Bite-Sized Digital Advertising Series: What is PPC?

Welcome to the Bite-Sized Digital Advertising Series!

Are you new to the world of online advertising? This series aims to provide the basics for common digital marketing terms and practices. As well, this series serves as a refresher for old hats at the online marketing industry.

For this article, we’re tackling PPC and how they work.

Let’s get started!

What is PPC?

PPC stands for Pay-per-Click. Specifically, it means pay-per-click advertisements, which is an advertising model where advertisers pay for every time their online ad is clicked. One of the most common forms of PPC ads is the paid search ad. This is an ad that shows up whenever people search for something through search engines like Google or Bing.

Search keywords (such as “restaurant near me” or “graduation gift”)  trigger pay-per-click ads. The PPC ad only appears when specific keywords are searched, which gives businesses looking to advertise via PPC a lot of freedom in tailoring their advertising campaign.

With PPC ads, businesses only need to pay for every instance their ad is clicked during a search.

How does PPC work?

Businesses don’t just select a generic keyword, submit the keyword for ad posting or placement, pay for the ad, and then call it a day. PPC ads must undergo what is called an Ad Auction.

Ad Auctions involve complicated algorithms unique to each search engine. Businesses submit a bid through the Ad Auction and submit their ads. This algorithm ranks the submitted ads, and then displays the ads based on the ranking results. Ad Auctions ensure that everyone has equal chances with having their ads displayed.

Can you improve your PPC ad ranking?

There are ways to improve an ad’s visibility. One of the common ways to do so is to choose and bid on keywords or keyword phrases that are relevant to the product or service a business is providing. Another way is to optimize the business’ website through Search Engine Optimization (also known as SEO).

While there are many ways to improve PPC ad ranking, it can be overwhelming for many businesses that are new to digital marketing. Outsourcing the process is an efficient option, as there are digital experts ready to help businesses get the most out of their ad bids.

LogicBase Interactive is an example of a digital marketing agency, as they offer SEO and PPC services – they work with the client in fine-tuning their marketing campaigns, ensuring that the right keywords are bid on to get the most ROI.

Digital marketing is an exciting and highly effective means of advertising today. Try PPC ads for your next campaign!