Pay per click is a type of paid digital marketing, which displays adverts that link to your website in SERPs (search engine results pages). It is the primary revenue driver for Google and the easiest way to get your adverts showing for people searching for your products and services. Google run these ads through a platform called Google AdWords and if you know your way around the platform you can set up a simple campaign without much trouble.
You set up pay per click (PPC) campaigns based on keywords. Keywords are the terms entered into the search engine that you want to display your ads for. You also set a CPC (cost per click) limit that is the highest you are willing to pay for 1 click on your ad (which will lead through to your website). You can also set a daily budget on your campaign, which is the most you are willing to pay each day for your campaigns to run. Once you have accumulated enough clicks to reach your budget, your ads will cease to run to the following day.
For example, if I needed a solicitor, I could type “solicitor” into Google and it would display results from PPC campaigns, and organic results. PPC campaigns allow you to get to the top of this page without having to rely on search engine optimisation for the free, organic listings. You should use PPC campaigns when there are people searching for your products and services. If there is no one searching for them, there is no point and you should then focus on awareness driving campaigns.
Pay per click (PPC) can perform really strongly provided it is set up correctly. There are people literally searching right now, in your location for your products and services, and you can get your business in front of them at that moment. That makes it an extremely powerful tool.
However, poor set up and management of your keywords and budget can make it an expensive mistake, as Google will continue to show your ads regardless of performance. If people are clicking through to your website and not converting, that will very quickly add up to a large bill.
It is really important that you do thorough keyword research into what keywords best describe your products and services, and which keywords are more likely to get potential customers to convert. This may require some testing with your PPC campaigns, but it will be worth it.
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