What is Paid Search (PPC) Advertising?
Unless you have a gun to someone’s head telling them to go to your website, there’s no faster way to get targeted buying traffic to your site than Paid Search Advertising.
Paid Search Advertising (sometimes referred to as “Pay-Per-Click/PPC” or “Cost Per Click/CPC”) is a convenient and affordable online advertising strategy in which you pay for your ads to be placed in relevant locations online.
Simply said, you’re buying ads/listings to show up when people search for your product/service.
These listings/ads are sold in an auction format, so you simply pay what you want for a click on the ad.
Every time your ad is clicked on, the person then gets directed to your website where your goal is to convert them, and you are charged the amount that you chose to bid.
So for example, if you bid $0.10 max per click to show up for “funky widgets” and 100 people click on your PPC listing, you’ll get charged $10.00.
The name of the game is to get as many interested people to click on your ad, while paying the least amount of money for those clicks.
How Does Paid Search Work?
Paid search advertising isn’t anything new.
In fact, it is actually one of the oldest forms of online advertising available, however it remains critically effective because you can cast a precise net over interested buyers who are already looking for your product/service while having total control over what you spend.
Here’s a basic rundown of how it works:
- You find the keywords you want to target.
- You pick the platform you want to advertise with depending on your goals (Google, Facebook, etc).
- You set a budget of what you want to spend.
- You launch the campaign when you’re ready.
- Your ads are then displayed when people search for your targeted keywords.
- Every time your ad is clicked on by a user, you pay for that click based on your max bid.
- Once the money you’ve dedicated runs out, your ad stops showing.
The Pros & Cons of Pay-Per-Click Advertising
The Good
- Instant traffic – With a flick of a switch, you can flood your site with interested buyers immediately. It’s one of the few areas of online marketing where the more money you throw at it, the faster you will get traffic.
- Super flexible – You’re the boss. In addition to setting your own budget, you can turn on/off the campaigns whenever you’d like as well as adjusting your bidding strategies.
- Truly scalable – Once you see a campaign giving you a steady ROI (return on investment), you can beef it up with ease – the sky’s the limit.
The Bad
- Bad bidding – If you’re not managing your campaigns correctly, you can go broke really fast – irresponsible bidding practices can cost an unwary business owner thousands of dollars.
- Not split testing – In order to keep your ad costs down, you need to be continually split testing different adverts. Not doing this on an on-going basis will hurt your checkbook.
- A slow website – We’re not kidding when we say the flood gates can open instantly. Depending on the size of your campaign(s), getting huge spikes of traffic that your web host can’t handle, your site will lag, and those conversions will suffer.
The 3 Most Important Metrics to Focus On
You gotta know the numbers to grow the numbers.
When it comes to investing in PPC, all that matters at the end of the day is that you get an ROI that makes sense for you and your business.
Here are the some of the most important metrics you should focus on when doing PPC:
Formula #1 – Cost Per Day
Example: 100 Clicks x $0.25 CPC (Cost Per Click) = $25.00 Cost Per Day
Formula #2 – Profit Per Day
Example: 100 Clicks x 5% Conversion x $25.00 Avg. Profit = $125.00 Profit Per Day
Formula #3 – Running in the Black (A Benchmark)
Example: $25.00 CPC (Cost Per Click) < $150.00 PEPC (Profit Earned Per Click)
As a benchmark, the amount you spend per click should always be less than the total profit earned per click. As long as you’re spending less than this amount per day, you’re running a profitable campaign.
Keep in mind, this does not take into account the Life Time Customer Value (loyal customers that keep spending money with you), which can affect this equation a bit.
PPC Platforms We Work With
With so many different paid advertising platforms lurking from the corners on the internet, there are only 2 that we trust and work with – Google and Facebook.
Our “inch wide, mile deep” philosophy has never failed us.
These 2 platforms are specifically chosen because of the consistent ROI we continue to achieve, and they will continue to do so.
The Bottom Line
PPC is an incredibly efficient way to get more more traffic to your site, from from people who want what you’ve got to offer, in order make more sales – plain and simple.
Through endless preparation and a strategic approach based on your business goals, we create a 24/7 sales engine that will bring you more qualified prospects looking to do business with you.
Just like that, the hardest part (finding a consistent flow of new business) of the sales process is done.
All that’s left for you to do is to plan out a budget, and we take care of the rest.
With that being said, we highly encourage a “well-rounded” approach to all online marketing efforts, which is why combining PPC with other online marketing strategies such as SEO will ensure that your business reaches the widest audience possible.
A well-constructed SEO campaign helps supplement paid traffic with free traffic, thus leaving no stone unturned.
Combined, these two approaches can be a pivoting point in your business.
More Digital Marketing Services That Will Make You Money:- Search Engine Marketing/Pay-Per-Click (SEM/PPC)
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Website Design
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
- Social Media Marketing (SMM)
- Online Reputation Management (ORM)
- Content Marketing