies of nearly every size.
• Targeting qualified leads: Having traffic is one thing, while having the right traffic is the important thing. With PPC, you’ll have the ability to target audiences that will be more likely to notice your ads and then engage with them. With paid search, you can home in on an audience by time of day, location, device, age, and so forth. This is a key way that PPC is differentiated from SEO.
• Conversions: In the online world, each step that takes a prospect closer to your ultimate goal (likely, a purchase) is called a conversion. PPC ads guide prospects along that process, taking people to a landing page that can further reinforce your messaging and keep them on the conversion pathway, increasing the likelihood that they’ll convert. Signing up for your company’s email list is an example of a conversion. 
• Data and insights: With paid search, you can gain important insights into competitor strategies, while also learning more about your own audiences. Slice, dice, test—and ultimately create a digital marketing strategy that really shines. As you examine patterns, behaviors, conversions, and more, you can use this information to boost other marketing efforts.
• If you’d like to find out what PPC management for pest control companies can do to help you meet your particular business needs, please get in touch.

Paid search strategies can include more than one type of ad. The bulk of them are text ads, such as Google Ads, but SEM/PPC goes beyond that. Here are examples:

• Retargeting ads: If a user already has participated in some degree of engagement, perhaps putting something into a shopping cart, this type of ad may be shown to them. This type of ad can also be shown if a person’s search activity would indicate their interest in a product/service.
• Display ads: These are placed in the footer, across the top, or along the sides of a web page. 
• Call-only ads: If a prospect clicks on one of these ads, this starts a phone call, rather than taking them to a landing page. These ads are only displayed on devices where a call can be completed.

Sure! You can search on Google for how-to articles and videos that guide you from setting up a PPC campaign to bidding and more. The real question may be how much time you would need to devote to the campaign to make money, ideally the optimal amount. 

For the most favorable returns, the amount of time needed is not insignificant. You’ll need to invest time into the original setup, from keyword research to ad creation to landing page design; continue to monitor and adjust campaigns; and more. 

More specifically, you’ll need to dial in bids to balance costs and performance, which takes time. If bids are too low, then you’ll get less impression share than you should. Too high and money is wasted that could go towards gaining new customers. Bidding for PPC is not a set it and forget it kind of thing, and we’ve had numerous long-term customers who originally contacted us when PPC management took too much time—time they could have spent running their businesses.

Plus, besides closely monitoring bids and adjusting them, as needed, you’d need to keep up with constant changes with the search engines and their PPC programs. This, by itself, takes plenty of time, but it’s important to do because innovations are always taking place, ones that can make a big difference in your campaigns.

DAGMAR Marketing can manage all of your PPC management for pest control companies, from competitive research and campaign strategy to the creation, optimization, and management of your campaigns. We’d love to hear from you, whether you’ve done some PPC advertising in-house or want to talk about what you’d need to invest to make PPC worth your while.

It may not be for every business, but paid search is an efficient way to generate quality leads in a fairly short amount of time. When done right, it’s affordable, often making it worth the investment. 

Our DAGMAR team can take an initial look at your situation and your budget estimate, and let you know if PPC would be a good option (or if it isn’t). Get in touch with us for a free consultation.

Yes! Paid search works well with other channels and can help them to become more successful. The reality is that PPC works optimally when it is integrated with other marketing campaigns.

When selecting a PPC agency, use the same criteria as you would with any type of service provider:

• Technical expertise: Look for an agency with deep technical skills. Although there’s some art involved, it’s largely science based. Also look for an agency that keeps up with the ongoing changes of PPC because paid search continually evolves. Plus, the agency you choose should be highly skilled in creating ads and landing pages. 
• Reputation: Take a two-pronged approach: ask for references and check out online reviews. 
• Customization: Every element that makes your pest control business unique can play a role in your paid search strategy because PPC must be customized to each client’s business. What works for one location, for example, won’t necessarily work for another.
• Results: Nothing is more compelling than positive results an agency gets for clients, especially if they’re in the same industry as your business. So, ask an agency for this information. If you don’t get what you need, move on. 
• Customer service: Ask for the contact information of your day-to-day contact and how easily available this person will be. Also ask how often reports will be sent to you, what they’ll include, and in what format. Paid search campaigns are complex and you’ll want comprehensive information about how yours is performing. It’s too easy for an agency to just provide part of the story. 
• Contracts: Get information about the length of your contract. Many reputable PPC firms will operate on a month-by-month contract, while others will want a longer commitment. While a longer contract isn’t necessarily a red flag, that is a situation that is more favorable to the agency, rather than your pest control company.

Results can come quickly with pay-per-click advertising. In fact, you may see them in just a few weeks. Then, as this data is collected and analyzed by DAGMAR, results for your PPC pest control campaign should continue to improve. We’ll share results in your monthly reports and are available to discuss your progress at any time.

Signing up is free and you’ll only pay when someone clicks on one of your Google Ads or when a phone call is triggered. Then, how much you’ll pay depends upon a variety of factors. The ultimate cost for this advertising will depend on your ad’s relevance, how much competition there is for the targeted keywords, and how many clicks you get. Different keywords have different costs, with some being so expensive that they’re just not worth using.

If you’re new to paid search and would like to know more about how costs are determined, please give us a call.

When promoting your brand, you could be using one or more of three types of media: earned, owned, and paid. Each is important for an overall online marketing strategy that performs well for you. When you pay to have marketing content appear somewhere outside of your own website, that’s paid media. This is in contrast to owned media, such as your own blog and web pages where you have complete control. Earned media is when a customer leaves a review or a media source mentions your company. Earned media happens organically. 

So, by those definitions, paid media refers to online ads, including “sponsored” and “promoted” content on social media platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn. This type of media demonstrates the flexibility of digital marketing, with a variety of options providing your company with some control over how your ads are targeted, making them both efficient and cost-effective.