What Is PPC Advertising?

PPC, also known as Pay Per Click is an advertising model were an advertiser pays a search engine a fee when their ad is clicked. So, it’s a way to buy highly targeted visitors to your website who have been searching for your products or services.

PPC has been around for over 18 years and the biggest player is Google Ads, formerly known as AdWords. This is Google’s PPC platform, where advertisers’ setup an account and campaigns and then create ads and keywords to promote their products, services and businesses.

Other prominent PPC platforms include Bing Ads which includes Yahoo and a few others smaller players.

There are many benefits of PPC advertising and it’s important to know these before advertising.

Benefits of PPC Advertising:

Reach Qualified Prospects

No channel has the capability of reaching qualified prospects like PPC. It has the ability to reach people who are looking for your products and services and you can connect with them as they search. You will show them ads that highlight the offers they’ve searched for and if they’re interested they will click to go to your website. And you only pay when they click through.

Quick Entry

Launching PPC campaigns is quick and you can be advertising your business within a few hours. The barriers to entry are very low and small and big advertisers occupy the same space. So it’s common to see small retailers bidding against Amazon and other big companies.

And you can spend as little or as much as you like and adjust your AdWords budget according to performance.

Excellent Targeting Options

Targeting in PPC platforms like Google AdWords is precise. You can target specific searches that take place on Google and show your ads to these searchers. You can also reach specific demographics like 35-44 year old females, for example. You can also reach people on specific websites or placements or apps. And you can combine targeting options to be as precise as you like.

One of the best parts is that you get estimates of how many people you could reach and this helps you set up budgets.

Drives Immediate Results

PPC drives instant visitors to your website. You don’t have to wait weeks or months like Organic traffic. As soon as Ads are approved they’ll be available on Google in the auction results and visitors will click through.

You also get sales quicker for your business too. You’re targeting people that are looking for your products or services and they are highly qualified and ready to purchase.

You Are In Full Control

With PPC you are in full control of all elements of your account. That includes the budgets, the locations you want to target, the keywords to bid, the ads that visitors will see and everything else. This of course is a lot to think about and plan for and you can work with an AdWords Expert to make the right decision. And you can turn your ads on and off whenever you like depending on sales, goals, budgets and performance.

You can also close your count easily if you no longer want to advertise because you aren’t tied into any contract.

Is More Likely To Convert

People who search on Google are more likely to purchase because they have an interest in what you’re offering. These are highly qualified visitors that know what they require and are more likely to purchase.

Increases Brand Recognition

PPC helps to increase brand recognition for your business and products. When people search and see your ads they become aware of your brand and can connect with it when they reach your website. The longer you advertise, the more you’ll see brand searches for your business increase too as awareness increases with your target market.

And you can use Remarketing to continue that relationship and get them to return to purchase from your business.