PPC for Restaurants
With paid search, advertisers bid on keywords, which a search engine matches to user search queries, and then display ads. It is also called PPC, or pay-per-click, because advertisers accrue costs when users click on their ads.
PPC is all about relevance. Users are searching for specific products, services, and information at any given time. Advertisers have the ability to show a targeted ad at the exact moment this search is happening. For example, if a user searches for “organic food takeaway”, you can show an ad speaking specifically to “organic food takeaway” for your restaurant. If organic SEO proves too difficult or time consuming, paid search, or PPC could be a great alternative for marketing your restaurant on search engines.
The main platforms are Google Adwords and Bing Ads.
The account structure is as follows
campaigns - Advertisers begin by creating individual campaigns around themes. For example, you might create a campaign with the theme “healthy food”.
ad groups - Within this campaign are themed subcategories, called ad groups. These ad groups may include: organic food; vegan food; healthy food; healthy drinks.
keywords - Each ad group then contains a list of keyword variations. For example the “organic food” ad group may contain these keywords: organic food for breakfast, organic food brunch, organic food lunch, organic food dinner, best organic food, organic food nearby.
There are two campaigns types:
search campaigns - on the Search Network
display campaigns - on the Display Network
The Search Network is the most common targeting option. The Search Network consists of google.com and Google’s Search Partners, such as aol.com, amazon.com, and many more. The Search Network is the primary keyword based advertising. In other words, searchers type in queries for which ads are shown.
The primary ad type for search campaigns is text ads, which includes these elements:
headline (up to 25 characters)
description line 1 (up to 35 characters)
description line 2 (up to 35 characters)
display URL (up to 35 characters)
The Display Network consists of millions of sites that agree to show Google text, image, and video ads. These ads are shown within the site’s content and don’t utilise traditional keyword based targeting, but rather audiences and demographics. For example, a user may visit a blog that talks about the history of coffee tables. Even though the user isn’t necessarily in a buying mode, the content is relevant to coffee tables. The user may or may not click the ad, but is ultimately now aware of the brand. Google estimate that their display network provides coverage to over 90% of all Internet users. It is the largest contextual advertising network available on the Internet.
There are a variety of ad types for display campaigns, including:
text ads
image ads
rich media ads
video ads
There are a variety of ad sizes for image ads and rich media ads, in the following categories:
square and rectangle
skyscraper
leaderboard
mobile
Each site that signs up to carry Google ads choose the ad blocks that best first their website layout, and they vary across all the sites that are part of the display network. So if you want your ads to be able to show on a variety of websites, then it is best practice to create display ads in a variety of sizes. If you don’t create ads to fit all the different ad blocks listed, you will limit your reach on the display network. If you don’t have the time or effort to create image ads, then you could use Google’s Display Ad Builder. Be sure to include a clear call-to-action or branding message within each of your ads, and use a design that is consistent with the look and feel of your website.
You can target audiences on the display network to narrow your reach to people most likely to be interested in your offer. Here’s the range of targeting methods:
placement targeting - Placement targeting refers to the option of choosing which websites you want to appear on.
contextual targeting - Contextual targeting utilises the keywords related to your business and your concept.
topic targeting - Topic targeting allows you to choose from an existing list of page topics, meaning that your ads will only display on pages about that topic.
interest targeting - The list of interest categories available to advertises is similar to the list of topics, but this targeting method is different to targeting by topic. The difference is that while topic targeting target the page content of the sites, interest targeting targets the users.
There are a variety of campaign settings to configure, including:
device targeting - Ads can be shown across all devices, including:
desktop / laptops
tablets
mobile devices
location targeting - PPC targeting is very granular, going to to the post code or zip code level. Advertisers have many options to ensure that their ads show only in desired locations. You could show an ad specifically to your suburb or town, and limit your ads to audiences in your area.
ad scheduling - Advertisers have the ability to run ads only at desired times. You may choose to only show ads during your restaurant’s opening hours.
budget - Each individual campaign is allowed a daily budget. Budgets should be created with your allowed advertising spend, goals, and ROI expectations in mind.
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Digibites is a digital agency for Bars, Cafes, and Restaurants. We specialise in digital marketing and creative solutions that will get new customers to your door and keep customers coming back.
Our services include: consulting, online marketing, website design, branding & graphic design. We also provide an online course.