Improving sales performance through online advertising platforms is an essential marketing strategy for businesses of all sizes. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising has proven to be one of the most effective means of attracting potential customers.
What is Pay-Per-Click?
Pay Per Click (PPC), also referred to as Cost Per Click, is an advertising model whereby businesses market and sell their products and services online using search engines.
How does Pay-Per-Click Advertising Work?
Pay-Per-Click works more like an auction. An “auction” takes place immediately a user enters a search query. The search engine will then determine an advertiser’s eligibility for the auction, the subsequent order in which eligible ads appear on the page (at the top, side or bottom) and how much each advertiser will pay if their ad is clicked.
See an example search query for the phrase “nederman dust collectors” showing an ad at the top for one of the clients we are currently working with.
PPC Search Query Results in Google
When the advertiser’s ad is clicked, the visitor/user is sent directly to your website’s landing page and the advertiser pays for the click.
See an example screenshot of a PPC reporting interface showing number of clicks, impressions, average cost per click and the accumulated cost overtime.
Reporting Interface for PPC Ads
Two main factors influence the effectiveness of a PPC ad. They are bidding and quality score.
How much an advertiser is willing to pay for a click determines how well the ad performs. Advertisers must set a maximum bid that they’re willing to pay for a click, either at the individual keyword level or at the ad group level.
Quality Score combines factors such as Landing page experience, expected Click-Through Rate and Ad Relevance to what users are looking for online.
These two factors determine your Ad Rank, that is, the positions in which ads participating in the auction are shown in search engines.
Below is a formula used by the Google Algorithm to determine an advertisers Ad Rank during a search auction:
Ad Rank = Ad quality score x Max CPC [+ a combination of other factors, including the context of the search such as device and expected impact of ad extensions]
Drive Traffic To Your Website With Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Driving traffic is an essential part of any online business. The success of your business is highly dependent on the quality of traffic you drive to your business website. This will help to create thousands of qualified prospects and a profitable marketing funnel.
Being on the pages of a search engine requires strategic intent and efforts. This will ensure a steady stream of targeted traffic to your website.
The key to a sound Pay-Per-Click ad is to utilise your understanding of your target audience to select relevant keywords and phrases most likely to attract them.
Since the algorithm is used by search engines to show your ads to customers based on the keywords you target, it is vital to do proper keyword research to determine the optimal words to use for your ad campaign.
Several keyword search tools are available to help you conduct a detailed keyword research and analysis, including Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush and Ahrefs Keyword Explorer. These search analytic tools allow you to choose the most relevant keywords or phrases for your ads.
The more relevant keywords or phrases you target, the more likely your ads will attract high quality traffic to your website.
Want to learn more about growing your small business with Per-Pay-Click advertising?
Contact one of our consultants today!
