Vertical Leap expands its PPC team (19/09/07)

Such is the level of business that leading search engine marketing agency, Vertical Leap, is expanding its Pay Per Click (PPC) team.

Internet advertising is expected to represent 18% of all UK advertising spend in the UK during 2007 – More than double the percentage in the US, or in any other European country according to recent figures released by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB).

Unlike organic search engine optimisation that can take months to take serious effect, PPC advertising results can be instantaneous.

A campaign launched in the morning can be achieving first page results by that afternoon. And with companies only paying for click throughs, the medium is regarded as one of the most targeted and cost effective around.

But this massive increase in popularity has inevitably resulted in the sector becoming hugely competitive, not only the creative standards of PPC advertising, but also the increasing complexity of the rules of engagement, the overall management and what works and what doesn’t.

But most noticeably, in keyword inflation.

Keywords and phrases which might have cost pence last year are spiraling upwards in cost and it is not unusual for companies to be paying upwards of £5, £10 and even £20+ per click for more competitive keywords.

Add to this the ever growing complexity of campaign planning, monitoring and adjustment and the need for proven specialists becomes increasingly apparent.

Matt Hopkins, Vertical Leap’s Managing Director says that his agency is still achieving good commercial results for its clients, but predicts that PPC will grow in complexity both in terms of campaign management and in particular, bid management.

“There has been a sea-change in the market already this year,” he points out, “many companies are faced with the stark reality of having to double or even treble their online budget to achieve the presence they had last year. Of course the alternative is to seek out better management of the overall campaign, not only in creative writing, but also in planning to squeeze maximum returns from a budget. The difference on larger campaigns can run into ten of thousands of pounds when looked at in efficiencies and increased sales and leads – hence the need for specialists and that’s why we’re expanding our team.”

Matt predicts that more companies will see the commercial sense of reviewing their current PPC arrangements primarily due to the increase in management time it is taking to achieve viable results: “ As keyword inflation continues it is crucial to develop a wide ranging campaign that capitalises on competitive words and phrases, but also in so called ‘long-tail’ results that may involve fewer click throughs, but a higher level of conversions, which overall means increasingly intense campaign monitoring and ‘attack’ in squeezing a budget for maximum return.”

Vertical Leap offers a free campaign evaluation service for clients who are currently managing campaigns themselves or who are looking for a fresh perspective on their PPC goals and results.