Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising has become an essential part of any digital marketing strategy, but it can be a bit hit and miss if you don’t get it quite right. But with a bit of planning and clever targeting, PPC advertising can help you reach the right audience and drive more traffic to your website.
To help you understand more, and give you a guide as to how to set up a PPC campaign, we’ll explore the specifics of Google Ads, how to research keywords, how to set up a campaign, setting a budget, goal-setting, campaign measurement and optimising campaigns.
Let’s start at the start…
What exactly is Pay Per Click advertising? In a nutshell, PPC advertising is a form of digital advertising where advertisers pay each time a user clicks on one of their ads. This model allows businesses to reach their target audience in a cost-effective way, as they only pay when someone clicks on their ad.
What platforms include PPC as an option?
One of the most popular PPC advertising platforms is Google Ads which allow businesses to create ads that appear on Google’s search results page or other websites that are part of the Google Display Network.
Google’s Ad Platform uses a bidding system, where businesses bid on keywords that are relevant to their target audience. The higher the bid, the more likely their ad is to appear in a top position on the search results page.
Google aren’t the only PPC platform, though – the following platforms also offer PPC capability:
- Facebook Ads allows businesses to create ads that appear on the Facebook platform and its associated platforms, such as Instagram and Messenger. Facebook Ads uses demographic and interest-based targeting to help businesses reach their target audience.
- LinkedIn Ads lets businesses to create ads that appear on the LinkedIn platform. It is particularly useful for B2B businesses looking to target professionals in specific industries.
- Twitter Ads gives businesses a platform to create ads that appear on Twitter, and uses targeting options such as keywords, interests, and followers to help businesses reach their target audience.
- Amazon Advertising leverages their huge audience built from their retail business to give other businesses a way to create ads that appear on the Amazon platform – it’s especially useful for businesses selling products on Amazon who want to increase sales and visibility.
How to set up effective PPC campaigns
The following tips are really orientated for Google Ads but the principle for all other platforms is really the same – it’s all about:
- Creating the right audience – knowing who you want to talk to, where they are, what they like/dislike and how they consume digital information is crucial.
- Bidding on relevant keywords – you need to do proper keyword research to really understand what terms your target audience is using to search for the items you want to be found for.
- Focus on landing page quality – really well-optimised landing pages that give visitors the right info, lead them to a goal (buy something, submit a query, book something) will truly help optimise your results, giving you an excellent Return on Investment for your campaign.
- Improve your Quality Score – Google rates the quality and relevance of your keywords, landing pages and PPC campaigns, and gives advertisers with better Quality Scores more ad clicks at lower costs.
- Work on your ad copy to make sure you capture your potential visitor’s attention from the get-go. If you’re running display or social ads, so is eye-catching ad creative in the form of images, graphics or videos.
Useful tools to help you set up effective PPC campaigns
Keyword research is a crucial component of any successful PPC advertising campaign. Researching keywords involves identifying the words and phrases that your target audience is searching for when looking for products or services like yours.
Google’s Keyword Planner tool is a great place to start. The tool allows you to see how many people are searching for specific keywords, how competitive those keywords are, and how much they may cost per click.
Keyword Planner is equally effective in understanding the right keywords to use for campaigns on other platforms.
Setting up your campaign
Again, we’re focusing on Google Ads, but for all platforms the process is fairly similar.
In Google Ads, you’ll need to create an account, choose your target audience, select your bidding strategy and create your ad copy – make sure it’s clear, concise, compelling and encouraging users to click through to your website’s target landing page.
You’ll need to decide how much you’re willing to spend on each click and set a daily budget that you’re comfortable with. Keep in mind that the cost per click can vary depending on the keyword and competition, so it’s important to monitor your spend regularly.
Then you’ll need to decide what you want to achieve with your campaign, whether it’s to increase website traffic, generate leads, or boost sales. Set your target page or function accordingly.
Making sure your campaign is effective and brings ROI
Once you’ve set your goals, you can measure your campaign’s success against them.
Campaign measurement is vital to understanding the effectiveness of your PPC advertising campaign. Google Ads provides detailed analytics that allow you to track your campaign’s performance, including impressions, clicks, and conversions.
Regularly monitoring your campaign’s performance will also allow you to make data-driven decisions and optimise your campaign for better results. You may, for example, see a far better performance on certain keywords, and lower performance on others – you can then decide whether you’d like to switch off those that aren’t working as well, and push more budget to those that are performing.
You can also add new keywords that are relevant to your campaign, add negative keywords to improve relevancy and performance, and review and refine your landing pages to ensure that the goal-throughput is working optimally.
Finding the right partner
Taking on a PPC campaign for the first time can be daunting – there are lots of things to consider, the platforms can be intimidating to start off with, and you may worry that you’re going about things in the wrong way and might waste time and money.
Ideally, finding a partner to help you with your PPC campaigns, even just to get them started and get you familiarised, is the best way to get the best results.
Realnet is an accredited Google Partner with excellent knowledge and experience of setting up effective PPC campaigns for a multitude of clients.
Give us a ring today to find out more about PPC campaigns and let us help you get the best return for your budget. Call us on 01223 550800 or email info@realnet.co.uk. Or message us on our social media channels.