What is PPC Advertising?
What is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing?
PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click advertising. It’s a digital marketing model where advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Essentially, it’s a way of buying visits to your site, rather than attempting to “earn” those visits organically. In a PPC campaign, advertisers bid on specific keywords relevant to their target audience. When users search for those keywords on search engines like Google, the advertiser’s ad may appear. These ads often appear alongside or above non-paid search results, hence the term “paid search.”
Essentially, the goal of PPC advertising is to drive targeted traffic to a website and convert that traffic into leads or customers. The cost per click (CPC) can vary depending on factors. Such factors may be competitiveness of the keywords, quality and relevance of the ad, and effectiveness of the landing page.
PPC advertising platforms typically offer tools for advertisers to track and measure the performance of their campaigns. As such, allowing them to adjust their strategies to maximise ROI (Return on Investment). As a result, this makes PPC a highly measurable and flexible form of online advertising.
Types of PPC ads
- Search Ads are text-based ads that appear on search engine results pages (SERPs) above or below the organic search results.
- Display Ads are visual ads that appear on websites within a network of publishers who have agreed to display ads.
- Social Media Ads appear on Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest offer PPC advertising options.
- Shopping Ads, also known as Product Listing Ads (PLAs), are used by e-commerce retailers to promote specific products on search engine results pages.
- Remarketing/Retargeting Ads target users who have previously visited a website but did not complete a desired action. Such as making a purchase or filling out a form.
- Video Ads are short video clips that appear before, during, or after video content on platforms. Platforms such as YouTube or other video streaming services.
- App Install Ads aim to promote mobile apps and encourage users to download them.
Top PPC platforms
PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising platforms vary depending on factors such as goals, target audience, and industry. The following are some of the top PPC platforms currently on the market.
- Google Ads
- Facebook Ads
- Microsoft Advertising
- LinkedIn Ads
- Twitter Ads
- Amazon Advertising
- Instagram Ads
- YouTube Ads
- TikTok Ads
