What is PPC Marketing? The basics of pay-per-click advertising

What is PPC marketing, and how are businesses using it to reach customers? You might have heard about PPC marketing, but you aren’t entirely sure what it is. If you want to use PPC to generate more profit for your business, you’re on the right track.

There’s no need to fear, Seek Social is here! We’ll teach you everything there is to know about this type of internet marketing, and how you can launch your own PPC marketing campaign. This article will give you a rundown on the basics of PPC marketing, including an overview of paid search, Google Ads, keywords and more.

Blog Table of Contents

What is PPC?

PPC marketing (in which 'PPC' stands for 'pay-per-click') is a type of online advertising where advertisers pay only when someone clicks on their ads. The goal of a PPC marketing campaign is to generate click-throughs to their website. Someone looks something up on Google, he sees an ad, he clicks it, and ultimately, he completes any advertiser’s goal: he purchases their products.

How does PPC marketing work?

As you’re reading this, millions of users are searching for certain services, products, and other information. Advertisers recognize the power that search engines like Google and Bing have. On advertising platforms like Google Ads, advertisers can show targeted ads that are relevant to what the user is searching for. If someone were to search for “cheap PC parts,” a company selling computer parts might show an ad for “cheap PC parts.”

Each time the ad is clicked, and the user is redirected to the website or app, the advertiser has to pay the search engine a fee. A PPC marketing campaign can be considered successful when the click results in something more than what it cost. This means that if we were to pay $2 for a click, but that click brings a $200 purchase, then we’ve made a pretty solid profit.

Why should you use PPC marketing?

So what is PPC marketing going to do for your business? The benefits of PPC marketing include its convenience, flexibility, customization, and its ability to be tracked to see how your campaigns are doing

Benefits of PPC marketing

PPC advertising is measurable. You can track how your campaign is performing, including being able to see real-time clicks, impressions, and conversations. At Seek Social, we constantly review active campaigns and send detailed reports to our clients.
It lets you understand your customers. Pay-per-click advertising allows you to learn your customer’s search patterns, so you can make better campaigns in the future.
It’s better than SEO. Although SEO, or search engine optimization, can also drive traffic to your website, PPC lets you create ads and find potential customers much faster.
You pay only when someone clicks. In traditional types of advertising, such as on TV or in newspapers, you pay for your ad space, regardless of whether people see it or not. With PPC, you pay only when someone interacts with your ad.
You can change your budget. You control how much you want to spend on the online ads. If your campaign is performing well, you can change your budget immediately.
PPC works on all platforms. It doesn’t matter what device your customer is using. The ads will show up on mobile phones, tablets and desktops.

What does Google Ads have to do with PPC marketing?

Launched in October 2000, Google Ads (previously known as Google AdWords) is the most popular pay per click advertising platform. It enables advertisers to create ads that appear on the Google search engine. Google Ads helps businesses display ads right in front of potential customers at the moment they search for particular products or services.

Google Ads follows a pay-per-click model, where advertisers bid on keywords and pay once their ads are clicked. Every time a user searches for something on the search engine, Google selects the relevant ads to appear on its search results page and ad space. The “winning” ads are chosen based on the advertiser’s Ad Rank.

Digital marketing agencies like Seek Social have a team of Google Ads experts who can skillfully navigate this type of online marketing. Our Google-certified team specializes in providing top quality PPC marketing support, and we are ready to provide your business with effective solutions for paid advertising.

How does Google Ads calculate the Ad Rank?

Google Ads determines whose ads appear based on Ad Rank or position. It is calculated by multiplying the advertiser’s maximum bid and Quality Score. Let’s go through the two of them quickly:

Maximum bid is the highest amount an advertiser is willing to pay for an ad click.
Quality Score is Google’s rating of your keywords and PPC ads. It considers your click-through rate, landing page quality, keyword relevance, ad quality and relevance, and previous Google Ads performance.

Does this mean that the highest bidder will get the valuable ad space on Google? The answer is no. Even if you have the lowest bid, but you have the highest Quality Score, you could still “win” the top ad space. An impressive Quality Score is how Google can determine that your PPC advertisement is relevant to your customers’ needs. If you have a high Quality Score, Google will charge you less for each ad click.

How much is the actual cost per click?

CPC, or cost-per-click, is the actual amount that you pay whenever your ad gets clicked. Google determines what you pay by looking at two things: the ad rank of the person below you, and your Quality Score.

The formula to determine how much you’ll actually pay per click is:

Ad Rank of the Advertiser Below You
Your Quality Score

How do I make sure my PPC ads show up?

As an advertiser, you should take advantage of Google’s daily influx of traffic. To make sure your PPC ads actually appear, you should focus on a couple of things:

Keyword Relevance - The success of your marketing campaign depends on your ability to identify the right keywords. Generally, your keywords should be:
- Relevant - Your keywords should be related to your business. Certain keywords lead to a greater click-through-rate, which eventually results in increased profits. The keywords that you bid on should be related to the products or services that you offer. If you own a nail salon, bid on the keyword “nail salon.”
- Exhaustive - You shouldn’t base keywords on their popularity. You need to bid on long-tail keywords, which are more specific, and less competitive. They’re more likely to lead you to potential customers. Think of it this way, if you wanted to buy a sofa, you wouldn’t Google “sofa.” You would type in something like “sofas for sale” instead.
- Expansive - Your campaigns should always be adapting. PPC marketing is highly dependent on what your customers are searching for. You should keep refining your keywords to match their needs.
Landing Page Quality - A landing page is where people end up when they click your ad. Your business’ landing page should be clear, easy to navigate, persuasive, and relevant to users’ searches.
Compelling Ads - If you want to display ads on Google’s Display Network (basically, image and video ads that are usually seen on banners and YouTube videos), you need to create quality ads that will entice users to click on them.
Quality Score - A combination of your keywords and landing page, it’s Google’s way of rating you as an advertiser. The higher the Quality Score, the more clicks you get, and the less you have to pay.

Drive more profit with Seek Social Digital Marketing

We know that was a lot to take in -- and there’s actually a lot more to learn about pay per click advertising. Nevertheless - the experts at Seek Social are at the helm, so that you don’t have to worry about a thing. We specialize in digital marketing, ensuring that your marketing campaigns are always in order. Seek Social works with you to develop successful PPC campaign strategies to drive your business forward.

If you’re ready to get started, get a free quote by visiting seeksocial.co.uk.

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