Pay Per Click (PPC) Explained

Simply put, Pay Per Click is an advertising system in which the advertiser maintains complete control of expenditure, advertisement copy, and traffic flow, and can "turn on" or "turn off" advertisements at (literally) a moment's notice.

PPC advertising has recently become known as one of the most effective ways for businesses to quickly and efficiently receive targeted website traffic. This form of marketing can be especially beneficial to businesses that have not yet gained sufficient search engine credibility to be listed in the organic section of major search providers such as Google, Yahoo, Ask, Bing, and affiliates of MIVA. With a well-run PPC campaign, your business will begin receiving targeted leads the very day the campaign is activated, and you will have the ability to control the click expenditure and number of incoming leads on a moment-by-moment basis.

How it works:

1) Determine which words people are using to search for your product or service in the major search engines (i.e. find relevant keywords.)

2) Create advertisements that will appear in search engine results when they are triggered by the keywords that you have selected.

3) Set bid amounts for your advertisements. Generally, the higher the bid, the higher your placement will be on the search engine results page, and the more traffic your will receive.

4) Set geotargeting, ad timing, and maximum daily budget limits to keep your campaign within the budget that you've set. This also allows you to display ads only during hours when you're available to answer the phone, for example, and only within the geographical area that is applicable to your business.

5) Press "start" and watch traffic begin to flow to your website!

These steps are greatly simplified, of course, but they encompass most of the major aspects of setting up a PPC campaign. It should be noted, however, that there is a vast difference between getting ads to appear on the search engines and creating a profitable, efficient, ROI-driven PPC campaign. When it comes to the latter, it is important to pay attention to many of the finer aspects of PPC, such as quality scores, A-B ad testing, match types, keyword niches, and other variables that can push a campaign over the tipping point from "wasteful" to "profitable."

Many companies have successfully advertised in the Yellow Pages and other forms of classic media for years, if not decades, and have recently seen a dramatic decrease in business. This decline is almost solely attributable to the rise of search engines as a replacement for phone books and other print media. If you have found yourself in this position, PPC is an easily measurable, safe way to gain exposure for your business.

For more information on PPC, feel free to call us with any questions at 818-268-6090.