what is pay-per-click advertising

what is pay per click advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is an online marketing model where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. It’s a way to buy visits to your site, rather than attempting to "earn" those visits organically. The most common platform for PPC is search engine advertising, such as Google Ads, where businesses bid for ad placement in a search engine's sponsored links when someone searches for a keyword related to their product or service.

Key Features of PPC:
Cost-Per-Click (CPC): The cost an advertiser pays when their ad is clicked.
Bidding System: Advertisers bid on keywords or audience segments, and their ads are displayed based on relevance, bid amount, and ad quality.
Targeting: PPC allows advertisers to target specific demographics, locations, devices, and even times of day.
Ad Rank: Factors like bid amount, quality of the ad (relevance, landing page experience), and expected click-through rate (CTR) determine how and where ads are displayed.
Ad Formats: Includes text ads, display/banner ads, shopping ads, and video ads.

Setting up a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising campaign involves several steps, from planning and research to launching and monitoring your ads. Here's a breakdown of how to set up PPC advertising, specifically using platforms like Google Ads (the most popular PPC platform), though the general principles apply to other platforms as well.

1. Define Campaign Goals
Determine what you want to achieve with your PPC campaign. Common goals include driving website traffic, generating leads, increasing sales, or promoting brand awareness.

2. Choose a PPC Platform
Google Ads is the most common PPC platform, but others include Bing Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and Amazon Ads.
Select the platform that aligns with your target audience and business objectives.


3. Keyword Research
For Search Ads: Research and identify relevant keywords your target audience is searching for. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to find high-intent keywords with good search volume.
For Display/Shopping/Video Ads: Focus on audience targeting rather than keywords, selecting audiences based on demographics, interests, and behaviors.

4. Set a Budget and Bid Strategy
Daily Budget: Set a daily or monthly budget for your campaign to control ad spend.
Bid Strategy: Decide how much you’re willing to pay for each click (Cost-Per-Click, CPC). You can choose manual bidding (setting bids yourself) or automated bidding (letting Google optimize your bids for conversions).
There are different strategies:
Manual CPC: You set the bids.
Enhanced CPC: Google adjusts bids based on the likelihood of conversion.
Maximize Conversions: Google optimizes bids to get the most conversions within your budget.

5. Create Your Ad Groups
Organize your ads into ad groups. Each ad group should target a specific set of related keywords or audiences.
Structure your campaign into relevant themes (e.g., different product categories or services) to keep ads focused and relevant.

6. Write Ad Copy
For Search Ads: Write compelling headlines and descriptions that match your keywords and encourage clicks. Include a strong call to action (CTA), such as "Buy Now" or "Get a Free Quote."
For Display/Video Ads: Create eye-catching visuals or engaging videos, with a clear message that aligns with your target audience.

7. Set Up Landing Pages
Ensure your landing pages are optimized for the ads you're running. The landing page should provide a seamless experience and match the ad's offer or message.
The quality and relevance of your landing page affect your Quality Score, which can lower your ad costs and improve your ranking.

8. Add Ad Extensions (Optional)
Ad extensions provide additional information like your phone number, location, or links to specific pages of your website (e.g., contact page, product pages).
Common types of ad extensions:
Sitelink Extensions: Links to other pages on your site.
Call Extensions: Your phone number.
Location Extensions: Your business address.
Callout Extensions: Highlight special offers or features.

9. Target Your Audience
Set up targeting criteria based on factors like location, demographics (age, gender, income), interests, and device types (mobile, desktop).
Consider using remarketing to target users who have visited your site before.

10. Launch Your Campaign
Review all settings, ad copy, keywords, and bids to ensure everything is aligned with your goals.
Once you're confident, launch the campaign.