Pay-per-click marketing can boost website traffic and help your business grow.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising allows you to get your brand, services, and products in front of potential consumers wherever they may be online. This type of digital marketing is flexible enough to allow you to advertise across platforms and decide how long an ad runs for. And, you only pay when someone engages with the ad and clicks through to your website, rather than other types of online advertising that charge for simply displaying ads.
PPC can help your small business stand out amongst competitors, but it requires a strategic approach—one that will help you maximize your return-on-investment (ROI). Here’s how leaders across various industries leverage PPC to grow their businesses. Take their experience into consideration as you learn to grow your own business via PPC.
What is PPC, and why is a PPC strategy important?
Pay per click is a digital advertising model in which you (the business) pay a fee each time someone clicks on an advertisement to your website. These advertisements could be on a number of digital channels, such as Google, Facebook, or Bing.
In this approach, you buy visits to your site with the hopes that they’ll perform a specific action, whether it’s to buy a product or service, subscribe to a newsletter, or download a white paper.
Defining what you want to achieve with any given PPC ad campaign, writing copy that coincides with that plan, and choosing a variety of channels to reach your target audience are all aspects of a strong PPC strategy.
10 steps to build an effective PPC strategy
Like most things, effective PPC campaigns require time and planning to succeed. Here are 10 steps you can take to make sure your next PPC campaign, whether through Amazon PPC, Bing ads, or Google PPC, is a strong one.
1. Outline your PPC goals
You cannot have a successful PPC campaign without having an idea of what success looks like. When thinking about an ad campaign, define what you’re trying to achieve and then let that guide the planning process.
“Start by defining what you want to achieve, whether it’s increasing sales, generating leads, or boosting brand awareness.”
Dominik Maka
SEO expert[1]
2. Determine your bidding strategy
Bidding is when you choose the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for a click. The more you’re willing to pay, the more likely you are to get a click. This is why it’s important to determine your budget early on and decide your ad spend.
This trick here is balance: You want your ad spend to be enough to get the clicks you want, but you don’t want to overspend. If you’re handling your PPC strategy in-house, it would be a good idea to start small with bids until you get a sense of what your maximum should be.
“Investigate various automated bid management technologies and scripts. With the help of these tools, you can modify your bids in real time depending on the performance statistics, which ensures that your budget will be used effectively.”
Andrew Arthurs
CEO of Alpine Home Air[2]
3. Choose your PPC channels
Deciding where your advertisements will be posted should be based on what you know about your target audience: Where do they spend their time?
Depending on your target audience, you may decide to use paid search advertising on Google shopping or Bing, display ads on various websites, or social media campaigns through a Facebook ad. It’s also important to make sure your advertisement makes sense for each platform. For example, PPC ads on TikTok should be video ads.
“A sound PPC strategy starts with an advertiser determining who their ideal customer is, how they search or look for products/services online, and where they're most reachable online. For example, is the business's ideal customer Gen Z on TikTok who may be looking for recommendations from influencers? Or a millennial who searches for a product on Google but needs recommendations and reviews from peers before buying?”
Nicole Mears
product marketing manager, Apptoto.com[3]
4. Set your PPC budget
The most popular keywords are often the most costly per click. By knowing how much money you have to spend, you can choose the keywords you want to target more wisely. Also, factor the tools you want to use to automate parts of the PPC marketing process into your budget.
If someone in-house is managing this process on top of their normal responsibilities, it might also be helpful for them to budget their time: How much of their energy will go into PPC-related responsibilities every week? If more of their time is needed, work with them to offload some of their other responsibilities.
“Small businesses diving into PPC might chase the most popular keywords, risking rapid budget consumption. Just because something has 10,000 searches a month does not mean you won't pay over the odds.”
Shane McEvoy
founder of Flycast Media[4]
5. Choose the right keywords
What keywords or phrases is your target audience using to search for the topic of your campaign? What comes up in searches for that keyword on Google search? Thoroughly researching keyword trends will help you reach your target audience, but remember, some keywords will cost more per click than others.
If the top keywords are too expensive, try aiming for ones that are mid-tier to still get the traffic without overpaying.
“Hunt for the right words: Tools like Google’s Keyword Planner are your treasure maps.”
Daria Udalova
founder of BRAND DA[5]
6. Write effective ad copy
Your PPC ad copy should be concise and capture the attention of your target audience, while also highlighting your unique selling points. Ultimately, you want people to read your copy and like it enough to click through to your website.
If you’re handling your PPC marketing campaigns in-house, it’s always a good idea for a group of people to discuss ad copy.
“Effective copy hooks them in. Imagine: ‘Dream vacation on a budget!’ versus ‘Cheap trips.’ Which piques curiosity? That's what a great PPC strategy is all about.”
Daniyal Sanaullah
CEO of SocialSharings[6]
7. Make landing pages strong and user friendly
When users click on one of your ads, the page they land on should load quickly, be user friendly, and clearly guide the user to a specific call-to-action (CTA). The CTA could be to buy a product, sign up for a newsletter, or request a quote from your company.
If you have multiple campaigns running at the same time, it might be a good idea to create landing pages for each one to make sure visitors don’t get confused with multiple CTAs at the same time.
Leslie Gilmour, founder and CEO of BeFound SEO, recalled a time he worked for a small landscaping company.
“We realized that sending PPC traffic to a generic homepage just wasn’t cutting it. By creating localized landing pages for different service areas and running geographically-targeted ads, we not only improved conversion rates but also reduced ad spend on irrelevant clicks—the definition of fantastic results, to say the least.”
Leslie Gilmour
founder and CEO of BeFound SEO[7]
8. Use ad extensions
Ad extensions allow for more information to be included in the copy of the ad, such as contact information, special offers, and site links. One benefit of ad extensions is that they take up more space, and this type of ad placement increases chances people will see them on the page.
“Using ad extensions and automation technologies simplifies campaign administration, improves performance, and saves money.”
Shanal Aggarwal
COO of TechAhead[8]
9. Use automation
Automating manual tasks associated with PPC advertising not only saves you time, but can also make your PPC campaign more effective. Using tools such as PPC software can help you schedule ads for peak performance hours and set bids and make sure you’re not overspending.
Click fraud software can help you detect and block malicious and invalid traffic that comes in through your ads. This will help you make sure you’re only paying for clicks from potential customers—not bots, ad fraud, or competitors who want to drain your budget.
“Automation streamlines the execution of campaigns, enhancing efficiency and bolstering returns. At Brand24, engaging and persuasive copy articulates the essence and advantages of our brand. This, paired with strategic use of automation and ad extensions, has been instrumental in elevating our online presence and fortifying relationships with our clientele.”
Waleria Pągowska
product marketing specialist at Brand24[9]
10. Track results
If you’re just starting with PPC, you can approach it as trial and error, but if this isn’t your first rodeo, you can rely on lessons learned from previous campaigns. What types of ads, channels, and copy result in the most clicks and conversions?
This type of information is invaluable as you try to grow and strengthen your PPC strategy. But if you don't track the results of your PPC campaign, you’ll miss out on the details that matter.
“It's crucial to continuously monitor and optimize campaigns by tracking performance metrics and refining keyword targeting.”
Andrei Vasilescu
co-founder and CEO of DontPayFull[10]
Consider hiring a PPC agency to give your strategy a boost (and save yourself time)
PPC advertising is a relatively straightforward and simple way to get more eyes on your brand and potential customers to your website. But they do require careful planning and consistent monitoring to be successful. If you have a small staff that already wears many hats, it might be worth your time and money to outsource your PPC marketing to a PPC agency.
By outsourcing to an agency, you can work with people who specialize in PPC advertising and SEO services, gain access to better tools, reduce risk, and get actionable feedback from a professional. Just be sure the agency you decide to hire understands your goals, is communicative, and has expertise where you need it.