What Is PPC Marketing?
Pay Per Click, also known as PPC marketing, refers to an online paid search campaign where advertisers place keyword bids related to their products or services. When someone clicks on one of these ads, they’re taken directly to the advertiser’s website. When searching the web, two different results come up: PPC ads and organic search engine result pages (SERPs). PPC marketing is a model where advertisers pay to have their ads at the top of the page. Search engine optimization is an unpaid model, and their website shows up below the ads based on keywords used on their webpage to bring in traffic. Below is an example of which is which.
PPC strategy gives advertisers the chance to get their webpage at the very top of the search engine. The search engine shows up to four ads before showcasing organic listings. Each business bids on a keyword to attempt to get a spot at the top of the page. The higher the bid, the better chance a business can have its site at the top of the page.
Why Optimize for PPC?
A PPC campaign is something great to try for many reasons. Along with having a chance to be at the top of the search results page, it is helpful for newer advertisers to try and find the best and most relevant audiences for keywords they want to target. It is a quick way to get results and help figure out what relevant keywords work best for the target audience advertisers are looking to find.
Another great feature of PPC marketing is that advertisers can target a particular area with zip codes, city names, or a radius around a specific location to help get extra granular to find the exact target audience they want. They can also target specific demographics such as age, gender, household income, and parental status. It is even possible to include things like interests and attitudes. The more personalized something is, the easier it is to find precisely the kind of people they are looking for at the right time with the right message.
Optimizing Your Account
Once advertisers choose the settings and features that make sense for their business, account upkeep is the next essential piece. It is crucial to optimize your account regularly to ensure it is running to the best of its ability. There are many important things to look at while optimizing, the most important being keywords. Looking at what keywords have a high conversion rate is very helpful in seeing where the best place is to utilize money. It is also essential to audit your campaign performance and see what keywords are spending but not converting so they can be paused. Looking at what search terms potential customers are searching for helps add both new keywords and negative keywords to ensure the best results are coming in. This is important to do about once a week to ensure the account is constantly running to the best of its ability.
Benefits of PPC Marketing
PPC marketing is a vital part of digital marketing that has a lot of benefits for advertisers. These advantages include its quick ability to get up and running, having the chance to be extra specific with targeting and demographics, and how easy it is to pause and bid upon keywords that are working or not working for your business. No matter what route is taken with the account, it is always important to keep a close eye on your PPC efforts, and excellent results will come.
About the Author
Sarah Abbey is a PPC Marketing Specialist for ChoiceLocal who specializes in Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, and Facebook advertising. Sarah helps clients by running their PPC advertising campaigns on different digital marketing channels and social media platforms. When she’s away from developing a digital marketing strategy for partners, she enjoys concerts, watching sports, and spending time with family, friends, and her dogs.
