A complete beginner’s guide to PPC

What exactly is PPC? 

‘Pay-Per-Click’ – simply known as PPC – is essentially an online marketing model that is designed to win advertisement clicks, consequently driving website traffic and (if you’ve got your strategy spot on) an end transaction. Each time this happens, the advertiser is required to pay a fee – as the name suggests. Using a new marketing technique can seem daunting at first, but if you’re looking for a new way to really get your brand out there, the PPC model could be just what you’ve been looking for. But how does it work? Stick with us to find out. 

How does it work?

PPC campaigns can appear as search (text), display (image) or video ads that link to YouTube. Based on a number of factors – which we will chat about shortly – these adverts can be optimised to guarantee that they appear at the top of the SERP (search engine results page), ultimately rewarding a business with more clicks. There’s plenty of competition out there, so Google has its own auctioning system to determine how each ad will rank. However, if you want your PPC campaign to stand a chance of being rewarded as the class favourite, there are various factors that must be considered.

Quality ad campaigns 

Before creating your ad, it’s important to have a think about who your target audience is, and the pain points they could experience when using a search engine. They’re out looking for answers, so it’s your job to make sure that you’re showing them relevant advertisements that they would want to see. 

Google will reward you for this, and you’ll be more likely to secure the top spot. You’ll also need to make sure that your landing page (the page that is displayed when clicking on the ad) is both relevant to the ad and optimised for conversions. Considering this, be sure to make your text both persuasive and specific to web-surfers’ search queries. 

Keyword research 

This is crucial if you want to create a champion PPC campaign, so before you make your bid, make sure you do your research. Reverting back to the previous point, stepping into your target audiences’ shoes is the first step, so that you’re able to make a prediction of the terms that they’ll be searching for. For example, if users are looking for a product or a service, you could use e-commerce related terms that will result in an end transaction.

In some instances, your audience may be looking for a particular brand, however, branded keywords are much more expensive to secure. Instead, you could opt for a generic term that’s essentially the barebones of a product, e.g. “sports bra”, or you could use a related term, like “sports wear.” As long as you’re keeping it relevant and not too broad, that’s what really matters. 

But don’t stop there and leave your keywords be! They will need constant tweaking to be sure that they’re kept as relevant as possible, which is essential for staying on top. To avoid any pennies going to waste, you can always pause the process if you’re finding that you’re going over budget on a non-converting keyword. It’s all about finding a cost-effective strategy that works for you. 

Overall quality score

Once you’ve nailed your keyword research, and created a relevant campaign that reads well, Google will give you an overall quality score which – when multiplied by your bid (the price you’re willing to pay for a keyword) – will determine both your cost per click and your ad ranking. The higher the rank, the more likely you are to secure the top spot. If you’ve got a good PPC strategy in place, you’ll be Google’s best friend and rewarded with higher rankings and lower costs. 

What are the benefits?

Now for the all-important question: how will a PPC strategy grow your business? Fast visibility is probably the best answer to this. As long as you’re making sure that your PPC campaign is spot on, you’ll be appearing at the top of the SERP, meaning that surfers’ eyes will automatically be drawn to your ad. If it’s both relevant and eye-catching, this will start to drive website traffic and consequently, your brand will increase in popularity. Being that your results are both measurable and traceable, you’ll gain important insights into what’s working well for your business, and how to take the relevant steps to nailing down a show-stopping marketing strategy.

Have a think about your end goal so that you can make your PPC campaign as effective as possible. Perhaps you want to increase brand awareness and get visitors to your website, or maybe you just want to get as many conversions as possible. Once you have a specific end goal in mind, you can cater your campaign around this. 

If you’re looking for advice on setting up a great, cost-effective PPC campaign that’s powered by data insights, talk to our team of experts today! 

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