What Is PPC (Pay Per Click) & How Does It Work?

Written by Ralph Chua
Last Updated On

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Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is a powerful digital marketing strategy used by businesses to quickly reach a highly targeted audience and drive traffic to their website.

From an SEO expert’s perspective, PPC can be a highly effective way to generate leads and increase conversions as long as it’s used strategically and with a clear understanding of the potential costs and benefits.

Pay-per-click advertising involves businesses paying for each click their ad receives, with the cost per click determined by a bidding system for specific keywords.

The effectiveness and ethics of PPC advertising are often debated, with some questioning its potential to drive quality leads and others expressing concerns about the fairness of the bidding system.

In this article, we’ll explore the ins and outs of PPC advertising and provide insights into:

  • How PPC works
  • PPC Benefits
  • PPC Drawbacks
  • PPC Best Rractices to help you maximize your return on investment.

Without further ado, let’s jump straight in!

What is PPC (Pay Per Click)

PPC is a form of internet marketing where advertisers pay a publisher (typically a website owner) each time one of their ads is clicked.

It is a way to generate traffic to your site, and can be very effective when done correctly.

In order for PPC to be effective, you need to create ads that are relevant to your target audience and the products or services you are offering.

You also need to make sure your landing page is optimized for conversions, so that visitors who click on your ad are more likely to buy what you are selling.

If you are new to PPC, it can be helpful to do some research and learn as much as you can about how it works.

What Is PPC Marketing

PPC marketing is an effective way to reach a specific target audience and achieve marketing goals, as long as it’s done strategically and with a clear understanding of the potential costs and benefits.

How Does PPC (Pay Per Click) Work?

PPC is a type of online advertising model.

Where you target relevant keywords based on keyword research on search queries.

It is a way to generate traffic to your site, and can be very effective when done correctly.

In order for PPC advertising to work, you first need to create ads that will be displayed on publishers’ websites.

These ads should be relevant to the content on the page, and should also include a call to action (such as “click here to learn more”).

You then need to create a landing page that will be used to collect leads or sell products/services.

The landing page should be relevant to the ad, and should also include a call to action.

The ad and landing page should work together, and be designed to get visitors to take a specific action (i.e., complete a purchase).

Why Use PPC?

There are several reasons why business owners should consider using PPC as a marketing tool.

First, PPC is a great way to generate traffic to your website.

When done correctly, PPC can help you reach a large audience quickly and easily.

Second, PPC is an effective way to test and track your marketing efforts.

You can use PPC to determine which ads are most effective, and you can also track how many visitors your ads are generating.

This information can help you fine-tune your marketing strategy and improve your overall results.

Third, PPC is a very cost-effective way to advertise your business.

When compared to other forms of advertising, PPC can help you reach a wide audience for a relatively low cost.

There are some considerations to keep in mind when using PPC, and we will discuss these next.

Have you notice the googles ads show on search engine results page (SERP).

Click Funnels Search Results

In this case ClickFunnels is running Google ads when someone type on their name “Click Funnels”

Benefits of Using PPC (Search Engine Advertising)

PPC can be a very effective way to advertise your business.

Here are some of the benefits of using PPC as part of your marketing strategy:

Output- Measurable Results

One of the benefits of PPC is that it can be a very measurable form of advertising.

You will have a better idea of your return on investment (ROI) with PPC, because you can directly track how many visitors your ads are generating.

PPC also allows you to test different types of marketing initiatives and track which strategies are most effective.

This information can help you fine-tune your marketing strategy and improve your overall results.

Lead Generation

Another benefit of PPC is that it can be a very powerful way to generate leads.

When your ads are displayed on relevant publisher websites, visitors are more likely to click on them.

If they complete a purchase or take some other desired action on the landing page you create, you will have new sales leads which you can use to generate more business.

Targeted Traffic

You can also use PPC to reach your target audience quickly and easily.

This is especially helpful if you do not have a large budget, or if you are just getting started with your marketing efforts.

Since you can specify keywords related to your products/services, you can get in front of the right people at little cost.

Brand Exposure

PPC can also help you increase your brand exposure.

When an ad appears on a publisher’s site, it will be displayed for all of that site’s visitors.

This means your ad could reach many new people who are interested in your products or services, but may not have heard of you before.          

Disadvantages of Using PPC

Like any marketing tool, there are some potential drawbacks to using PPC.

For example:

Higher Cost per Click (CPC)

One of the disadvantages of PPC is that advertisers pay a higher price for clicks on their ads.

This can be a drawback for companies with limited budgets, especially if they only have a few hundred dollars to spend on advertising each month.

Properly Managing Your Campaign

Another drawback of PPC is that it requires a significant amount of time and effort to manage properly.

You will need to create the ads, choose keywords, and continually track your results.

If you don’t have much experience with PPC, your ad could be accidentally paused by Google (or any publisher you use).

This can happen if you fail to renew the ad.

If this happens, your ad’s performance will not be tracked, which makes it difficult for you to determine whether or not PPC is a good strategy for your business.

Tips for Successful PPC Campaigns

When running a PPC campaign, it is important to keep the following tips in mind:

Choose the right keywords

One of the most important things you can do is to choose the right keywords for your ads.

Keywords are simply words or phrases people might use when searching online.

For example, if you are selling perfume, some possible keywords could be “perfume”, “fragrance”, and “scent”.

When deciding which keywords to use, don’t limit yourself to only the words that are most relevant for your products or services.

While it is good to choose keywords that are directly related to what you do, they may be more expensive due to high search volume.

Instead, you can also choose some long-tail keywords with low search volume, but which are more relevant to your products/services.

This can help you save money and get in front of the right people when you use PPC for marketing.

Create compelling ads

Your ads should be compelling enough to convince people to click on them.

They should also include the keywords you chose, so your ads show up when potential customers search for these words and phrases.

You should experiment with different types of ads (images vs. text) and see which ones perform best.

Then use these that work best for your business.

Track and Optimize Your Campaigns

You should track the performance of each ad you create.

It is important to measure the conversion rate (the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action on your landing page).

For example, if many people click on your ads, but only 2% actually sign up for an email newsletter, you should focus more of your efforts on ads that generate more conversions.

You can also use more specific metrics (conversions per keyword) to determine which keywords are performing the best.  

This will help you decide what keywords to continue using, and which ones to cut.          

If you keep these tips in mind, and experiment with various ads and keywords, you should be able to generate highly effective PPC campaigns.

Optimize your landing page

Once a person clicks on your ad, they will be taken to your landing page.

This is the page they see when arriving from your ad click.

It is important to optimize this page for conversions, so people will complete whatever action you want them to (such as signing up for an email newsletter or creating an account).

There are many tips for creating great landing pages, so I will not go into further detail about that here.

It is worth mentioning though because it is one of the most important things you can do to improve your PPC performance!

Test your ads

Don’t stop experimenting with new ads once you find some that work.

You can use split testing to test a control group against a treatment group to see which performs better.

For example, in an A/B test you could show one set of visitors a text ad, and another set of visitors the same ad but with different copy.

The visitors that click on the ad with better copy will be taken to your landing page (which should also be tested).

By running such an experiment, you can determine which ads get you more conversions and improve future PPC campaigns.

Set a budget

Since you only pay when people click on your ads, PPC can be a very affordable way to generate traffic.

Many businesses find that PPC is much more cost effective than other forms of advertising, such as purchasing banner ads or commercials.          

That being said, the budget you set should take into account how much you are willing to spend on PPC, based on the conversion rates seen by your ads.

You can also use Google Ads auction system to maintain your budget more effectively.

Common Mistakes in PPC Campaigns

There are three key areas where people often mess up when using PPC advertising.

The Ads

The first is with the ads themselves.

A lot of people feel that by simply including a link in an ad, they are good to go.

This is not the case, and usually these ads end up running for a very short time before getting turned off–if they even make it to approval!

You need to write your ads with your target audience in mind.

This means writing ads that are clear, persuasive, and to the point.

You need to entice people to click on them by offering value up front (e.g., “click here for 15% off today”) or offer something specific (e.g., “get the details now”).

The Landing Page

The second mistake is with the PPC landing pages.

Often, the ads and landing pages don’t work together to deliver a compelling call to action that will generate conversions.

Ideally, you should include some unique content on your landing pages (e.g., an infographic) and get the user to take an action such as downloading something or signing up for a free trial/membership.

Allocation

Finally, some people try to spread out their PPC advertising too thin.

You need to keep your ads and landing pages focused on one goal (e.g., increasing brand awareness).

If you try targeting too many different things, the lack of focus and clear objective will lead to inefficient campaigns where you are not getting the results you need.

PPC is an effective form of internet marketing that allows advertisers to pay for specific actions/visitors, rather than having to pay for impressions (if using banner ads on a website).

Advertisers set up their ads and choose the keywords they want to target, and each time a user clicks on their ad, they pay a certain amount.

Advertisers can set daily or monthly budgets for their campaigns–if you don’t make your budget one month, the ads will simply stop running until the next billing cycle.

To get started with PPC advertising, check out Google’s Adwords or Bing’s Adcenter.

Search Engines Marketing: PPC vs SEO

You may be wondering what’s the difference between PPC and SEO.

PPC (pay per click) and SEO (search engine optimization) are two different forms of internet marketing that can be used to generate traffic to your website.

PPC is a form of advertising where you pay a publisher (typically a website owner) each time someone clicks on one of your ads.

SEO, on the other hand, is the process of optimizing your website so that it appears higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Which one is better? The answer depends on your business and its goals.

PPC can be more effective than SEO when you are looking to generate immediate traffic to your website.

SEO, on the other hand, is a long-term strategy that will help your website rank higher in search engines, which means you should receive more targeted traffic over time.    

The Main Online Advertising Platforms

While PPC can be done on any search engine, two of the largest and most popular platforms are Google Ads and Bing’s Adcenter.

You can use either of these to reach more customers, but you’ll need to invest some time setting up your campaigns correctly (which will vary depending on what business you’re in).

Grow Your Business With Google Ads
Grow Your Business With Google Ads

Google’s main PPC platform is Ads (Formerly known as Google Adwords), and it offers advertisers the ability to reach customers based on their search behavior.

You can set up ads so that they will appear on Google search results pages (including Google Images), or you can choose to have them run only on the Display Network.

The Display Network is a network of publisher websites who have chosen to show ads on their website.

Grow Your Business With Google Ads

ads.google.com

Website: ads.google.com

Bing Ads (Microsoft Advertising)

The other major PPC platform is Bing’s Adcenter, which you can use to reach more customers looking for what you have to offer.

You also need to make sure your landing pages converts visitors into leads or sales, rather than having them bounce back to the SERPs.

You can get started with PPC advertising quickly by signing up for Google Ads or Bing’s Adcenter .

Website: ads.microsoft.com

Other PPC Ads Network

Google and Bing ads are not the only way to advertise with PPC. You can use other networks like:

Bidvertiser

Bidvertiser is an advertising network that allows you to show your ads on a large number of publisher websites.

The Direct Advertising Network Where Optimization Meets Transparency Finding the optimal match between advertisers and publishers has never been easier

bidvertiser.com

Website: bidvertiser.com

RevContent

RevContent is a content-targeted advertising network that allows you to choose which publishers you want your ads to show on.

Not all traffic is created equal. With a focus on quality over quantity, Revcontent helps advertisers tap into highly engaged audiences at all stages of the marketing funnel, enabling brands to expand reach, develop loyal customers, and increase sales.

revcontent.com

Website: revcontent.com

AdRoll

An advertising company offering retargeting services that enable marketers to reach consumers who have previously visited their website.

Take your marketing further with a machine that makes more predictions per second than the NASDAQ.

adroll.com

Website: adroll.com

BuySellAds

BuySellAds is a global marketplace that focuses on bringing advertisers and publishers together.

Every publisher who works with BuySellAds gets paid for every sale they make, so it’s a great place to get started with PPC if you have low traffic or are just starting out as a digital marketer.

Reach your audience in the right place at the right time.

buysellads.com

Website: buysellads.com

Advertise.com offers full-service PPC management for advertisers looking to control their accounts, while also providing services like website design, email marketing, and data targeting.

This helps you maximize the value of each click on your ads.

Quote: https://www.advertise.com/

ADVERTISER SOLUTIONS THAT DELIVER REAL RESULTS

advertise.com

Website: advertise.com

AdBlade

AdBlade specializes in helping clients all over the world acquire new customers through high-performing, high-impact display advertising.

Adblade is serving ads to premium publishers on your behalf to help you reach top placement and increase engagement rates.

The Most Innovative Content-Style Ad Platform on the Web!

adblade.com

Website: adblade.com

LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn Ads is a self-service platform that enables you to create, manage and optimize ads on LinkedIn.

A great way to generate more leads for your business!

Success. Powered by relationships.

business.linkedin.com

Website: business.linkedin.com

Twitter Ads

Twitter Ads is a self-service platform that gives you the ability to advertise on Twitter.

Helping you get your message out there! At the speed of now.

Hundreds of millions of people turn to Twitter to discover what’s happening in the world. Twitter Ads can help you connect with this audience and get meaningful results.

ads.twitter.com

Website: ads.twitter.com

Amazon Ads

Amazon Ads is a self-service platform that enables publishers to monetize their ad space with Amazon.

It is not just another advertising service, but an advertising system built on Amazon’s scalable technology platform and data for relevant product recommendations that bring more sales for you!

Your brand.Their world.

advertising.amazon.com

Website: advertising.amazon.com

AdRecover

A large number of users who have adblockers installed are millennials.

They are people who know how to use technology and they have a high spending power.

They also value uninterrupted online browsing. If you want to reach these people, you can use AdRecover to show them non-intrusive ads that they have permission to see.

MONETIZE YOUR ADBLOCKED IMPRESSIONS AdRecover Makes Reaching Adblock Users Easy

adrecover.com

Website: adrecover.com

To get started with PPC marketing it’s always best if you understand the terminology in PPC marketing such as ad groups, ad rank, search ads, ad copy, ad extensions, ad auction, ad placement, and negative keywords, and much more…

You can learn more here: The Beginner’s Glossary of PPC Terms

Final Thoughts

PPC is a great way to generate traffic to your site, and can be very effective when done correctly.

It is important to understand the terminology in order to get the most out of this powerful marketing tool.

In today’s digital world, it is more important than ever to reach as many people as possible with your message.

Thankfully, PPC provides an easy and efficient way to do just that!

There is so much more to learn and take advantage in PPC marketing.

Some even says if PPC done right you can create a fortune just running PPC ads for client.

It does takes lot’s of works but the return is definitely there and can be quick too.

It also worth to spend little more time on the industry with these kind of marketing since it’s here to stay.

Hope you find this article helpful and look forward for your comments and share 🙂

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