Using Pay Per Click, aka PPC, is often a key part of marketing your business. However there is a school of thought that believes it’s not worth using PPC. But, when you’re starting your business, building your brand visibility and web presence, pay per click marketing (or search engine marketing) can be a great way to get fast results.
As a marketer for small business or startups, you’re usually dealing with a limited pot for your marketing budget, at least to start with. On top of that, you’re normally expected to show results sooner rather than later in the form of qualified leads and increased website traffic.
So is using PPC ads a valid option for startups? And do the results you get from pay per click make it worth using?
Preparation
Before you start anything, you need to be clear about your end goals and your target market. For example, are you looking to increase awareness of your brand, or are you actually aiming to channel visitors to sign up, purchase or download?
There is a lot of information out there for people looking to start working with PPC, but there are some simple things to bear in mind.
Firstly, look into the volume of searches and the keywords used to find your product. As a marketer, you will know about keyword research, so dig deep and make your research watertight. If this is something that is new to you, look at free tools such as:
- Google Trends
- Google Keyword Planner
- Keywords Everywhere
- Keyword Finder
- Ubersuggest
These are pretty much ground zero for keyword research. Although the above options are mostly free, some, such as Ubersuggest, offer a pretty solid paid option too.
But, if you want to go deep and use a bulletproof marketing tool that will really make your PPC research shine, look at tools such as:
- Ahrefs
- SEMrush
- Moz
- SpyFu
All of these are premium tools, but that’s because they provide a comprehensive research and optimisation service. Expect to pay upwards of $99 per month for each of these.
Are these premium packages worth it? If you want to make your pay per click ad campaign as successful as possible, yes. Can you build a PPC strategy without them? Yes. But, of course, you get what you pay for.
Choosing your PPC platform
Whatever you’re selling online, you will find there are multiple platforms where you can display your wares. The Google search engine results pages (SERPS) are probably the best known for PPC campaigns.
However, there are many options for paid search ad platforms and native ad platforms. You’ll find plenty of lists of the best PPC networks, but these are some of the most popular:
- Bing
- Facebook and associated platforms (Instagram)
- Amazon
- Yahoo
- AdRoll
As the biggest and most diverse, Google is probably the first choice for marketers. However, Bing, Facebook and Instagram are growing and offer their own benefits.
For example, using Facebook PPC gives you the option of creating shareable content such as videos or infographics. And, using Instagram gives you a popular channel to boost your brand visibility.
Google allows you to put banners and ads on partner websites, but also to advertise on channels like YouTube or on the Google Play store.
You’ll need to weigh up your target demographic and which platform they’re most likely to use. It can also be worth using A/B testing to see which works better for you, and perhaps channel your budget towards the more successful platform as you progress.
Bear in mind also that you have options beyond paying for each click. You can also choose to use CPM (cost per mille – per thousand views), CPC (cost per conversion) or even CPL (cost per lead). Google offer a useful guide to the different types of Ads campaigns, although all platforms will have something similar.
The problems with PPC
Although it can be very effective, you’ll often hear marketers crying that PPC is an expensive mistake. Or perhaps that their brand isn’t right for pay per click. Most problems often come down to poor preparation, such as not using the right keywords, not understanding how to use negative keywords or not using the multiple tools at your disposal to maximise the results.
Even successful PPC campaigns might find themselves at the mercy of external factors that sap the marketing budget. For example click fraud, or ad fraud, are a growing menace to PPC marketer. If you’ve not heard of ad fraud, it’s a practice whereby fraudulent websites display PPC ads and make money by diverting fake clicks onto those ads, thereby collecting a payout on the ad revenue.
This form of ad fraud is normally carried out by organised gangs and is estimated to be costing the marketing industry around $18 billion a year. In fact, 1 in 4 clicks on PPC ads are thought to be from automated or fake sources, and has been seen to be growing. There is a growing sector of software providers that allow you to block click fraud, which if you’re managing a PPC budget, could be very useful to ensure only your target audience see your ad!
The costs of PPC can also add up with your bid amount often being a guideline. Make sure to put controls on your bid price, and even when your ads are running, which will give you more control over your ad spend.
Is it worth using PPC?
Despite the amount of work needed to make it a success, and the potential pitfalls, yes PPC is a very useful tool. It’s not the magic button that will take your business from startup to dominant player, but it can definitely help.
It’s always worth monitoring your PPC campaign on a daily basis, and making sure that the costs aren’t spiralling. If something isn’t working, stop and analyse. Work out what is working and what isn’t working and then start again.
Pay per click can be a powerful tool in your quest to grow your business. If you do your research right, then yes absolutely, it is worth using PPC.
Laila Azzahra is a professional writer and blogger that loves to write about technology, business, entertainment, science, and health.