PPC, or Pay Per Click advertising revolutionised the online ad industry and is still one of the most popular forms of promotion on the web. Unlike other forms of online advertising, PPC is a system where the advertiser only pays for each click on their advert. While not many people understand much about how PPC ads work, they are very familiar to most people who spend time online. They are those generally small, mostly text based adverts that seem to always catch your eye at the bottom of web pages or on the side panels of social networking sites and search engines. Search engines such as Bing, Yahoo!, and most notably Google implemented PPC ads in order to generate income and since their launch they have been a go-to advertising solution for many companies looking to reap its many benefits.
How it works
PPC advertising on search engines is keyword or key-phrase based. The advertiser largely determines the cost of PPC advertising by bidding on certain key phrases. This means that when people search for the words or phrases that advertisers bid on – those ads will pop up.
Advertisers decide the maximum amount that they are willing to pay every time someone clicks on their advert, hence, pay per click. The PPC system therefore allows businesses to exercise control over their advertising budget. By implementing upper limits on your cost-per-click and total daily spend you determine what you want to spend.
One of the greatest benefits of all digital advertising is the fact that it is entirely measurable. With PPC ads in particular, measurability is a huge advantage since campaigns usually generate instant results. Set-up is quick and money spent will immediately translate into clicks to your site, which means you’ll be able to gauge campaign performance in real time and make amendments according to those results. This gives the advertiser much more control over their campaigns, something that’s especially important with ads that seem to be floundering.
Targeted ads translate into conversions
PPC ads are shown to users who are already interested in that particular service or product. This is because PCC ads pop up either as part of search results, are relevant in their context, or are based on users online habits, which are constantly monitored by algorithms on various social media platforms. The result is targeted, high-quality traffic to your site, leading to a high conversion of browsers into buyers.
The success of PPC ads depend on a number of factors, including a close monitoring of campaigns and effective copy writing that is clear, concise and brimming with the right kind of keywords.
Making your brand’s voice heard in the online world can be difficult as all content, sites and brands clamour to rise above the noise. But a snappy PPC ad campaign could certainly increase your business’ visibility online.
