Businesses can utilise pay-per-click advertising to ensure their advertisements are shown to actively searching customers for products, services and information rather than waiting for them to interact with your website.
PPC can be used within different online advertising channels including search engines, social media and shopping. When implemented correctly it can boost a website's traffic, sales, leads and other actions.
What's the Difference Between PPC, SEM and SEO?
PPC, SEM and SEO are closely related however different approaches to online marketing.
PPC advertising generally involves paying for placements where advertisers normally pay for interaction,clicks or other engagement with their advertisement.
SEO or search engine optimisation works by improving a website's visibility in organic search results meaning that a business does not directly pay to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs).
SEM or search engine marketing, refers to different practices within marketing through search engines. In some cases it includes PPC advertising and SEO.
The difference between PPC and SEO is clear however it can be more fluid in the case of SEM depending on the context and the goals of the campaign.
How Does PPC Work?
A PPC campaign typically starts with a business or marketer identifying the advertising platform, audience and goals. For search advertising this normally involves selecting targeted keywords related to products or services and setting up a campaign and ads so that they appear to actively searching customers.
There are several methods and considerations for setting up a campaign. Search marketing normally has a cost per click (CPC) model where advertisers bid and set budgets and an advertising platform estimates the value and relevance before showing the advertisements to customers. The price for a click in search advertising depends on many factors such as competition, relevance of the advertisement and keyword, budget and others.
In the case of businesses running paid search campaigns the aim should be to attract customers to a website and encourage them to complete a desired action such as a purchase or subscription. The advertisements should be targeted towards people with a genuine interest in whatever the company is offering.
Why Is PPC Important?
The strength and importance of PPC advertising rests in it's ability to reach potential customers when they are actively searching for something related to your business.
PPC provides businesses with:
Faster visibility than other methods
Ability to target very specific audiences
Control and budgets and spend
Access to valuable data
Opportunity to test different offers and advertisements
Traffic to a desired landing page
PPC advertising can also help to test offers against each other. A company would be able to identify which advertisements, keywords, audiences and landing pages produce the best results. That way businesses can utilise this data for other areas of their marketing.
However paying for traffic does not ensure profitability. How a campaign is structure, targeted and managed plays a large role in determining whether or not it's worth the investment. The relevance of an advertisement, landing page experience, conversion tracking, bidding and other factors are important for influencing a customer's journey and conversion rate.
What Is Important for PPC Strategy and Campaign Planning?
A PPC campaign involves more than buying clicks there are several components that should be considered when launching one. These normally include:
Define the Campaign's Goal
The first thing to consider for a PPC campaign is's goal. A business should have a clear picture of what they are trying to accomplish through a campaign. Depending on what a company is trying to achieve the structure, targeting and budget will change.
Examples of goals are to drive sales, leads, phone calls, registrations, bookings or visits to a webpage or online shop. In some cases companies might be aiming to boost website traffic to a specific landing page.
Research Keywords and Audiences
For search advertising it's important to complete keyword research and understand what potential customers are looking for and what they are willing to engage with. There are different types of keywords that represent different levels of buyer intent. Someone typing in a question is not expecting to buy right away, they will need more information before converting.
In the case of social media advertising businesses can utilise audience research and targeting to understand who they should be showing advertisements to based on their characteristics, behaviours and the actions they have taken online.
Create Relevant Advertisements
The advertisement itself should resonate with the audience it is targeting and address their concerns and intent. In the case of search advertising an advertisement should relate to what the customer is searching for and why they are seeing it.
PPC advertisements normally have a limited character count, so it's important to convey the value quickly and efficiently. The headlines, descriptions, call-to-action buttons, visuals and any other elements should be relevant to the advertisement's purpose. As a general rule businesses should test multiple advertisements to identify what resonates most with their target market.
Use Relevant Landing Pages
Instead of sending every advertisement to a homepage businesses should utilise landing pages. In some cases, especially with long tail keywords, the purpose of an advertisement is to inform and convince a customer to take a specific action.
Sending a customer to a landing page with little information is not going to be effective. A page should be relevant to an advertisement and provide the information that a customer needs in order to complete a desired action. It should have clear information, be easy to navigate and have trust signals, while a call-to-action button or link should stand out and guide a visitor towards making a choice.
Set a Suitable Budget
A suitable budget depends on a campaign's goal, what a business is willing to pay for a customer and the competitiveness of a niche. While a company can use their allocated budget for a campaign it's important to measure and optimise a campaign rather than just relying on the initial setup.
Monitor and Optimise
PPC advertising normally has a lot of data that can be used to improve a campaign. Advertisers can identify weak points in a campaign such as unprofitable keywords, underperforming advertisements, audiences or landing pages and eliminate or improve them.
Metrics such as impressions, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), conversions, conversion rate, cost per click (CPC), cost per conversion and return on ad spend (ROAS) or revenue are important parts of measuring a campaign's performance.
What Are the Top PPC Advertising Platforms?
Different online advertising platforms provide different benefits and access to different audiences. The main platforms include:
Google Ads
Google Ads is one of the largest PPC advertising platforms, with businesses being able to advertise through Google's search engine, shopping, display and video networks. Search advertising campaigns are normally the most effective for businesses, as they appear when a customer is searching for something related to a company's service or product.
Meta Ads
Meta provides advertising opportunities across their platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Businesses can target audiences based on their characteristics or behaviours and utilise remarketing to target people who have interacted with a company's content or website before.
Brands that invest in social media advertising can use Meta's advertising platforms to reach new customers, target them based on their interests and utilise visual advertisements alongside different campaign types.
Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft Advertising allows businesses to utilise Microsoft's search engine and target people through search-related campaigns. This gives companies an alternative to Google search advertising.
LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn is mainly geared towards business professionals and offers advertising opportunities that target customers based on their occupation, company, industry and other professional details.
TikTok Ads
TikTok's advertising platform is designed around video content and can reach a young audience that actively engages with short-form videos. This type of advertising is more suitable for companies whose customers use the application.
What Are the Types of PPC Ads?
PPC advertising is not limited to text-based advertisements. The major advertisements types are:
Search Ads
They appear in search engine results pages when a customer searches for a relevant term. Search advertising appears in many different variations and is normally great for capturing buyer intent, as the customer is actively looking for something similar to what a business offers.
Display Ads
Display advertising involves visual advertisements that can appear on different websites within an advertising network.
Shopping Ads
Shopping advertisements allow businesses to showcase products through advertisements that include photos, product names, pricing and other details.
Video Ads
Video advertising involves video content that can appear on different platforms and networks. They are flexible and can be utilised for different marketing and campaign objectives.
Remarketing Ads
Remarketing allows businesses to target people who have previously interacted with a company's advertisements, website or products. This can be beneficial for nudging customers to make a purchase or revisit a website after browsing.
Example: Someone browses a clothing website, but does not make a purchase. A remarketing campaign would show this customer advertisements as they continue to browse the internet.
PPC and Landing Page Experience
An advertisement is the beginning of a customer's journey towards a business, however it does not define the overall experience. An advertisement may attract a customer's attention, but a landing page that does not utilise a similar theme or fail to encourage a customer to make a decision can lead to a negative experience.
If a customer clicks an advertisement to view a service, the landing page should make it easy for them to choose an option or ask for more information. Page speed, mobile-friendliness, trust signals, form completion, call-to-action buttons or links and other elements should be considered for improving the experience and encouraging conversions.
How Is PPC Performance Measured?
PPC advertising has a number of different performance indicators that can be measured and analysed. The major metrics are:
Impressions
The number of times an advertisement appeared to a customer.
Clicks
The number of times an advertisement was clicked.
Click-through rate
The percentage of impressions that resulted in a click.
Cost per click
The average cost that a business pays every time an advertisement is clicked.
Conversions
Completed actions that have been assigned a value by a business.
Conversion rate
The percentage of relevant sessions or impressions that resulted in a conversion.
Cost per conversion
The average cost that a business pays for a conversion.
Return on ad spend
Revenue generated for every dollar that a business spends on advertising.
Depending on a campaign's objective different metrics are important for analysing and improving performance. A campaign that is meant for increasing brand awareness would have different priorities than a campaign geared toward driving direct sales.
PPC and SEO Working Together
SEO and PPC advertising can work together to improve the performance and insights for both disciplines. SEO provides long-term traffic to a website while a PPC campaign can offer short-term visibility and value.
PPC data can also support SEO by giving insight into what keywords or offers people are searching for and how they react to different headlines and calls to action. Businesses can utilise this information for their organic search and content marketing strategy.
PPC for Business Growth
PPC advertising can be utilised by companies across different industries and budgets. A small business can utilise search advertising to reach locally-savvy customers while an online retailer can utilise Shopping and social media marketing to capitalise on product sales.
The aim of a PPC campaign should be to influence a customer's journey and encourage them to make a choice rather than focusing on clicks. While businesses would want to utilise budgets to reach as many customers as possible it's important to consider whether they are actually interested in what the company has to offer.
Getting Started With PPC
Getting started with a PPC campaign normally involves a business identifying their objectives and target audience, budget and the customer journey. From there they can select advertising platforms, research keywords or audiences, create advertisements, landing pages, conversion tracking and launch campaigns.
A PPC campaign should be seen as an iterative and continual process rather than a onetime setup where businesses can measure and utilise data to improve the targeting, advertisements, budgets, landing page experience and other factors.
