Paid search

Capture high-intent prospects who are actively searching for a solution by bidding on the keywords they type and showing up in the search results.

Paid search, usually shortened to PPC (pay-per-click), is the practice of buying ads that appear in a search engine's results when someone types a query relevant to what you sell. You bid on keywords; the platform shows your text ad, shopping card or call unit; and you pay only when someone clicks. That fee per click is the CPC (cost per click). Think of it as renting pole position on Google so your offer surfaces at the exact moment a prospect is asking for it.

The whole point is intent. Unlike paid social, where you interrupt people who are scrolling, paid search answers a question someone has already asked out loud ("best B2B CRM pricing", "cyber-security audit UK"). That is why it converts so much better, and why the clicks cost more: you are buying people at the bottom of the funnel.

Three things make or break a campaign, and each maps to a tool.

The landing page. Never send paid clicks to your generic homepage. Say you're running a campaign on "SOC 2 automation software". Build one tight landing page per ad group in Unbounce, with a headline that mirrors the exact query, one offer, and one call to action. Message match between the keyword, the ad and the page is what lifts your conversion rate (and your Quality Score, which lowers your CPC).

Where the lead lands. A click is worthless if the lead leaks. Say a prospect books a demo off your ad. Wire the form straight into Pipedrive so the deal is created the moment they convert, tagged with the campaign and keyword that won it. Now you can see which search terms actually become revenue, not just which ones become clicks.

The tracking layer. You can only optimise what you can measure. Say you want to feed conversions back to Google's smart bidding. Install Google Tag Manager as your single container, fire a conversion event on the thank-you page, and (consent permitting) push it back to the ad platform so the algorithm learns which clicks pay off.

Google Ads dominates the volume, but it is not the only auction. Microsoft Ads often delivers cheaper clicks and a strong B2B audience that skews older and desktop-heavy. The discipline is the same everywhere: map jobs-to-be-done into keyword clusters, structure campaigns so the data tells you what to keep and what to cull, match the offer to the funnel stage, and keep a tight negative-keyword list so you stop paying for the wrong searches.

Run it alongside SEO and you get the best of both: paid search harvests the demand that exists today, SEO compounds a moat for tomorrow. The trap to avoid is treating paid search as set-and-forget. It is a continuous optimisation game, and the moment you stop tending it, the traffic and the margin both walk.

Map intent before keywords

List the jobs-to-be-done your solution tackles, then translate each job into questions a prospect would search. “Automate SOC 2 reports” or “B2B podcast agency pricing.” Group by similarity; those clusters form ad groups. Intent first, syntax second.

Choose the right platforms

• Google Ads – unrivalled volume, sophisticated bidding, extensive extensions (callouts, sitelinks, structured snippets). Competitive, but Quality Score rewards relevance.
• Microsoft Ads – 5 – 15 % of search volume in most English-speaking markets, often half the CPC. Syncs with Google editor exports, so duplication is easy.
• Secondary engines (DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Yahoo Japan) – low volume but niche wins where CPC elsewhere is brutal. Test with exact-match high-intent terms.
• Marketplace search – Amazon, G2, Capterra: technically CPC search ads inside walled gardens. Ideal if your buyers research there.

Structure for data clarity

1. Campaign – one goal or product line (e.g. “B2B CRM UK”).
2. Ad group – tight keyword theme so copy matches query.
3. Ads – at least three responsive search ads; pin primary promise in headline 1.
4. Landing pages – one per ad group for perfect message match; no generic home page dumps.

A clean hierarchy prevents “garbage in, garbage out” reporting. If 50 keywords share one ad, you never learn which query resonates.

Align bidding with business value

• Target max conversions when volume is priority.
• Target CPA once you know acceptable cost per MQL.
• Target ROAS when offline revenue tracking feeds back into Google or Microsoft.

Manual CPC still has a place for low-volume, high-value keywords give algorithms data they can learn from; hand-adjust the rest.

Match PPC with funnel stage

• Top-of-funnel queries (“what is sales pipeline”) – cheaper clicks, guide/nurture offers, brand building.
• Mid-funnel queries (“sales pipeline template”) – comparison pages, toolkits, webinars.
• Bottom-funnel queries (“best pipeline software price”) – demo CTAs, pricing pages, call extensions.

Layer remarketing lists or customer match to raise bids for previous site visitors and idle SQLs paid search becomes a BoFu accelerant, not just ToFu.

PPC versus SEO

• Speed – PPC is instant; SEO compounds but is slow.
• Cost curve – PPC costs every click; SEO costs content upfront, clicks feel free later.
• Control – PPC copy and placement can be tweaked anytime; SEO rankings dance to Google’s algorithm.
• Longevity – PPC stops when budget ends; evergreen SEO traffic persists.

Winning B2B teams run both: paid search captures demand today; SEO builds a moat for tomorrow.

PPC versus paid social advertising

• Intent – searchers announce a need; social users scroll for news or networking.
• Targeting – paid search is keyword + audience; social is audience + creative hook.
• Creative – search demands concise text; social rewards visuals and storytelling.

Use paid social to create demand (new pain awareness) and paid search to harvest that demand when prospects Google for a solution.

Frequently asked questions

Is bidding on competitor brand names worth it?

Brand-bidding can work if your product offers a strong differentiator and the CPC is reasonable. Expect lower Quality Score and watch for legal restrictions on trademarks.

How big a budget do I need to start?

Enough to reach statistical significance. For low-volume niches that might be £500 a month; for broader markets, £2 – 3 k is a realistic floor to gather meaningful data within six weeks.

Does broad match still make sense?

With modern AI-driven matching, broad can unlock hidden terms but pair it with smart bidding and negative-keyword discipline. I start with phrase/exact for control, then layer broad once conversion data guides the algorithm.

What about click fraud?

Most engines auto-filter obvious fraud. Third-party tools monitor suspicious IPs, but focus first on Quality Score and keyword intent; wasted spend from poor structure dwarfs fraud in 90 % of accounts I audit.

Recap

Paid search is intent-driven advertising: you pay only when someone clicks an ad tailored to the words they typed. Its power lies in immediacy, scalability and data fidelity. Mastery comes from mapping jobs-to-be-done into keyword clusters, structuring campaigns for clarity, and layering audiences and bidding strategies to match funnel stage. Combine it with SEO for compounding reach and with paid social for demand creation, and you have a full-spectrum growth engine that has served me and dozens of B2B teams profitably since 2010.

Paid search matters because it captures prospects at the precise moment they're actively seeking solutions peak buying intent that other channels struggle to match. Unlike outbound tactics that interrupt people, or content marketing that waits for organic discovery, paid search meets prospects exactly when and where they're researching. This intent-driven nature produces conversion rates 3-5× higher than display advertising or social media, making paid search especially valuable for B2B offerings where deal values justify higher acquisition costs. The channel also provides immediate results: launch a campaign this morning, see leads this afternoon, unlike SEO or content marketing that require months of compound effort. This makes paid search ideal for testing messaging, offers, and market demand before committing to longer-term investments. The ability to target exact keywords also enables precise audience segmentation: bid aggressively on high-value terms like "enterprise marketing platform," whilst capturing informational traffic cheaply with "what is marketing automation." For businesses in competitive markets, paid search ensures visibility even when organic rankings lag competitors. The measurability is also unmatched every click, conversion, and pound of cost is tracked, enabling constant optimisation and clear ROI calculation. However, paid search comes with challenges: costs have risen steadily as competition intensifies, Quality Scores require constant attention to maintain ad positions without escalating bids, and traffic stops instantly when budget runs out. Organisations that succeed with paid search treat it as a continuous optimisation game rather than set-and-forget advertising, regularly testing ad copy, refining keyword targeting, and improving landing page conversion to maintain profitable cost-per-acquisition as competition increases.