A question for all marketers out there: How much do you know about paid advertising on a scale of 1-10? How confident are you that you'll be able to launch and maintain a successful PPC campaign?
Despite the fact that 55% of small businesses use some form of online advertising, pay-per-click (PPC) is still a mystery to most of us. As a marketer, PPC is a skill that you should have in your tool belt — or at least have a basic understanding of.
In this guide, we'll cover everything from the benefits of paid ads to how to launch your campaign. Let’s get started.
What is PPC?
Pay-per-click advertising is a form of advertising that allows you to pay a fee to have your website appear on the search engine result page (SERP) when someone types specific keywords or phrases. Your SERP ads will display to direct visitors to your site, and the fee you pay depends on whether people click on them.
PPC can earn you quality leads if done correctly. Your PPC campaigns could see massive ROI if you can create a seamless user journey (which you'll learn how to do later in this piece). Most pay-per-click advertising occurs on search engine results pages, such as Google or Bing, but it is also used on social networks (although cost per thousand is more common).
If you're wondering where to find pay-per-click ads, they're the results you see before and to the right of organic search results. Check out the ad I found when I searched for "cards."
Perhaps you are wondering, “Why should I advertise with a PPC campaign?” Beth Chernes, SEO consultant, says the answer is simple:
“Ask yourself: How fast do you want to reach your customers? If you want to immediately direct them to you and your services, PPC ads will do exactly that. OAccording to Ana Gotter, a freelance content marketer and PPC copywriter, a PPC strategy is just another layer of a comprehensive marketing strategy.
According to Ana Gotter, a freelance content marketer and PPC copywriter, a PPC strategy is just another layer of a comprehensive marketing strategy. As she puts it:
"PPC advertising is an easy way to level the playing field, so to speak. SEO can take months or even years to really pay off when you’re up against tough competition online, but PPC ads allow you to generate interest now as long as you have the budget for the pay-to-play platforms.”
Using PPC strategies as a supplement to SEO is a good idea. A PPC strategy allows you to get a quick win while cultivating organic reach at the same time.
Before we discuss the parts of a great PPC strategy, let's take a look at PPC terms and definitions.
PPC Terms and Definitions
In marketing, acronyms and jargon are a given. When it comes to paid advertising, there are a few terms you should know. Listed below are the main elements of a PPC campaign, ranging from broad to more specific.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
In all forms of digital advertising, the goal is to rank for a target keyword. Any digital marketing (paid or unpaid) done on a search engine, such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing, is referred to as Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
Search engine marketing (SEM) encompasses both paid advertising and search engine optimization (SEO), or ranking organically in search engines. Not all PPC is done on search engines - social media also has PPC ads (think Facebook Ads).
CPC
PPC vs. CPC
There is a technical difference between PPC and CPC. PPC refers to a style of marketing that includes paying for advertisements. CPC, or cost-per-click, refers to the amount of money you spend on a single click on your ad. You set your CPC at the maximum price you're willing to pay per click. The following formula determines what you actually pay:
(Competitor’s Ad Rank / Your Quality Score) + 0.01 = Actual CPC
Here are the terms in this equation so you know what you're paying for:
Ad Rank
The position of an advertisement on a search engine results page is determined by this value. It’s equal to Maximum Bid x Quality Score.
Quality Score
Search engines give your ad a score based on your clickthrough rate (CTR) - measured against the average CTR of ads in that position; the relevance of your keywords; the quality of your landing page; and your past performance.
Maximum Bid
The maximum you’re willing to pay per click on your ad. Here’s an image by WordStream that illustrates what I mean:
Depending on your goals, you can set your CPC to manual, where you determine the maximum bid, or enhanced, where the search engines adjust your bid for you. You can also use bid strategies that adjust your bids automatically based on clicks or conversions.
CPM (Cost per Mille)
The cost per thousand impressions, or CPM, is the cost per thousand impressions. Most commonly, it's used for social media ads and display ads.
For the sake of preserving your mental space, we're going to stick with clicks, or cost-per-click. There are other types of cost-pers, including cost-per-engagement and cost-per-acquisition (CPA).
Campaign
In order to set up your PPC ads, you first need to decide which campaign you want to run. Your campaign is the message or theme you want to convey through your advertisements.
Ad Group
One size doesn’t fit all. Because of this, you will create ads based on highly related keywords within your campaign. Each ad group can have its own CPC.
Keywords
Within your ad group, each ad will target a set of relevant keywords. Keywords tell search engines what terms or search queries you want your ad to appear alongside.
It is possible to set a micro CPC for keywords within your ads once you have determined which keywords perform best.
Ad Text
Your keywords should inform your ad text. Remember, your Quality Score is determined by how relevant your ad is; therefore, the text in your ad (and landing page, for that matter) should match the keyword terms you’re targeting.
Landing Page
A landing page is a critical piece of your paid advertising strategy. The landing page is where users will end up once they click your PPC ad.
Whether it’s a dedicated web page, your homepage, or somewhere else, make sure to follow landing page best practices to maximize conversions.
Best PPC Platforms
Having understood PPC basics, I assume your next question is: Where should I advertise? A close look at your potential ROI on each platform is the best way to vet the dozens of platforms where you can spend your coveted advertising dollars.
In addition to being easy to use, the most popular advertising platforms are highly trafficked. You might consider a lesser-known alternative to these key players if you have a smaller budget. Another factor to consider when choosing a platform is keyword terms, where your target audience spends their time, and your advertising budget.
The following is a list of some of the top PPC platforms.
Google Ads (formerly known as AdWords)
Simply put, Google Ads is the king of paid ads because it's the most widely used.
Google processes over 99,000 search queries every second, so you have plenty of opportunities to target keywords that will engage your intended audience.
However, keywords on this platform are highly competitive, resulting in a higher ad spend and an uphill battle to rank on the first page.
Bing Ads
It makes sense that Bing offers an advertising program since it is the second largest search engine. Did you know that 61% of Bing searches are branded queries?
Take a moment to consider it. Your ads will have a higher chance of being seen by the right audience if you launch a PPC campaign using Bing that targets specific keywords related to your brand.
For marketers with a smaller advertising budget, Bing Ads is a great option. Bing Ads offers a slightly lower cost-per-click than Google Ads, but at the expense of reaching a larger audience.
Facebook Ads
Its specific targeting options make Facebook Ads a popular and effective platform for paid ads (more commonly used as CPM rather than CPC).
With Facebook, you can target users based on their interests, demographics, locations, and behaviors. Don't worry if your Facebook ads seem spammy. A native ad on Facebook blends into the social feed and is introduced as part of the content.
It's important to know that Facebook ads have an average CPC of $1.72. Make sure you keep that in mind when choosing your PPC platform. Facebook Ads are ideal for reaching audiences across all Meta platforms. Instagram can also be advertised with Facebook Ads.
AdRoll
AdRoll is a retargeting platform that advertises to people who have already visited your website. Approximately six marketing channels are used by an average company, according to AdRoll's State of Digital Marketing Report for 2024.
Let's say someone reads your article on cheese making. Display ads for your online cooking classes can be retargeted on other platforms they visit.
The advantage of using AdRoll over Google Ads is that it can display ads on Google and social media sites, giving you more opportunities to capture clicks or impressions, depending on your objectives.
You can keep your business in front of your audience no matter which platform they're on with AdRolls. When it comes to reaching your audience across all platforms, AdRoll is the best choice.
RevContent
RevContent specializes in promoting content through PPC. A native ad has the same impact as a guest post, where your content is displayed on an external website. It's not a bad idea to consider native ads on external platforms since 21% of consumers plan to leave social media.
With RevContent, you still bid on keywords, and your advertisement appears next to relevant content. You'll benefit from a low CPC and highly engaged traffic when you use this platform.
You can use RevContent to send your target audience straight to landing pages, so you'll get new leads and eyes on your content.
How does PPC work?
PPC, or pay-per-click, is a paid advertising model that falls under search engine marketing (SEM). Advertisers pay only when people interact with their ads through impressions or clicks.
Now that we've covered the basics, let's take a look at some of the benefits of PPC advertising.
Benefits of PPC
1. PPC ads are cost-effective
The amount you spend on PPC campaigns is completely up to you. As you only pay when visitors click on the link leading to your website or landing page, you'll get your money's worth.
2. PPC ads deliver fast results
Ranking organically on the first page of search results can sometimes take months or even years. You probably don't have time to wait for organic, social, or direct traffic to take effect if you're a startup or small business. That’s where PPC ads come in.
Stewart Dunlop, the founder of PPC marketing agency PPC.io, explains why it’s so attractive:
"For businesses who want to accelerate their sales and growth fast, there truly is no better alternative to PPC marketing. With paid ads, you can catapult yourself immediately to the top of search engines and immediately acquire new customers.”
Optimised PPC ads can propel you to the top of the SERP within hours of launching your campaign.
3. PPC ads can be easily controlled and tested
Ranking organically on the first page of search results can sometimes take months or even years.
You probably don't have time to wait for organic, social, or direct traffic to take effect if you're a startup or small business. This is where PPC ads come in. In an interview with Stewart Dunlop, the founder of PPC.io, he explains why PPC marketing is so attractive:
"For businesses who want to accelerate their sales and growth fast, there truly is no better alternative to PPC marketing. With paid ads, you can catapult yourself immediately to the top of search engines and immediately acquire new customers.”
After launching your campaign, you can shoot yourself to the top of the SERP in just a few hours with PPC ads that are optimized.
4. PPC ads enable you to target your ideal customers
Cole says PPC campaigns are great for a “geo-targeted presence.” Ana also says, “You have the potential to reach members of your target audience whom you might not have ever connected with otherwise.”
PPC ads allow you to skip cold audiences and target warm audiences ready to purchase your products.
In order to target solution-aware personas, you can bid on keywords that they would search for online. In addition to keywords, PPC ads also allow targeting based on past online activity or demographics.
PPC ads are also excellent for retargeting visitors who didn't make a purchase after landing on your site.
5. Algorithm changes have little effect on PPC ads
Compared to PPC advertising, free traffic from search engines is a bit unstable due to the numerous Google algorithm updates and the 200 ranking factors.
You don't have to worry about algorithm changes with PPC ads; instead, you should focus on how well your campaigns are doing.
6. Data from PPC ads can improve your SEO strategy
Instead of replacing your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, you should complement it with paid advertising.
“When people search for your keywords, you know their search intent and can display the most relevant ad to your audience. This means more clicks and a greater chance of conversion,” says Laura Mittelmann, Paid Acquisition at HubSpot.
How to Build a PPC Campaign
1. Set parameters
Setting parameters is the first step. Ads without parameters are untargeted and ineffective.
Consider your business goals when creating your ad campaigns. Pay attention to how your paid campaigns will contribute to those goals.
Think about what you want to accomplish with your ads - whether it's sales, brand awareness, or anything else - and how much you're willing to spend.
Consider your target audience as well. Ana says, “When you’re building a PPC strategy, the first thing you need to do is understand your target audience and how they move through your sales funnel. In order for your brand to succeed, you must take into account the way people discover it as well as when and how they interact with it."
There are a few things you should include in your ad parameters:
-
Who you want to target.
-
Your campaign's theme.
-
How you will measure success.
-
The type of campaign you will run.
2. Create goals and goal metrics
As long as you determine how you plan to measure your campaign goals, you will have something to show for your ad spend. It is important not to confuse your goal metrics with your campaign metrics, which we will discuss below.
Here are some common PPC goals and how to measure them:
- Brand awareness is how familiar your target audience is with your company. You might want to consider display ads to supplement your copy with engaging imagery for this goal. Through social engagement, surveys, and direct traffic, you can measure brand awareness.
- Lead generation is the direct result of having a relevant and engaging landing page to follow your paid ad. If you're using a tool like HubSpot, you can track lead conversions through UTM parameters if you create a separate landing page for each ad group.
- Offering a promotion is great if you’re running a limited-time offer, product or service discount, or contest. Your ad should have a dedicated sign-up page or a unique discount code so you can track which users clicked on it.
- Sales can be measured by how much of your product or service is sold based on your paid ads. Using Content Hub or attribution reporting, you should be able to track this.
- Site traffic is a great goal if you have high-quality content throughout your website. It's important to have some level of confidence that you can keep people on your site and eventually convert them into customers if you spend money getting them there.
3. Choose your campaign type
Not only do you need to know where you'll advertise, but also how. Depending on where you can reach your audience, there are many different types of paid advertising campaigns.
Cole advises taking it slow at first. He says, "Start small and adjust your campaign over time."
However, you can also try a combination of campaign types, as long as you're consistently testing and revising.
Campaign types include:
- Search Ads are the most common type of PPC and refer to the text ads that show up on search engine results pages.
- Display Ads allow you to place ads (usually image-based) on external websites, including social. Several ad networks, including Google Display Network (GDN), allow you to buy display ads.
- Social refers to any ads that you see on social media, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Depending on the platform, you can pay to display in your target audience's social feed or elsewhere within their profile.
- Remarketing can use either cookies or a list of contacts that you upload to target people who have previously engaged with your company through some action. You may ask them to fill out a form, read a blog, or simply visit a page on your website.
- Google Shopping is most effective for ecommerce sites. Based on your target keywords, your ad - including image, price, and a short description - will appear on a search page carousel.
4. Perform keyword research
Search engines know when and where to display your ads based on the keywords you assign to each ad group you create.
Generally, you should select between one and five keywords per ad group, and those keywords should be extremely relevant to the ad. Choose keywords that are closely aligned with the theme of your ad group. You should create a separate ad group if you want to target keywords that are not related to a particular theme.
Remember that you're not stuck with the keywords you start with.
Throughout your campaign, you should closely monitor your keyword list - eliminating those that don't produce the visitors you want and increasing those that do. Choose keywords that are relevant to your website, but don't feel obligated to get them perfect the first time around.
5. Utilize Google Analytics for tracking
Installing Google Analytics on your website is free, so there's no reason not to. Using the tool, you can see how your website performs, how users interact with your pages, and what content is most appealing to your visitors.
PPC is not the only thing that can be done with the information gathered from Google Analytics.
Best Practices for a Quality PPC Strategy
Didn't you think we'd let you spend your hard-earned money on advertisements without providing some best practices to follow? No, of course not. With your next PPC campaign, we want to make sure you succeed.
Let's look at some PPC strategies that will help you maximize your budget and efforts.
We're going to focus on paid search ads (those little guys you see in search engines) here.
A strong PPC ad copy is essential
The right keywords will get your ad in front of the right people, and good ad copy will encourage those people to click on it.
Your ad needs to solve for the searcher's intent - you need to make sure that the words you choose clearly communicate what the searcher is seeking. In this case, the question is, "What are their pain points?"? When they decide to purchase, what are their motivations? What can your product do to solve that problem? ”
By answering these questions, you will be able to come up with a list of targeted keywords to help you write your ad copy. A search ad consists of a headline, a URL, and a short description, and each has a character limit. In order to take full advantage of this space, ensure that your ad copy does the following:
- Communicate directly with your target audience.
- Make sure you include the main keyword you're bidding on.
- Provide an actionable CTA so the searcher knows what to do next.
- Ensure that the offer is appealing.
- Copy that matches your landing page should be used.
- Perform A/B split tests with your copy.
Optimize your landing page
The page that leads are sent to after they click on your ad is probably the most important element of PPC (after the ad copy). You need to ensure that this page is highly targeted, relevant to your ad, delivers what was promised, and presents a seamless experience.
Why is that? The goal of your landing page is to convert your new visitor into a lead or customer. Moreover, a high-converting landing page improves your Quality Score, resulting in better ad placements. A poorly designed landing page will greatly diminish PPC profits.
- How can a PPC landing page increase conversions? Glad you asked.
- Make sure your headline reflects your search ad.
- Layout and design that are clean.
- Easy-to-use form with a stand-out CTA.
- Copy that is very specific and relevant to your target keywords.
- Provides the offer you promised in your ad.
- A/B tested.
A/B test your PPC ads
Marketers rarely throw out something that works without testing it first. The same applies to PPC campaigns. The importance of A/B testing for your paid ad campaign cannot be overstated.
Increasing your clickthrough rate and conversion rate are the goals of testing your ad.
You only need to test four parts of ads: headlines, descriptions, landing pages, and target keywords.
Changing any one of these elements can dramatically alter your results, so you should make changes one at a time to keep track of where improvements come from.
In light of the fact that there are many variations that you could test one at a time, it's a good idea to make a list of all the potential tests you can run and prioritize them according to their most significant impact.
It is also important to run your ads long enough to gather the data you need and test them early enough to avoid wasting money on poor-performing ads.
Maximize your ROI
Optimizing ROI on your ad campaigns means taking into account customer lifetime value and customer acquisition costs, which will help you determine how much is worth spending on a new lead and how much can be paid advertising.
In order to get more detailed, we need to talk about inputs and outputs, that is, 1) lowering your input, e.g. cost per lead (CPL), and 2) increasing your return (revenue).
Let's take a look at a few factors that will affect both.
What is PPC management?
Management of PPC campaigns involves a number of techniques, such as creating and adjusting goals, split testing, introducing new keywords, optimizing conversion paths, and shifting plans to reach objectives.
PPC management involves looking at your strategy and ad spend. To optimize keyword effectiveness, you need to iterate on your plan.
In contrast, it means thinking about how to allocate resources to specific keywords and how to adjust those resources accordingly.
Monitoring changes and updates to providers - such as search engines, social platforms, and ad networks - is another important part of a successful management strategy.
The task of managing PPC campaigns can be overwhelming, which is why you should invest in solid PPC management tools.
PPC Tools and Software
PPC management tools should simplify things for you since there are so many variables to monitor.
While you can monitor your ads within the platform, if you need more help and organization, you should consider using a robust, easy-to-understand spreadsheet or sophisticated software.
Software features to look for include multi-user support, cross-platform management, A/B testing, scheduling, reporting, and ad grading.
Listed below are some of the most popular and highly rated PPC software and resources.
- HubSpot offers a robust template to help you monitor and manage the moving parts of your campaign, making it easy to keep track of your ad groups, keywords, and A/B tests.
- WordStream automates the tedious parts of setting up and managing your PPC campaign.
- Metrics Watch streamlines your agency’s reporting process with email-delivered reports. Directly deliver your PPC and marketing data to your clients' inboxes. Alternatively, if you are coming from a competitor, they offer a free migration service.
- NinjaCat lets you combine all of your analytics from multiple platforms into one report so you can track your entire campaign in one location.
- Optmyzr has end-to-end PPC support, from creation to reporting, and it offers a free trial of its software.
- SEMRush can help you manage the most important part of your PPC campaign — keywords. A negative list can be created, keyword lists can be managed and optimized, and you can find relevant keywords.
PPC Metrics to Track
There is no doubt that metrics matter (but you already knew that). Your PPC campaign should track the following metrics.
-
Clicks refer to the total number of clicks you receive on an ad. Your keyword selection and ad copy relevance affect this metric.
-
Cost per click (CPC) measures the price you pay for each click on your ad.
-
Clickthrough rate (CTR) is the percentage of ad views that result in clicks. The cost per click (CPC) is determined by this metric. Different industries have different benchmarks for CTR.
-
Impressions are the number of times an ad is viewed. Cost per mille (CPM) is determined for every thousand impressions. Brand awareness campaigns are most likely to benefit from impressions.
-
Ad spend is the amount you are spending on your ads. The Quality Score can help you optimize this.
-
Return on ad spend (ROAS) is the ROI of your ad campaign. For every dollar spent on advertising, this metric calculates the revenue received.
-
Conversion rate refers to the percentage of people that complete the call-to-action on your landing page and become a lead or customer.
-
Cost per conversion refers to the cost to generate a lead. It is calculated by dividing the total cost of an ad by the number of conversions.
-
Quality Score (QS) determines ad positioning, so it’s an important metric to keep an eye on.
Each of these metrics can help you increase the ROI of your paid campaign and spend less for better results.
Using the lessons in this guide about building a PPC campaign, the best practices for a quality PPC strategy, and the tips in The Ultimate Google Ads PPC Kit will help you improve the traffic and conversions on your website.
No matter how long you've been in business or how new you are, PPC might give you an edge over your competition - or at least ahead of them in the search engine results.