What is PPC (Pay-Per-Click) and how does it work?
PPC or Pay Per Click Advertising allows you to advertise your website and business to several users through Google searches. When a user clicks on one of your ads you are then charged by Google and that is where PPC gets its name.
There are different types of Pay-Per-Click ads but the most common is a paid search ad. These paid search ads appear whenever someone types in a specific keyword that you have set for a specific ad. For example, you may have the keyword Web Developer assigned to one of your ads, when someone types in ‘Web Developer’ into a search engine your ad may appear at the top of the page with an AD icon next to it. This is what makes Pay-Per-Click Advertising so beneficial as it allows you to appear above organic search if you have a high enough quality score to achieve that top spot.
You may be wondering how someone achieves this top spot. Well, to achieve that coveted top place for search results you need to have a High-Quality Score. This ultimately comes down an equation that Google uses to decide who gets that top Ad space. Your Quality score is defined by 3 parameters, Landing Page Relevance, Ad Relevance and your expected CTR (Click Through Rate). The higher the quality score then the higher you will obviously appear on search engine results.
However, this is where bidding comes in another part of Google’s AdWords ranking system. One you have created an Ad you are able to choose whether Google does automatic bidding for you, or you can do it manually. Bidding is when you define the max price that you wish to pay for a click on one of your ads. This means that I you have your Max Bid set to £1.50 you will not pay any more than that set price for a bid.
This all ties into Google’s AdWords ranking system as the higher the bid price you have set the more likely you are going to appear above people with a lower bid set. This isn’t always true as Google will look at your Quality Score ensuring they aren’t sending users through an ad to a website that has no relevance to the ad itself.
SEO vs PPC Advertising when to use each
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising are both completely different when it comes down to the actual strategy that is used. SEO relies more on organic search as the more relevant your webpage or blog page is to a search result then the higher it will appear in someone’s search results. PPC advertising is all about displaying a paid ad at the top of a search engines results which comes at a cost.
SEO
By optimising your site for SEO, you are allowing your site to appear more and more on search engines such as Google. By continually adding quality content to your site and adding in relevant keywords to your pages you are ensuring that you are improving your SEO ranking over time. Due to this increase in relevance on search engines you are increasing the credibility of your site as most people click on the top results in search engines.
SEO is one of the most cost-effective ways you can boost your online presence but you may face a fierce competition as you are not the only business owner wanting to achieve higher ranks. Another thing to consider is that you may not see the results you want straight away, you need to be patient and continual produce effective website content to boost your SEO ranking.
PPC
With Google Ads you can reach your targeted audience immediately without having to wait the time you may need to wait with SEO. By choosing this method to advertise you are also able to quickly boost the sales of your website as it is an instant advertising solution.
Although PPC may sound like the best get sales quick method you do need to consider the cost that PPC can bring. Without carefully monitoring your performance you could quickly spend a lot of money meaning you need to have an affective advertising campaign setup which can be challenging and daunting to people that are trained in digital marketing.
Final Verdict
Although both types of advertising differ, we do recommend having both in place to achieve the best results for your business. By having SEO setup correctly and then by monitoring how your business ranks organically you are then able to use Pay-Per-Click advertising to target audiences that you may not be reaching organically.
Benefits of Pay-Per-Click for Small Business
PPC is measurable and trackable
One of the best things about PPC is the fact you can see your ads performance details. Information such as your ads Impressions, Clicks and Conversions. With these metrics you can determine which ads are working the best ultimately telling you what your target audience is most interested on your website.
Audience Targeting
PPC allows you to advertise to specific audiences whether that being a customer that has purchased something from your business already or you are looking to sell to a specific age group. With audience targeting you can take control of the types of ads your customers will see allowing you to increase the chance of getting click-throughs on your ads.
You have complete control
While Google AdWords may set a lot of your default targeting and campaign settings you are able to change them at will allowing you to tailor your campaigns as much as possible to your business. Settings such as the location you want your ads to appear in, or whether you wish to increase your ad spend on different devices are all extremely useful if used correctly.
In Conclusion
Pay-Per-Click advertising is one of the most useful types of advertising if done correctly and can bring a great increase in sales and leads to your business. At Portal we do recommend getting your business site setup with SEO before taking on PPC advertising as both can work hand in hand to boost your business even more. If you want to learn more about SEO and how it can help your business, please read your blog article here.
If you are looking to have your website optimised with SEO then get in touch with one of your SEO experts. If you wish to take your business into the world of Pay-Per-Click advertising, then get in touch with us and we can help setup and run your Google AdWords campaign.
