So, how does PPC Work? Digital marketing is one of the most effective ways that you can increase your company’s revenue. While many methods (such as SEO-optimized blog posts) don’t have a direct cost, there are some that require an investment in order to get started.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is one of the efficient ways you can run a digital marketing campaign and often has a significant ROI. But, not everyone knows how to go about it.
Not sure where to start? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Let’s take a look at everything you need to know to answer to the common question, “How does PPC work?”
Set Up Your Campaign on Google
Many companies tend to lean toward Google AdWords for their first dive into PPC, and for good reason— Google is sure to display your ads to thousands (if not millions) of people if everything’s done correctly.
You’ll need a Google account to get started. If you already have a Gmail account, then you’ve completed this first step.
Next, you’ll need to go to Adwords.Google.com and sign in to your account. You’ll be taken to an interface that lets you set the parameters of your PPC campaign.
Before you fill out this information, there are a few extra steps that are required. Here’s what you need to do.
Related Article: How To Get Your Website On Top of Google
1. Define Your Goals
Before you get started, you’ll need to come up with what you’d like to accomplish through your PPC campaign. The type of conversion you’d like your traffic to make (signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, etc.) will influence the rest of your campaign.
It’s important to keep in mind that your goals for your PPC campaign should have a solid ROI (return on investment) in order to avoid wasting your money.
2. Define Your Budget
How much money you spend will have a large impact on your campaign’s success. But, this doesn’t mean that spending more money is always better. This is especially true if you haven’t optimized the other nuances of your campaign (a less-than-stellar landing page, for example).
For your first campaign, it would be wise to limit your spending so that you can see how your performance is. If your ROI is good (even for a small amount of money), you’ll likely see similar results on a larger scale. Once you confirm this, you can feel comfortable investing more during future campaigns.
3. Define Your Keywords
This step is crucial in terms of how successful your PPC campaign will be. If you target the wrong keywords, you could find that an otherwise solid marketing strategy is unrewarding.
For example, you may be chasing after a keyword that your site simply can’t rank for. Or, you could make the mistake of assuming certain keywords are relevant to your audience.
So, the more you research your potential keywords, the better your chance of success. To help get started, you can take advantage of a free tool from Google.
4. Bid on The Keywords
This process exhibits a similar concept to most other markets when it comes to pricing. High-volume keywords will cost more than low-volume keywords since your PPC ad will be seen by more or fewer people, respectively.
Your budget will come into play here, as the keywords you had in mind may prove to cost more than you’re willing to spend. If you’ve researched your keywords thoroughly, though, you’ll have a list to choose from and will be able to compare their costs.
Google’s Keyword Planner tool will give you insight into how much your competitors are spending so that you can get a feel for what you’ll need to pay. In some cases, you can even adjust the amount you’re bidding so that you can outbid your competitors.
5. Create Landing Pages
You’ll have a difficult time making conversions if you have no place for your traffic to go.
A landing page is a page on your company’s website that’s specifically designed with a specific CTA in mind. As previously mentioned, this could involve making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, etc.
It could also involve downloading a free industry report or eBook in exchange for their contact info.
Regardless of what you’d like your audience members to do, your landing page will need to be compelling and free of distractions. Audience research goes a long way here, as it will dictate what type of tone your copy takes, what images you’ll embed, etc.
Your landing page should also incorporate the same keywords you use in your PPC campaign so that it comes off as relevant to your site’s visitors.
6. Start Your Campaign
Once you’ve gotten all of the research and brainstorming out of the way, you’re ready to begin your first PPC campaign.
Based on the values you entered into Google AdWords, you’ll know exactly how long your campaign will last, how much you’re spending, etc. You can analyze your campaign’s performance after it’s over in order to optimize campaigns you run in the future.
This will allow you to get the largest ROI and may even help you discover other PPC opportunities.
How Does PPC Work? Now You Know!
PPC can seem difficult and complicated… but it doesn’t have to be.
Now that you know the answer to the question “How does PPC work?” you’ll be well on your way to getting the most out of your investment and hitting your numbers like never before.
Want to learn more about how we can help? Feel free to get in touch with us today to see what we can do.
