If you’ve ever seen the advertisements that appear alongside search results on Google and other search engines, you’re already familiar with pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
What Is Pay-Per-Click Marketing?
PPC is a type of online advertising in which advertisers pay each time a user clicks on one of their ads.
PPC ads come in a variety of forms, but one of the most common is the paid search ad. These ads appear when people search for things online using a search engine like Google – particularly when they perform commercial searches, indicating that they are looking to buy something. This could range from a mobile search (someone looking for “pizza near me” on their phone) to a local service search (someone looking for a dentist or a plumber in their area) to someone shopping for a gift (“Mother’s Day flowers”) or a high-end item such as enterprise software. All of these queries result in pay-per-click advertisements.
Businesses that run ads in pay-per-click advertising are only charged when a user clicks on their ad, hence the name ” Pay Per Click
Display advertising (typically, serving banner ads) and remarketing are two other types of PPC advertising.
What Is the Process of Pay-Per-Click Advertising?
Advertisers cannot simply pay more to ensure that their ads appear more prominently than their competitor’s ads in order for ads to appear alongside the results on a search engine (commonly referred to as a Search Engine Results Page, or SERP). Ads are instead subject to the Ad Auction, an entirely automated process used by Google and other major search engines to determine the relevance and validity of advertisements that appear on their SERPs.
How Do Keywords Function in Pay-Per-Click Advertising?
The Ad Auction is a bidding system, as the name implies. This means that advertisers must bid on the terms for which they want their ads to “trigger,” or display. These terms are referred to as keywords.
Assume that your company specializes in camping equipment. If a user wants to buy a new tent, sleeping bag, or portable stove, he or she might use a search engine to find retailers who sell these items.
When a user submits a search query, the search engine performs the complex algorithmic calculations on which the Ad Auction is based. This determines which ads are displayed, in what order, and by whom.
Because you must pay for each click on your ads, it is critical that you only bid on keywords that are relevant to your business in order to ensure that your ad spend yields a return on investment. A keyword tool can assist you in locating the best keywords to bid on that are both likely to generate sales or conversions and are not prohibitively expensive.
How to Improve the Performance of Your Pay-Per-Click Ads
Pay-per-click marketing can be an extremely cost-effective method of driving traffic to your website and growing your business. However, doing it correctly takes time and effort. Your PPC costs can be influenced by a variety of factors, including:
The relevance of the keywords you choose to bid on – Are these the search terms that your target audience is actually using to find products they want to buy or solutions to their problems?
The caliber of your advertisements and landing pages – Google rewards businesses that provide a good customer experience with the best ad placements and the lowest costs. Your click-through rate, or CTR, is a good indicator of how well your ad creative is performing.
A well-structured account structure – Your PPC account is analogous to a house. Everything must be built on a solid foundation. This guide will teach you more about effective account structure.
When it comes to keeping your PPC ads and campaigns in top shape, there is a lot to consider. If you want to learn more about how it all works, go to PPC University.
Obtain Assistance with Your Pay-Per-Click Advertising Campaigns
In a nutshell, that is pay-per-click marketing. However, while the fundamentals of pay-per-click advertising are straightforward, managing a successfully paid search account can be anything but (especially if you’re a small business owner or have a limited budget).
Growth cannot be delayed, so if you require assistance with your PPC ads, use the free Google Ads Performance Grader. You’ll receive an instant report card that compares your performance to competitors and makes specific recommendations to help you achieve better results.
