How to Manage Pay-Per-Click Marketing

pay per click graphic

Pay-per-click advertising (also known as PPC) may seem complicated, but it is essential to having a successful business presence online. Here you can learn how PPC works and a few tips to make sure your PPC campaign is successful.

 

What is PPC?

Search engine websites, like Google or Bing, allow businesses to buy paid listings in search engine results. PPC is essentially a type of advertising where you pay for each time your ad is clicked; you are paying for visits to your site rather than trying to earn a visit organically.

To buy a paid listing, you have to bid for it in an auction that is open to all businesses that want to be listed for a specific keyword(s). You then bid the maximum amount of what you are willing to pay for your ad to appear. So if your ad is chosen to be listed and a user clicks on your PPC listing, you will be charged the amount of your bid. The most common tool for implementing PPC campaigns is Google Adwords.

 

How Adwords Works

Now that you have entered your bid, Google looks at your maximum bid and your quality score to determine where your ad ranks. Your quality score comes from how user-friendly your site is and how relevant your site, keywords within your site, and ad are to the user’s search. So just because you bid the most, doesn’t mean you’ll get the number one spot. You have to be relevant and useful to the user.

Google decides what you will pay by taking the ad rank of the person listed below you and dividing it by your quality score and then adding one cent. So if you have a higher quality score you can pay less for a higher position than a business with a lower quality score. PPC campaigns can make you big profits–especially when they turn a 10¢ click into a $50 purchase.

 

Managing PPC

So you can see a lot goes into managing a successful PPC campaign. You need to research and select correct and relevant keywords, organize those keywords into campaigns and ad groups, and make sure your site is optimized and relevant via landing pages and relative content. Google and other search engines reward businesses who create relevant and targeted PPC campaigns, and who create useful and meaningful ads and landing pages by charging them less for clicks. You want to successfully manage PPC and get lower prices for PPC, so you can make higher profits for your business.

PPC is an ongoing process and needs to be managed regularly. There are a few things your business can do to optimize PPC campaigns:

  • Know your target. Identifying and recognizing your target is very important to PPC campaigns. By knowing your target market, you will be able to pick keywords that are relevant to them and content that will catch their attention. Consider keywords that are more niche specific. For example, instead of biding on “PPC Management” get a little more specific and bid on “Utah PPC Management.”

  • Know your goal. When creating a PPC campaign know what you want. Make your call to action easy for customers to follow.

  • Know your conversion. A conversion is a sale or any other action a user takes on your site that is beneficial to your company. Tracking conversions will indicate how well your keywords and landing pages are working. Conversion rates will also help you know if your budget is set correctly.


Managing PPC campaigns can be tricky, but you don’t have to do it alone. You can use a PPC service instead of trying to manage it yourself. Atria Media Group can help you evaluate your current PPC standing, help you know your target market and set goals, track your conversions efficiently, and continually optimize your campaign.