What is PPC and How Can It Help Your Business?

PPC Advertising, or Pay-Per-Click Advertising, is online advertising where advertisers pay a fee every time their ad is clicked. Advertisers set a budget and bid on keywords related to their product or service to appear when searched on engines like Google, Bing, or social media. PPC is one of the fastest-growing digital marketing channels and is a vital tool in driving targeted traffic and measurable results.

PPC works by businesses or brands bidding on keywords in an auction-based system to display their ads when users search those keywords. Advertisers only pay when someone clicks on the ad, rather than traditional advertising, where a one-time fee is paid for a banner, commercial, or print ad, whether people see it or not.  Ad placement and ranking are determined by an auction that considers both the advertiser’s maximum bid and their quality score.

Common PPC platforms include Google Ads, Bing, Facebook/Instagram, and LinkedIn. The platform you choose will depend on budget and target audience.

There are different types of PPC Ads, including:

• Search Ads: These are text-based and appear in Google Search results

• Display Ads: These are visual banners across websites

• Social Media Ads: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok all offer social media advertising

• Shopping Ads: E-Commerce ads

• Video Ads: Ads before and during a YouTube video.

Common PPC Terms:

• Keywords: A word or phrase that people enter into search engines to find information or services. In PPC, you bid on keywords to get your ad to show up when people search these terms.

• Negative Keywords: Words or phrases that prevent your ad from showing up in search results. For example, if you are Nike, you don’t want your ad to show up for “bad shoes” or “ugly shoes” so those might be some of your negative keywords.

• Landing Page: Where people end up on your website after they click on your ad. It is important that the page is relevant because it can affect your Quality Score.

• Quality Score: A search engine ranking based on relevance, landing page quality, and expected CTR. This helps determine the cost of your keyword bids.

• Bid Strategy: The approach for setting bids to achieve your campaign goals. Are you prioritizing clicks, conversions, or impression share? If your end goal is for people to see your ad, use impressions; if it is to click on your ad, use clicks; and if it is conversions, like purchasing or signing up, use conversions. There are benefits to each bid strategy depending on your goals.

• Ad Rank: The position of your ad on a search engine results page (SERP). This is determined by bid and quality score. The better your ad rank, the higher your add will appear in search results.

• Impressions: The number of times an ad is shown. This is used to determine your ad reach and is important for other metrics like CPM.

• CTR (Click-Through Rate): The percentage of ad views that resulted in clicks on your ad. Ideally, this number is high. If it is low, it could be a sign your ad isn’t encouraging people to click on it.

• CPC (Cost Per Click): Advertisers pay per click on their ad. Determines how much you’ve spent on each ad click. Ideally, this is low. If it is high, it could be a sign you are spending money targeting the wrong audience

• CPM (Cost per Mille or Thousand Impressions): The cost for 1,000 views of an ad. Used to show how much was spent on your ad to be seen. Like CPC, this is also ideally low..

• Conversion Rate: The percentage of clicks that result in the action you wanted, like a purchase or a sign-up. The higher the conversion rate, the more successful your ad.

Why PPC Can Help Your Business

• Immediate Visibility: SEO is a helpful organic tool to appear in search, but PPC ads appear at the top of search results, even if your SEO isn’t strong yet, ensuring you are found.

• Targeted Reach: PPC allows you to reach your desired audience by targeting age, location, intent, demographics, or interests.

• Budget Flexibility: PPC allows you to spend as much or as little as you want based on your budget, and it can be adjusted anytime.

• Measurable ROI: PPC has detailed data about your ad performance, like cost per click and cost per impression, allowing you to see exactly where your ad spend is working.

See more in-depth information on the Benefits of PPC here.

Common PPC Misconceptions

• It is too expensive: While it can be expensive if you aren’t being strategic, PPC is scalable for any budget, and with the right expertise, the ROI can be very high.

• It doesn’t work for small businesses: PPC is great for local businesses. It is a useful tool to spend targeted ad dollars reaching potential customers in your area.

• SEO is enough- In some cases, yes, but PPC and SEO work well together. SEO is very useful but takes time. PPC offers instant visibility.

Getting Started with PPC 

It is important to set S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely) goals before diving into PPC. Before you set up your first ad, it is important to ensure that your landing pages that these ads lead to are optimized to convert clicks into customers. It can be easy to waste money on PPC if you don’t first understand your target markets and the platforms you are advertising on. PPC can be most effective with expert setup and ongoing optimization.

In conclusion, PPC is a highly effective digital advertising tool that, when used correctly, can drive immediate traffic to your website and bring qualified leads. PPC works well with the other digital advertising tools in your toolbelt and shouldn’t be ignored if you want to see quick results.

Ready to see what PPC Advertising can do for your business? Contact Solazzo Designs today to create a tailored PPC strategy.