The internet is now the world’s marketplace. Around 85% of the UK population shops online, and as a business, you are competing against millions of companies for internet users’ attention.
Though it may be marketed as, or seem to be, the internet, search engines like Google and Bing do not always give every website an equal chance. Paid search marketing is a type of digital marketing that is one of the fastest ways to get your business in front of ready-to-buy customers.
Utilising this specific form of pay-per-click marketing can help your business grow organically and attract more eyes to you. We’re going to dive into how it works, the platforms you can use, how to build an effective campaign and why you should measure your results.
What Is Paid Search Marketing?
When you search for something on Google or another search engine, you get a list of results. Organic results are those that have maximised their SEO through free methods to be at the top of the list. Other results are right at the top because they have paid to be.
This may seem like cheating or unfair, but paid search marketing is when you pay for your site to be at the top of pages when a relevant search query is made. That means that you’ll appear to potential customers to answer intents and questions that users are already asking.
How Paid Search Works
Paid search marketing works on an auction system that happens in real-time. When a person searches for something, the search engine decides which ads will appear for that user and how much you, as the marketer, will pay if the ad is clicked on.
It’s a sophisticated process that happens in the blink of an eye.
The Ad Auction
When a user searches for something, the search engine decides whether the query has commercial intent (they are looking for a service or product) and then the ad auction begins.
As an advertiser, you have bid on specific keywords to be in this search engine’s ad auction. The search engine, like Google, determines where ads will appear depending on a number of factors, such as how much you are willing to spend if your ad is clicked on, the relevance of it and the quality of your ad and website.
Quality Score
Quality score is what search engines like Google and Microsoft use alongside your bid to determine how relevant your ad and content is to users. It is a score from 1 to 10, and the core components of quality score are:
- Expected CTR – How likely people are to click through on the ad.
- Ad relevance – How closely your ad matches the intent of a user’s search.
- Landing page experience – How good the page users click through to is. Is it well designed? Easy to navigate? Fast loading? Actually relevant?
Key Paid Search Platforms
Despite the rise of social media, where more and more people are going to get recommendations, advice and news, search engines are still central to users’ online experience. 68% of all online experiences begin with a search engine, and the two platforms that dominate the space are Google and Bing (Microsoft).
Google Ads
Google holds around 91% of the global market share of search engines. That means that Google Ads has a wide audience size and reach. The platform is flexible, able to have ads on results pages, as visual ads on relevant websites or apps and on YouTube.
Competition is high, though, and the average cost per click (CPC) is usually higher.
Google Ads are suitable for basically any business, but especially average consumers who use mobile search more.
Microsoft Ads
Bing is the second most popular search engine, with a global market share of 4.5%. Despite that, because of Microsoft, ads can have a substantial reach across platforms such as Bing, Yahoo, LinkedIn and Netflix.
Competition is lower too, and the average CPC is typically 20 to 40% cheaper than Google Ads. Microsoft Ads tend to perform better with older, desktop users and professionals. They can work for you, especially if you are looking to reach other businesses, rather than single consumers.
Building a Paid Search Campaign
You can’t just jump into a paid search campaign. To avoid wasting money, you need to think about what you want out of a campaign and make a plan.
Keyword Research
You need to find keywords to target. This is the core of a campaign, so you should do your research, finding keywords that match users’ intent, are relevant to your product or service, look at the competition, as popular ones will be expensive and prioritise keywords with high potential.
Platforms such as Google Keyword Planner are really helpful for this stage.
Writing Effective Ad Copy
To be chosen by a search engine to appear to users, your ads need to be compelling and helpful. Your ads need to hook people in, clearly show the value of what you are advertising and have a strong call to action so that users know exactly what to do next.
Setting a Budget and Bidding Strategy
You should know how much you are willing to spend and how your bidding will work. It is best to start small, monitor how you are spending your money and scale up or down if you need to. Google allows you to set a maximum bid cap so you don’t spend more than you mean to.
There are various bidding strategies to employ, such as:
- Manual bidding
- Automated bidding
- Smart bidding
- Maximise conversions
- Target cost per acquisition
- Target return on ad spend
Measuring Paid Search Success
You can spend all the money in the world, but if you don’t look at how your ads are performing, it could be money going down the drain.
Core metrics to look at when measuring paid search success include:
- Click-through rate (CTR) – How many people clicked on the ad.
- Cost-per-click (CPC) – The price you pay for each click on the ad.
- Conversion rate – The percentage of clicks that turned into a conversion.
- Return on ad spend (ROAS) – How much revenue is earned for every pound spent on the campaign.
There are vanity metrics, such as impressions, that can look good but may not be useful. Impressions are how many people have viewed your ad, which could be a lot, but if no one clicks through, then it can be meaningless.
You need to look at a wide range of metrics to get better context and a clearer understanding of how successful your campaign is.
Getting Started With Paid Search
If you feel you are ready to launch a paid search campaign, it can be easy to get the ball rolling.
The first natural step is to think about what you want out of a campaign. Is it just about sales or getting more eyes on your products and services? Also think about what audience you are trying to reach; how much you are willing to spend; and what keywords you want to hit.
If you don’t feel qualified to get started alone or want to avoid wasting time and money with trial and error, you might want to consider getting expert help. Digital marketing professionals can help you craft a paid search campaign that avoids early mistakes and sets up a strong foundation for future efforts.
Get Started with Paid Search Marketing Today
Paid search marketing can be key to helping you expand your business and reach customers that are perfect for you.
It can be hard to get your head around initially, and mistakes can cost you time and money. Professional expertise can help you save on wasted ad spend and create a marketing strategy that fits your business.
Get in touch with us at Maxweb Solutions for a casual chat about setting up or auditing a paid search campaign.
Posted on Friday, September 18th, 2026 in Digital Marketing.
