If you are reading this, chances are you have heard a lot about SEO than PPC. You know all about SEO and how it works, but you have little or no idea of how PPC works. Some of the questions on your mind are, “Is PPC better than SEO?” “Is PPC worth my money?”, “Does PPC produce profitable results, as they say?”
I truly understand you. You want to know if it’s worth your time and money.
Either you have heard very little of PPC or know a lot, and you’re curious to learn more, you have come to the right place.
In this blog, I will explain to you in 5 minutes all you need to know about PPC, how it works and how you can start using it right away.
Let’s begin!
What is PPC?
PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click. As the name implies, it is an online advertising method where the advertiser pays a fee to the publisher every time they click on their online ads. It is regarded as a more innovative way of buying visits to your site without waiting or attempting to earn those visits organically.
For businesses looking to target and convert more customers, PPC marketing is a fantastic opportunity to get their brand and products public, especially interested users who may not have found them any other way. This medium has been considered a valuable tool for lead generation, brand awareness, and sales conversions.
How does PPC Work?
PPC advertising is primarily based on keywords. Based on the keywords and audiences they are targeting, advertisers will generally set a bid for clicks to their website. Pay-Per-Click Advertisers will then enter an auction against other advertisers for each click. Hence, the advertisements that show/get published are based on a bid and the Ads quality score.
Companies that rely on PPC advertising do their due diligence to research and analyze the most applicable keywords to their products and services. It means that the higher the keyword’s relevance, the higher the number of clicks they get, hence, higher profits.
PPC Advertising is beneficial to the publishers just as it is to the advertisers. The model provides strong visibility and opportunity to advertise their services to a specific audience searching for their content. As for the publishers, the PPC model offers a revenue stream for online companies (such as Google and Facebook) to monetize their free products via online advertising.
What are the Most Popular PPC Platforms?
I am sure you are already getting to understand the concept of PPC gradually. Even if you’re yet to get the hang of it, stay with me. I will share some of the most popular PPC platforms that have their unique benefits and best uses. Some of them include:
● Google Ads
Google Ads is one of the biggest PPC platforms of all time. I will share a few things about them.
Google Ads’ are displayed to customers based on what they search for. For instance, if you search for ‘nearby restaurants in Canada,’ you will notice the adverts that appear with your Google search results page based on your ‘nearby restaurants’ keyword in Canada. The first set of ads you see on the page is Google ads for small business.
As you know, the best value for Google ads comes from showing your ad content to users actively looking for your services, who inevitably become your customers.
● Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads’ beauty has two main strengths: retargeting based on segmented marketing and custom audiences. Facebook Ads allows you to target a wide range of audiences and advertise your brand to customers who were never aware they wanted your services. While Google Ads focuses on-demand harvesting, Facebook Ads focuses on-demand generation.
Other PPC platforms include:
- Twitter Ads
- Promoted Pins
- LinkedIn Ads
- Quora Ads
- YouTube Ads
Why Can’t You Just Rely on Organic Search?
Regardless of your business, if you only depend on organic search, you will not get clients on your website or landing page. Most people won’t even know your business exists, especially if you are just building an online presence for your brand or business. Brands like Coca-Cola and Nike may not bother to use PPC because they have become household names in their respective industries.
Also, SEO is great but does not guarantee the wide exposure PPC will give you. The very fact that your competitors will use these platforms is enough reason to invest both your time and money in it.
What are the Benefits of using PPC Marketing?
Among many, PPC offers four main benefits, which are: Speed, Agility, Precision, and Measurement.
● Speed.
Advertisers can drive traffic to their website or landing page as fast as possible. With PPC marketing, this is considered one of the fastest means to driving traffic and conversion growth.
● Agility
Unlike SEO, performance data is readily available, giving advertisers the advantage of making necessary adjustments almost immediately to ensure a successful campaign.
● Precision
With the help of Geo-Targeting, advertisers can display their ads directly to their targeted audience, especially those on Search and Shopping Networks. It saves money and time as advertisers already know where to find their market.
● Measurement
With effective conversion tracking, advertisers get to see the ROI (Return on investment) of their ads. It informs their decisions on whether to improve on or change their strategies during the campaign.
Conclusion
It can always be overwhelming, especially when it’s your first time, but the results are super-rewarding when you put in the work.
Regardless of how intimidating learning all this may seem, remember that even PPC experts don’t always get it right on the first trial. So, don’t beat yourself too much about it. Constantly test and try out new things. By doing so, you get to figure out what works and what doesn’t. This way, you can enjoy the great benefits PPC delivers to your products and services.
At this point, I believe you now have a clear understanding of PPC.