Today, businesses that want to use online marketing to promote their brand and products have a wide range of options to choose from. You can go for content marketing, paid ads, or a combination of the two. However, with the critical role that marketing plays in the life of your business, you will have to make a decision that will ensure a high return on investment. The choice you make will depend on your target audience, your goals, and objectives, the available talent, as well as your marketing budget. Pay-per-click advertising, also known as PPC, is fast becoming a popular way for businesses to generate website traffic. Before investing in this marketing model, you will need to understand what it is, how it works, and why you should use it.
What is Pay-Per-Click Advertising?
Pay-per-click advertising, or pay-per-click marketing, is an online advertising model in which marketers place ads on an ad platform and pay the publisher each time one of their ads is clicked. In essence, you will be buying visits to your website as opposed to earning traffic organically. The goal of a PPC ad is to get users to click through to the advertiser’s website and convince them to complete certain valuable actions such as purchasing a product. One of the most popular types of advertising platforms is search engines. Search engines allow you to display ads that are relevant to what online users are looking for, ensuring that more people see the ads and helping you to get increased website traffic.
While there are different types of PPC ads, a paid search ad is one of the most common. These ads will appear when people search for things online using the keywords for which you have optimized your ads. It is critical that you have a budget set aside and manage your campaign in a way that will allow you to find opportunities for savings. You should note that with PPC marketing, more money will not always translate to more results. You will need to know what will work for you and dedicate yourself to continuous expert optimization to achieve your marketing goals. Considering the intricacies of PPC, it is necessary to understand how the marketing model works for your business.
How Does it Work?
For your PPC ad to appear alongside search engine results, the ads are subjected to an ad auction. An ad auction means that you cannot simply pay the publisher to have your ads appear more prominently than those of your competitors. The ad auction is an automated process through which search engines and other platforms determine the validity and relevance of the advertisements to be displayed. Some of the factors that will affect the success of your PPC advertising campaign are keyword relevance, landing page quality, your quality score, and how enticing your ad copy is.
When a user searches for something through a search engine, the platform will determine whether advertisers have a bid on the keyword or search. If there is none, the search engine will deliver results without ads. However, the search engine will launch its auction if there are bids. The process will compare advertisers’ ads, grades, and rank them based on specific factors. The winning ads will then be displayed alongside search engine results, with the advertisers paying some specified fees.
Considering the factors that search engines look at when grading and ranking adverts, there are some steps you can take to ensure your PPC campaign is successful. Apart from using relevant keywords, creating an enticing ad copy and optimizing your landing pages, you must ensure that the three work together in concert. A well-coordinated PPC campaign will be an effective way of guiding customers through their purchase journey.
How Can it Help my Business?
Every business owner or executive needs to understand how PPC can help their business. Below are some good reasons to consider PPC advertising.
Pay for Only the Clicked Ads
PPC is generally a straightforward marketing platform that does not have hidden complexities. As an advertiser, you will pay the search engine for listing your ads alongside search engine results. You will also pay the current cost-per-click every time someone clicks on one of your ads. Paying for clicked ads helps you to maximize your return on investment while reaching out to your target audience.
Budget Control
Your budget is an important part of the financial health and overall success of your business. With PPC advertising, you have the power to set your budget according to your needs and control your expenses. You can also track your budget to determine where your money is going, and if your investment is producing results.
Targeted Ads
By allowing you to choose where your ads will be displayed, PPC makes it easy to run a targeted marketing campaign. As such, you can have your ads to the right audience for relevant leads and increased conversions. Retargeting options enable you to reach out to people who have shown interest in your products and send them specific messages.
Immediate and Consistent Traffic
One of the advantages of PPC is that you will get immediate traffic to your website, a factor that will help to improve the visibility and exposure of the site. Provided your ads keep being displayed and you are willing to pay for each time they are clicked, you will enjoy consistent traffic to your website.
Quick Results
Compared to organic search results, PPC delivers faster results. Once you understand the factors behind an efficient PPC campaign, you will notice increased online traffic and conversions before long. With a relatively small amount of money, PPC allows you to maximize your online profits easily.
A High ROI
Every business will want to get a high return on investment from their marketing campaign. PPC is one of the most profitable online marketing channels since you will pay only when your ad is clicked. You can manage costs, calculate the expected ROI, and make the necessary changes to ensure great results.
PPC Benefits Your SEO Strategy
PPC and SEO marketing are closely related, and any company who offers small business SEO packages will ensure that both the paid and organic campaigns align with each other. While SEO takes time and helps you achieve your long-term marketing goals, PPC can improve your search engine rankings within a short time. PPC also boosts your SEO marketing efforts, effectively complementing your SEO strategy.
Set Up Your Strategy Today
With the various ways in which PPC can benefit your business, you should have an effective strategy to ensure the success of your campaign. A good strategy will also help you get a decent return on investment, a factor that will contribute to your bottom line. At BizIQ, we help small businesses to increase their online visibility through smart marketing solutions. Talk to us to learn more about our services and how we can help you achieve your goals.
