How to Do PPC: A Step-by-Step Guide
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is one of the fastest ways to drive traffic to your website and generate leads. With PPC, you bid on keywords related to your business, and your ads appear in search engine results or on social media platforms. The best part? You only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
If you’re new to PPC or looking to refine your strategy, this guide will walk you through the key steps for creating and running successful PPC campaigns. Let’s get started!
Set Clear Goals for Your PPC Campaign
Before diving into the technical aspects of PPC, it’s crucial to set clear, measurable goals for your campaign. What do you want to achieve with PPC? Are you aiming to drive traffic to your website, generate leads, increase sales, or build brand awareness?
Common PPC Goals:
- Lead generation: Attract potential customers by offering something of value (e.g., a free eBook, consultation, or trial).
- Increase sales: Drive traffic to product pages to increase conversions.
- Brand awareness: Promote your brand to a wider audience to build recognition.
Once you’ve defined your goals, you’ll be able to measure the success of your campaign more effectively and make data-driven adjustments as needed.
Choose the Right PPC Platform
PPC can be run on various platforms, and choosing the right one is essential for reaching your target audience. Here are the most popular PPC platforms:
Google Ads
Google Ads is the largest PPC platform and offers the ability to target users based on their search queries. With Google Ads, your ads can appear on the Google Search Network and Google’s Display Network, which includes millions of websites and apps.
Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads allow you to target users based on demographics, interests, and behaviours. Facebook PPC can be great for reaching a specific audience and engaging with potential customers through visual and video ads.
Bing Ads
Bing Ads work similarly to Google Ads but target users on the Bing and Yahoo search engines. While Bing has a smaller audience, it’s often less competitive, meaning lower cost-per-click (CPC).
LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn is ideal for B2B marketing. It allows you to target users based on their job titles, industries, and companies. However, LinkedIn Ads tend to have higher CPC than other platforms.
Once you know which platform best suits your audience, you can start building your campaign.
Conduct Keyword Research
Keyword research is a fundamental part of any PPC campaign. Choosing the right keywords ensures your ads appear in front of the right people, increasing the chances of clicks and conversions.
Steps for Keyword Research:
- Brainstorm potential keywords: Think about the words and phrases your target audience might use when searching for your products or services.
- Use keyword research tools: Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ubersuggest can help you identify relevant keywords and show you their search volumes and competition levels.
- Focus on long-tail keywords: These are more specific phrases (e.g., “best running shoes for beginners”), which tend to have lower competition and higher conversion rates than short, generic keywords (e.g., “running shoes”).
By targeting the right keywords, you ensure that your ads are reaching the people most likely to engage with your brand. Read more about finding PPC keywords here.
Set Your Budget and Bids
One of the key advantages of PPC is that you can control your budget. You decide how much you’re willing to spend per day, week, or month, and once your budget is met, your ads stop showing. This makes PPC a cost-effective option for businesses of all sizes.
Setting a Budget:
- Daily budget: The amount you’re willing to spend each day on your PPC campaign.
- Monthly budget: The total amount you want to spend each month.
Discover the true cost of PPC keywords with this blog.
Bidding Strategies:
- Manual bidding: You set the maximum amount you’re willing to pay per click. This gives you more control over your spending.
- Automated bidding: The platform automatically adjusts your bids to maximise results within your budget.
Keep in mind that while higher bids may increase your chances of appearing in top ad positions, your Quality Score (explained in the next section) also plays a big role in where your ad appears.
Create Compelling Ad Copy
Your ad copy is the message that convinces people to click on your ad. It needs to be clear, engaging, and relevant to what your audience is searching for. The more compelling your ad, the higher your click-through rate (CTR), which can lead to better ad placements and lower costs.
Tips for Writing Effective Ad Copy:
- Use your main keyword in the headline: This helps users immediately understand that your ad is relevant to their search.
- Highlight your unique selling points: What makes your product or service stand out? Mention special offers, guarantees, or any other benefits.
- Include a call-to-action (CTA): Encourage users to take the next step, whether it’s “Shop Now,” “Learn More,” or “Get a Free Quote.”
Make sure your ad copy is aligned with the user’s intent and leads them to a landing page that matches the promise of the ad.
Build a Strong Landing Page
Your landing page is just as important as your ad copy. It’s where users are directed after clicking your ad, and it needs to deliver on the promise made in the ad. If the landing page doesn’t meet user expectations, they’ll leave quickly, resulting in wasted spend and a high bounce rate.
How to Optimise Your Landing Page:
- Relevance: Ensure the content on the landing page matches the ad. If your ad promotes a special offer, the landing page should highlight that offer immediately.
- Clear CTA: Make it easy for visitors to take the next step, whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a contact form.
- Mobile-friendly design: Many users will view your landing page on a mobile device, so make sure it’s responsive and loads quickly on smaller screens.
A well-designed landing page can significantly improve your conversion rate, turning clicks into customers.
Ensure you are implementing best practices in your PPC landing pages with our CRO services.
Track and Measure Your Results
Once your PPC campaign is live, it’s important to monitor its performance regularly. PPC platforms provide a wealth of data, allowing you to track key metrics such as clicks, conversions, and costs. This data helps you determine whether your campaign is meeting your goals and where improvements can be made.
Key Metrics to Track:
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who clicked on your ad after seeing it. A higher CTR indicates that your ad is relevant and engaging.
- Cost Per Click (CPC): The average amount you’re paying for each click. Keeping this in line with your budget is crucial.
- Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who complete the desired action (e.g., making a purchase, filling out a form) after clicking on your ad.
- Quality Score: Google’s rating of the quality and relevance of your ads, keywords, and landing pages. A higher Quality Score can lower your CPC and improve your ad position.
By regularly reviewing your campaign data, you can make informed decisions about how to optimise your PPC efforts.
Optimise and Refine Your Campaign
PPC isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. To maximise your results, you’ll need to optimise your campaign regularly. This involves testing different ad copy, keywords, and landing pages to see what works best.
How to Optimise Your PPC Campaign:
- A/B testing: Test different versions of your ad copy, headlines, and CTAs to see which performs better.
- Refine keywords: Remove underperforming keywords and add new ones based on search trends and audience behaviour.
- Adjust bids: Increase bids on high-performing keywords to maximise traffic and reduce bids on keywords that aren’t converting.
The more you refine and optimise your campaign, the better results you’ll see over time.
Conclusion
PPC is a powerful tool for driving targeted traffic, generating leads, and increasing sales. By setting clear goals, choosing the right platform, conducting thorough keyword research, and continuously optimising your campaign, you can achieve fantastic results with PPC.
Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, PPC offers a flexible, scalable solution to grow your online presence and reach your target audience quickly.
FAQs
It depends on your industry, competition, and goals. You can start with a modest budget and scale up as you see results. Most businesses start with £500 to £1,000 per month.
Use keyword research tools to find relevant terms that your audience is searching for. Focus on long-tail keywords that have lower competition and higher intent.
Manual bidding gives you full control over how much you bid per click, while automated bidding adjusts bids automatically to maximise results within your budget.
PPC delivers instant visibility, but it can take a few weeks to fine-tune your campaign for optimal performance. Continuous monitoring and optimisation are key.
Absolutely! With the right strategy, even a small budget can deliver impressive results. Focus on targeting the right keywords and refining your campaigns for efficiency.
