If you’re familiar with the world of SEO, you’ve definitely heard of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing before, but what exactly is it?

PPC is a model of internet marketing where the advertiser pays every time an ad is clicked. The primary difference between SEO and PPC is that the former is organic while PPC is paid for. It is one of the most popular forms of search engine advertising, where advertisers bid for a placement in the search engine’s sponsored links.

Having a basic understanding of PPC is essential to your digital marketing success. Usually, it’s used to generate new leads or to encourage customers to purchase your product or service in a high-value industry.

How Does Google AdWords Work?

Google AdWords is the most popular advertising system considering that Google is the top search engine worldwide. Advertisers bid on a keyword and then pay for each time someone clicks on the link. The set of displayed advertisements is chosen based on a metric called Ad Rank, which consists of two sub components: The first is called the CPC Bid, which is essentially the maximum the advertiser is willing to pay. The second component is referred to as the Quality Score and is indicative of your ad’s click-through rate, relevance, and landing page quality. These two components are multiplied together to form the Ad Rank, with the highest Ad Rank chosen to be displayed on the search page.

The Importance of Keywords

Keywords are very important to the success of your PPC campaign. Broadly speaking, there are three ways to customize how your ads match with various search queries.

    1. Broad Match
      This is the default option for keyword matching and targets ads with words that are synonymous or considered relevant by Google’s algorithm. This approach is credited with reaching a wider audience, which can be either beneficial or detrimental, depending on the goal of your campaign. Because it has a wider reach, you also lose the ability to specifically target who sees your ads.Broad example: If you target “fancy dress”, matches will also be found for “formal dress”, “evening gown”, “fancy gown”, etc.
    2.  Phrase Match
      This approach provides a more exact match that only targets queries that contain a specific phrase or variation of it.Phrase match example: Using the same keyword “fancy dress”, a phrase match will target phrases that include “how to accessorize my fancy dress” but not “why I shouldn’t wear a dress to a fancy party”.
    3. Exact Match
      Exact match is the most precise, as it only targets the identical phrase. In this case, it will only target the exact keyword “fancy dress”.

Creating Your PPC Keyword List

Creating an effective PPC keyword list is a time consuming process, but it absolutely essential to executing a successful campaign. The process isn’t complete when the list is developed, as the most successful advertisers are continuously growing and refining their existing list. When creating your list, make sure that all of the keywords are relevant, exhaustive, and expansive. You want the web traffic you receive to be related to your business and include not only popular keywords, but also more niche varieties. The easiest way to achieve an effective PPC keyword list is by trusting a professional to do so. With their expertise, you ensure you’re receiving the highest quality leads possible and that you remain competitive.

So, How Much Should You Spend on PPC?

This is generally a difficult question to answer. The amount you spend on PPC varies from company to company and is largely dependent on the profit margin for your products or services. You should view the amount you spend on PPC as the cost required for a lead. To determine this, it’s recommended to first construct a budget with the help of a PPC manager. They will work with you to determine the goals of your campaign and build a feasible budget accordingly.

At BlueHat Marketing, we are dedicated to maximizing your company’s exposure through our strategic digital marketing campaigns. We offer SEO, SMM, PPC, and web design services with proven results. Learn more about the BlueHat Marketing approach by calling 1-866-755-2583 today!