At First Rank, we help our clients improve their visibility on Google; our goal is to create funnels for high-quality leads that are actively looking for the products and services you offer. Search engine optimization (SEO) is one way to make it to the top of the search engine results page—pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns are another.
PPC campaigns are a type of digital marketing campaign focused on paid ads; the goal is to get ad placement in front of relevant viewers. We created this glossary to help our clients better understand the terms used in Google Ads campaigns:
- A/B Testing: A user experience research method where two variants of an ad are presented to different customers to evaluate which version performs best.
- Ad Extensions: Free assets that can be used in Google Ads; they can add images, phone numbers, website links, prices, and more to Search ads.
- Ad Group: A group that contains one or more ads sharing a common theme.
- Ad Rank: A score assigned to ads to determine if they are eligible to be displayed, based on factors including bids, quality, search terms, and competitiveness.
- Auction: A real-time process where Ad Ranks are used to determine who wins the right to pay for ad space.
- Automated Bidding: A strategy in which Google automatically changes your bid based on the likelihood that your ad will result in a click or a conversion.
- Broad Match: A Search ad keyword match type where searches related to your keyword may display ads—for example, the search “PPC Glossary” may display ads for the broad match keyword “Google Ads”.
- Budget: The amount you are willing to spend on a given campaign, usually set to a daily spending limit.
- Call-To-Action (CTA): A prompt designed to encourage an audience to take a specific action—Buy Now, Sign Up Today, Learn More, and Join Us—are common examples.
- Campaign: A set of ad groups (ads, keywords, and bids) that share a budget, location targeting, and other features.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): The number of times an ad is clicked divided by the number of times the ad is displayed, as a percentage. For example, 1 click every 100 displays is a 1% CTR.
- Conversion: A specific, desired action that a user takes. Conversions can include form completions, signing up for newsletters, purchases, and more.
- Conversion Rate: The number of conversions divided by the number of ad interactions, as a percentage. If 1 person converts for every 100 people who interact with an ad, the conversion rate is 1%.
- Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA): The total cost to acquire a customer or lead; in Google Ads, it is calculated by the total cost of conversions divided by the total number of conversions.
- Cost-Per-Click (CPC): The total cost to get a customer to click on your ad. In Google Ads, you can set the maximum price you are willing to pay per click in CPC bidding campaigns.
- Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI): A Google Ads feature that automatically customizes ad text to include a keyword that matches the user’s search.
- Exact Match: A Search ad keyword match type where the search must include the keyword the ad is targeting for the ad to display.
- Geo-Targeting: A setting that allows you to choose target locations for your ads.
- Google Ads: Google’s online advertising platform.
- Google Adwords: The former name of Google Ads.
- Google Display Network: A network of websites where Google Display ads can appear, including 35 million different websites and apps, YouTube, and Gmail.
- Impressions: The number of times your ad is shown.
- Keyword: Words or phrases you choose that determine when and where your ad can appear.
- Landing Page: A page that displays when users click on your ads, designed to increase conversion rates.
- Manual Bidding: A style of bidding where you manually select how much you are willing to pay for each click or impression.
- Match Type: The type of search term that your ad targets; the match types are broad match, phrase match, and exact match.
- Negative Keyword: A type of keyword that will exclude your ad from being displayed on searches that include that keyword.
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC): A type of advertising in which advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their ad. The most common type of online advertising, used by Google, Meta, and X (among others).
- Phrase Match: A match type where the search includes the meaning of your keyword. For example, the keyword “Google Ads” may be a phrase match for “What is the best way to advertise online”.
- Quality Score: A score on a scale of 1 to 10 that evaluates the quality of your ad compared to other advertisers, based on relevance, expected CTR, and landing page experience. This is a key factor in auction performance.
- Remarketing: Ads that target users who have already visited your site or engaged with your brand.
- Responsive Search Ads (RSA): A type of search ad that enables you to automatically test different combinations of headlines and descriptions to learn which ones work best. Closely related to A/B testing (also called multivariate testing)
- Return On Ad Spend (ROAS): The amount of revenue you generate for every dollar spent on an ad campaign.
- Search Network: The network of websites on which search ads can appear, including Google Search, Maps, Shopping, Images, and the websites of Google search partners.
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM): A set of digital marketing strategies used to improve the visibility of websites on search engines. SEM includes search engine optimization (SEO) and Google Search Ads.
- Smart Bidding: Bidding strategies that use Google AI to optimize for conversions or conversion value.
- Smart Campaign: A type of Google Ads campaign that uses AI to automatically optimize your bid and targeting based on goals like maximizing impressions or maximizing clicks.
- Target CPA: An automated bidding strategy that aims to get as many conversions or customer actions as possible; your target CPA (cost-per-action) sets your desired average cost per conversion.
- Target ROAS: A Smart Bidding strategy that uses AI to predict the value of a potential conversion, and adjusts your bid appropriately to achieve your target return on ad spend (ROAS).
- TrueView Video Ads: A type of YouTube ad that displays in-stream (before or during another YouTube video) or alongside other YouTube videos, in YouTube search pages, or on websites in the Google Display Network. You only pay for TrueView ads if the user watches to the end of your ad or for a minimum of 30 seconds (in-stream), or if they choose to click on your video.
- View-Through-Rate (VTR): The percentage of viewers who watch a video ad for a set period of time. For example, if you set your view through rate to the end of your ad, and 1 in 100 viewers watch your ad to the end, your VTR is 1%.
- With targeted ads that match relevant search queries, your pay-per-click advertising can generate an incredible return on investment. At First Rank, we offer a full suite of SEM services, including SEO and PPC marketing. Ready to run an ad campaign that works, backed by tried and tested analytics? For Google Ads Management Services, choose First Rank—today.
Jacob Kettner is the owner and CEO of First Rank Inc., a digital marketing agency based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He currently sits on Manitoba Chamber of Commerce Small Business Advisor Council which assists people grow their small businesses in Manitoba.
