You know when you sit in the first day of class and they give you the syllabus with the key points and then let you leave? We thought we’d follow that basic premise and give you the high-level information you need on pay per click, or PPC.
At its core, pay per click is an advertising tactic where companies pay a fee for each time their advertisement is clicked. The ad in question could be seen on various search engines or social platforms including Google Ads (formally Google AdWords), Bing, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Pinterest, but the functionality remains largely the same.
Search engine advertising (such as through Google and Bing) allows internet marketers and advertisers to bid for ad placement. When a user is searching a keyword or keyword phrase, your advertisement will show up in the top before the organic results with a green [AD] next to it, as seen in the picture above.
Each time an ad is clicked, it sends a user to a landing page or your website and you in turn pay a small fee for each click. This is what we call a cost per click or CPC.
Seems easy? Just put together a budget and bid on some keywords? Not entirely. A lot of behind-the-scenes work goes into a paid campaign if done correctly.
You must conduct research for keywords or phrases that are relevant, exclude phrases which aren’t, write effective ads, set up campaigns, and write landing page copy for any topics or audiences you are targeting. It’s important to do all of these steps and be as thorough as possible in order to win that sale.
Ultimately, your goal is to have a paid spend that results in a worthwhile return on your investment. When monitoring and managing a paid campaign, one must refine landing pages, review the cost per click and bid amount, and continue to update the keywords and phrases as needed to improve relevancy and not waste spend.
Contact us today if you are looking for a pay-per-click partner in your marketing efforts. We’re ready to get to work!
