Pay-per-click advertising, which is more commonly shortened to PPC, is undoubtedly one of the best tools any sized business can use for advertising.
Not utilizing PPC’s benefits can mean losing out on prospects and potential revenue.
In this blog, we’re going to take a closer look at what PPC is and the advantages it can offer your business.
PPC Basics
PPC advertising is an effective marketing strategy used online. The two most common PPC platforms for businesses to use are Google Ads (formerly AdWords) and Microsoft Ad Center, which is also known as Bing. These two platforms allow advertisers to tap into various partner networks for increased ad visibility.
Most commonly, it is used in search engines by businesses looking for a specific target market. Brands can quickly create advertising campaigns and select their audiences by region, age, income, and interests, as explained on this page.
Once these demographics are set up, brands can set a budget and ad duration. Here is where pay-per-click comes into play; once the ad goes live and people start clicking on it, the brand is then charged per click. This can range from a few cents to several dollars per click, depending on how large the target audience is and how much the ad spending budget is.
PPC is also used in major search engines, too. Brands bid on keywords, with the highest bidder has given priority placement on the search engine’s results page. As far as bidding goes for keyword and page placement, it depends on how much a company is willing to spend on bidding and what type of keywords it chooses.
Knowing how to narrow down that keyword from “soy candles” to “handcrafted organic lavender soy candles,” for example, might be more cost-efficient as that specific keyword is not as competitive and may have a better shot at becoming a sponsored paid ad at the top of the results page.
Now that we’ve explained just what PPC is, let’s discuss the main four benefits your business can reap from PPC services and advertising.
1. You’re in control
From the type of campaign your business wants to run, to the budget, duration, demographics, you’ll always have a handle on everything with PPC if you compare it to other advertising methods. Even if you wanted to make changes to a live ad, you can. No more spending money on outside companies to create an ad campaign for you. You also have the ability to add keywords based on certain match types, like Broad, Phrase and Exact match.
Match types give you greater control over who you want to see your ads. For example, if you sell women’s sneakers, you can use the Exact match modifier, which allows you to target prospects who are searching only for the specific keyword that you are bidding. With Phrase match, you can reach a group of people who are searching for your exact keyword phrase, or close variations of your keyword.
Using women’s shoes as our example, phrase match would also cover those looking for “women’s designer shoes.” Lastly, a Broad match is a setting where you can reach a general audience of those who are searching for women’s and shoes, for example.
2. PPC is measurable
You’ll be able to see where your keywords succeed or fail, how often those keywords are searched for, how much money it’s costing you, who is seeing your ads, and how frequently they’re being clicked. This gives you the significant insight needed on where your campaign is effectively going and whether or not changes need to be made.
Plus, with conversion tracking, you can measure the number of leads and customers that were generated from a certain keyword and advertisement.
3. You pay only when there’s interest in your product or service
Rather than being charged a blanket fee to run your ad and have it appear to people who clearly aren’t interested in what you have to offer, with PPC you’re only charged when someone clicks on your ad or link.
This frees up your budget to focus your marketing strategy on your website in order to strengthen your SEO presence or create more engaging or elaborate ads on social media.
4. Faster results
Using PPC advertising increases website traffic, exposure, and most importantly, revenue. If you’re a small business, you can reach local clients faster and give your brand the recognition it deserves.
If you’re not utilizing the full benefits of PPC yet, maybe it’s time to start. Remember, a key to a successful PPC campaign is a conversion-friendly website. With this in place, along with an effective keyword and bidding strategy, your campaigns will generate more conversions.