What is a Paid Search Analyst?
Paid search analysts are responsible for developing and implementing strategies to manage search engine marketing, otherwise known as SEM. At a high level, Paid Search primarily involves creating a paid search media strategy. The strategy must take into account company goals, and how to achieve them by bidding on certain keywords at certain times. The ultimate goal of a paid search analyst is to get as many "success" metrics as possible (clicks, conversions, or impressions) on search results pages with as little budget as possible, which is accomplished through keyword research, bidding, campaign structures and budget optimization.
Google Search Console and SEM Rush are the most popular tools for paid search analysts to identify and bid on keywords. To bid on a keyword, a paid search analyst must do research to see how much it would cost to put the ad somewhere in front of a user on a Google (or bing, or where ever) search results page. Using those numbers, they can create a budget that optimizes for their success metric. This budget and plan often fluctuates, as competitors change and alter their strategies too. It's somewhat like playing chess!
The two main success metrics for search ads are engagement/performance or awareness. Engagement success is measured by the number of clicks or conversions from the ads, while sometimes brand awareness is simply measured by how many "impressions" their ad has on users. Impressions are a measurement tool to see how many times your ad has loaded for users. This is somewhat technical, but a "viewable impression" is how many impressions were seen by users. This metric can vary depending on the type of ad (search, display, and video), here is the official definition for each type from Google.
This role requires keeping up to date with keyword research and cost, tracking website traffic and page speed performance, and keeping tabs on advertising trends for your industry.
Sometimes this role can also be named SEM Analyst.
What does a Paid Search Analyst do?
Your responsibilities can range from implementing pay per click (PPC) strategies to making bids for targeted keywords. You are then responsible for reporting on the performance of a PPC strategy to clients and making suggestions for improvements.
This is different from an SEO analyst in that paid search analysts are only responsible for attracting more paid traffic (the websites at the top of your screen, with “ad” next to them).
We'll say this several times, but keyword research skills are absolutely essential in this position.
Do I need a degree to be a Paid Search Analyst?
None required for an associate/entry level position. While this role seems more technical, paid search analysts can come from all backgrounds and degree-types.
Job descriptions will often mention a requirement of something STEM related, but often psychology majors do well here because they’re able to understand the “why” behind user interactions and enjoy the keyword research.
- Data entry and receptionist professionals
- Accounting and budgeting roles
- Ex-advertising folks
- Liberal arts degrees with a writing twist (for reporting and data storytelling)
Our Favorite Paid Media Analyst Certifications
Learning PPC with Google Ads
LinkedIn Learning is free with a LinkedIn Premium subscription ($30/month). This course is great if you're new to marketing and interested in learning about more options than just paid search analytics.
Google Ads Training (AdWords): Paid Search (PPC) Ads
This class teaches the difference between SEO and SEM, how to create a converting ad, and how to budget and bid for keywords. The class has 4.2 stars with more than 12k students, and only costs $20.
Data Analytics
Google Sponsors a data analytics certificate program through Coursera. This is one of the more coveted certificates in the industry for Google Analytics, and as a paid search analyst we highly recommend getting familiar.
Career Path of a Paid Search Analyst
*Or Associate
What is a Paid Search Analyst's salary?
We've aggregated thousands of salaries across glassdoor and linkedin, and paid media analysts can make anywhere between 65k - 75k, depending on their location and skillsets.
Top Skills of a Paid Search Analyst
We've compiled thousands of job descriptions for paid search analysts to record the most common requirements to save you time. While preparing for interviews, keep in mind specific times you've demonstrated these skills.
- Own execution and optimization of paid search campaigns across Google Ads & Microsoft Advertising platforms.
- Report and analyze campaign performance data with a focus on performance KPIs and continuous optimization.
- Handle day-to-day account management including campaign optimization, audience creation, budget management, and testing ideation and execution.
- Report on campaign performance to stakeholders up and down the organization.
- Communicate externally with vendor and client teams to plan, manage, and debrief on campaigns.
- Analyze, report on, and give recommendations for driving account growth on both top and bottom line KPIs.
- Collaborate on paid search strategy, including coordination with conversion rate optimization and retargeting teams, to build top-notch digital experiences.
Top Tools of a Paid Search Analyst
We've also compiled the most common tools listed in job description. If you're serious about becoming a paid search analyst, get familiar with these and be ready to talk about them.
For Gathering Quantitative Data
- SEM Rush
- Google Analytics
- Amplitude
- Heap
- Mixpanel
For Running Paid Search Ads
- Google Search Console
- Google Adwords
- Kenshoo
Other Helpful Tools
- Google Trends
- Cision
- Marin
- Google Merchant Center
For Task Management
- ASANA
- Clickup
- Notion
Key Traits & Competencies of a Successful Paid Search Analyst
As a Paid Search Analyst, you'll work most with:
Difference between Data Analyst, Marketing Analyst & Paid Media Analyst
The same situation follows with paid search analysts. Paid search analysts are a specialization within marketing analytics. So while all paid search analysts are marketing analysts, NOT all marketing analysts are paid search analysts. And all paid search analysts are also data analysts!
To recap: Paid Search Analyst is a specialization within marketing analytics, and marketing analytics is a specialization within data analytics.
Get Quick Paid Search Experience
Learning on the job is one of the fastest ways to get familiar with new topics, and showing is much better than telling. Use a website creator to write about something you're passionate about, and use Youtube to learn how to implement free Google Analytics. Then get a free Google Performance account and monitor your organic search rankings. Try learning adjustments, making tweaks, and learning headlines to have a mini "portfolio" to talk about on interviews.
Conclusion
Key Takeaway: paid search analysts help develop and implement paid strategies on search engines to drive strong marketing performance and support business goals. Their overarching field is known as SEM, or Search Engine Marketing.
Paid search analytics is a niche role that does not have as much competition as some other flashy tech roles, making it a great one to break into the field. Once you're in, you're in.
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