Marketers, it is an honest question for all of you. Out of all the marketing techniques, how much do you really understand the world of paid advertising?
It is a fact that there are almost 45% of small businesses that do some form of online advertising but pay-per-click is still a concept that is very new to many of us. As a marketer, PPC is an important skill, and you must have a basic understanding of it.
If we try to understand it, Pay-per-click or PPC advertising is all around us in today’s world. Whether you’re conducting a Google search or scrolling through social media, you will come across PPC ads. Pay-per-click marketing is simply a form of digital advertising where businesses display ads on sites. These sites include Google (paid search) and Facebook (paid social). They only pay when someone clicks on the said ad. PPC ads are a low-cost and effective form of advertising. This makes them such a popular choice for businesses of all types and sizes.
PPC marketing which is also known as search engine marketing (SEM) is a form of online advertising. It allows your business to appear above the organic search results.
If we put it in a simple manner: you bid to appear when people search specific terms. And every time your ad appears, and someone clicks on it, you will pay for every click.
It might sound simple. But it is not as simple as it seems. In fact, with the growing world of the internet, PPC marketing has become incredibly complex today. There are a lot of things that you need to know before you get started with creating advertisements and campaigns. If you try PPC without any prior knowledge the process might get complicated, and you will end up losing money.
In this blog, we will dive into the world of PPC, understand the concept, and learn how it can be a great marketing strategy for your business.
What is PPC?
Pay-per-click is a form of advertising technique in which you to pay a fee to have your website on the search engine result page (SERP). As soon as someone insert in specific keywords or phrases to the search engine your website appears. The SERP displays the ads you create to direct visitors to your site. The fee you pay is based on whether people click on your ad or not.
If PPC is done in an accurate manner, PPC can earn you quality leads. When you give a perfect user journey, it will mean that you’ll get a massive ROI for your PPC efforts. Pay-per-click advertising is most common in search engine results pages, like Google or Bing. Apart from that it is also used on other social media channels.
The world of marketing is incomplete without a few acronyms and jargons. If you’re going to enter the PPC advertising, hereunder are a few terms you should know:
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Search Engine Marketing refers to any digital marketing, whether it is paid or unpaid that is done on a search engine. It includes Google, Yahoo, or Bing. SEM is an umbrella term which includes both paid advertising and search engine optimization, that is, ranking organically for keywords. It is important to know that not all PPC occurs on search engines, social media also include PPC ads.
Campaign
The foremost step in setting up your PPC ads is deciding your ad campaign. You can think of your campaign as the key message or theme you want to deliver with your advertisements.
CPC
Cost-per-click is the amount that an advertiser pays for each click on the ad. CPC acts as your bid in an auction. It determines where your ad will be placed. A higher bid equates to better ad placement.
Quality Score
It is a score that search engines give to your ad based on your clickthrough rate. It is 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 on the SERP is also considered.
Ad Rank
Ad rank determines the position of an ad on a search engine results page. It is calculated as - Maximum Bid x Quality Score.
Landing Page
A landing page is a crucial part of your PPC strategy. The landing page is where users will end up as soon as they click on your PPC ad. It can be a dedicated webpage, your homepage, or somewhere else. Just make sure to make your landing page attractive to maximize conversions."
Where Should You Advertise – Best PPC Platforms
There can be various online spaces where you can spend your ad money. However, the best way to spend them is by taking a close look at your potential ROI on every platform.
You might think that the most popular advertising platforms are effective because they’re easy to use and are highly trafficked. But if you have a smaller budget, you can consider a less popular alternative.
Google Ads
One of the most common phrases that you must have heard various times a day is - “Let me Google that?” We probably hear this more than we can count. That is the reason why Google Ads is the king of paid advertising. Google processes over 90,000 search queries in a single second. This gives you a plenty of opportunities to target keywords that will get your audience to click. The only drawback is that keywords are highly competitive on this platform this means that you might have to spend more.
Facebook Ads
It is a popular and effective platform for paid ads. What makes Facebook ads is a right option for you is its specific targeting options. Facebook allows you to target users based on interests, demographics, location, and their behaviours. Facebook allows native ads. It means ads are introduced and blend into the social feed. You can use Facebook Ads to advertise on Instagram platform as well.
RevContent
It focuses specially on promoting content with PPC. It has the same impact as a guest post. Here your content is displayed on an external site. The only difference is that it is in the form of an ad. You still use keywords, and your advertisement is displayed next to content relevant to those keywords. With this platform, you can get the benefits of a low CPC and highly engaged traffic.
Benefits of PPC
PPC ads are cost-effective
When you use PPC ad campaigns, you will have a complete control over how much you will spend. You only pay when visitors click the link leading to your website or landing page. There are high chances of conversion, and you’ll get your money’s worth.
Produce fast results
Everyone agrees that organic ranking is great. But it sometimes takes months or even years to get on the first page. If you’re a startup or small business, you likely don’t have the time to wait for the effect of organic traffic. That’s where PPC ads can be advantageous.
Can be easily controlled and tested
With PPC ads, it is easy to control the keywords you’re targeting, ad placement, or budget. You can also run A/B split tests with different ads. It will help you to know the one that produces the highest return on investment. You can then scale the ads that do well until it no longer gives you the results you are looking for.
With these benefits, you must now have an idea about what PPC marketing is and how it can boost your organization’s presence. If you have a strong PPC strategy, it will improve your way for the website’s traffic and conversions.
Whether you just started your business yesterday or have been around for decades, Unify Wizards with its PPC marketing strategies are the boost you need to get an edge on your competition.