Introduction
Pay-per-click (PPC) is a form of online advertising appearing next to the website content or relevant searches. What Is PPC and How Does It Work? Usually, advertisers display targeted ads and pay a publisher each time site visitors click them after searching for queries.
To run a successful campaign, users must understand how PPC works and its crucial elements such as the keywords, bidding system, landing pages, costs, ad texts, Ad group, and the campaign itself.
Besides, all the ads can work on all platforms such as browsers, social media, and mobile apps.
Types of PPC ads campaigns include:
- Search ads: The most popular targeting choice based on keyword advertising.
- Display ads: Has millions of websites that accept to display Google text, video ads, and image ads. These ads use audiences and demographics instead of targeting methods based on keywords.
- Shopping ads: It features product listing ads displayed on standard search engines. For instance, if you submit a product feed to Google, it will create ads in shopping campaigns. Usually, they lack keywords, but the search engines displaying them match user queries to the most applicable products.
How Does PPC Work?
Some websites or significant search engines offer ad space to promote your brand or business with specific fees.
Each time a site visitor clicks on such ads, you will pay for those clicks. PPC works with this concept but using an Ad auction bidding system. Search engines use PPC ads to regulate relevant ads appearing on SERPs (Search Engines Results Page).
Advertisers use the auction to bid on relevant keywords, then display ads using the derived keywords to their business. Various online tools can help you find these keywords with the average CCP (Cost Per Click) and right volume.
Once you find the relevant keywords, you can use them to create ads and place them in the search engines with a bidding price. The cost for advertising depends on the impression count measured in CPM (cost per thousand impressions).
If a visitor queries information using the search engine, it performs complex algorithm calculations depending on the Ad Auction bidding system. The outcome of any calculation, which may involve quality score and ad extensions, establishes the advertiser’s displayed ads and the sequence they should follow, including their position.
How much does PPC cost?
Cost is an essential factor to consider before you think of starting a PPC campaign. PPC cost depends on several factors such as the ad network, keywords used, and your budget.
Each ad network has a different cost for each click determined by the visitors’ supply and demand. For instance, Google Ads is more expensive than Microsoft Ads since it is a popular search engine with massive traffic. Moreover, all ad networks are available with a different customizable budget depending on what you can afford.
Google Ads does a superb job with its Keyword Planner tool, which you can use to check each ad’s cost. The average price required to advertise your business on the Google search network averages $1 to $2. It means that a small to medium-size business can spend approximately $10,000 on PPC.
Therefore, large profitable businesses can afford to pay or invest more per ad click, unlike the small ones.
Image credits: The Google Ads Auction: Max Bid, Quality Score, and Ad Rank all affect CPC
Image credits: Google Ads Industry Benchmarks: CPC Across Industries (via WordStream)
PPC for Facebook and Google
The two familiar PPC advertising giant competitors are Google Ads (AdWords) and Facebook Ads. Both have massive reach and searches, with Google boasting over 5.7 billion users while Facebook has over 1.7 billion.
It isn’t easy to choose the best option between these two platforms since they share a common ground. Therefore, you need to know the difference between them to help you decide better.
Primarily, both options provide advanced features and powerful targeting options for new users. They also have an auction where you bid the amount you need for ad space.
Previously, Google Ads worked with the paid search concept to pay for your business listing to appear on its first page or SERP. The paid search required target keywords based on specific locations rather than focusing on a particular audience.
Nowadays, Google Ads provides more than paid search on several platforms, including Google: play, Search, Maps, YouTube ads, Display Network, and Shopping.
Image credit: Geek Powered Studios
However, with Facebook Ads, you will work with the paid social advertising concept. It means you pay to appear ahead of new clients on social media rather than reaching them organically. Paid social became effective when Facebook algorithms changed, so it is hard for businesses to obtain potential organic clients.
You can advertise on Facebook Ads placements such as News Feed, Messenger, Video Feeds, Right Column, Instagram Feed, Marketplace, and Audience Network.
Additionally, you can use Google and Facebook Ads to target particular audiences by location, age, demographics, gender, among other factors. For advanced targeting features, consider Facebook Ads.
You might wonder how to choose the best option between the two. Some key factors to consider include campaign goals, with Google Ads being the best choice. But if you intend to reach a broad audience, consider Facebook Ads.
Overall, both Facebook and Google Ads platforms for PPC advertising can function together, so implementing them can produce the best results.
Benefits Of PPC
PPC has valuable tools to monitor, track and analyze your information. Benefits include:
- You can quickly create campaigns, ads and discover potential clients, unlike SEO.
- Users can access your ads on any platform such as desktop, tablet, or mobile devices.
- A better understanding of the search queries and how visitor behavior influences conversions.
- Measuring how several campaigns such as clicks, impressions, conversions, and traffic perform according to your budget.
- It provides budget flexibility by evaluating your expenditure to know when you need improvements.
- You can choose from a list of multiple target keywords via search ads or concentrate on a specific demographic.
PPC vs. SEO
You are already familiar with SEO and how it helps your website rank better on Google search to get more organic traffic and conversions. SEO has various benefits, including awareness, branding, credibility, sustainability, improved CTR (click-through rate), etc. Alternatively, PPC advantages include improved ads, brand visibility, targeting, budget, speed, stability, cost, etc.
Both PPC and SEO seem to function by reaching a broad audience and clients, making it difficult to differentiate them for the best option.
However, one of the key factors differentiating the two is traffic. For PPC traffic, you pay per click, while SEO organic traffic is free since Google intends to ensure valuable and trustworthy search content.
I Like to think of it like this: PPC is like adding gas to the fire… rapid response, lots of targeted traffic instantly, BUT the traffic stops immediately you stop paying for the ads.
Organic content, on the other hand, can bring you traffic for years after it is published, provided it is good quality, engaging and relevant to the reader.
We have been getting traffic from blog posts from pre 2018 and still to this day, we see a great number of visitors.
If you consider investing in your business, the two ads’ options can assist in different ways.
First, SEO has been a successful form of online marketing since it provides the best opportunity for site visitors to discover your business. However, the SEO process takes some time to achieve the best results. With Google Ads PPC, you can customize a fast campaign to receive quick traffic regardless of whether your business is big or small.
If you desire to get the best opportunity and obtain more short-term website traffic, consider integrating SEO and Google Ads PPC.
Conclusion
When you understand the importance of PPC and how to use it, you will know how to generate site traffic and client visits to your business. Knowing how it works, the cost of ads, its benefits, and various ad networks can lead to a successful campaign. Some PPC can bring better results if you integrate them. If you find the PPC concept difficult, you can hire a professional to help you run an effective promotion.