Around 45% of small businesses use paid ads, but the world of pay-per-click (PPC) is still confusing to both marketers and business owners alike.

If you’re wondering how to run Google Adwords, we’re here to tell you PPC doesn’t have to be painful. In fact, PPC can drive your business forward, with the average company earning a revenue of $2 for every $1 spent on Google Ads (AdWords).

What is PPC advertising?

Pay-per-click is where you only pay when people interact with your ad – through clicks or impressions (the number of times your content is displayed on someone’s screen).

The most common form is in search engine results. You’ll have almost certainly seen paid ads on Google, or any other search engines you use.

They’re the results you see at the very top of your search page and are clearly marked ‘Ad’.

How can PPC advertising benefit your business?

Creating engaging content with the right keywords for your website is still important, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to compete for that number one spot on Google.

PPC should complement your content and SEO strategy because PPC visitors are 50% more likely to make a purchase from you than organic visitors.

Paid advertising and knowing how to run Google Adwords gives you that much-needed boost, helping you promote your business, improve brand awareness and rank on Google for difficult keyword terms.

We’ve got some simple steps to get you started with PPC below, so keep reading.

Select a platform.

Aside from Google Ads, there are a few other platforms you can use, including Bing Ads and Facebook Ads, and third-party tools like AdRoll and RevContent.

Set goals.

As with any marketing strategy, you need to set goals so that you can focus your efforts from the very beginning and measure the results so you can continuously improve.

Consider how your paid adverts contribute to your business goals. Ask yourself what it is you want to accomplish.

This informs crucial decisions, such as who you’re targeting, what your budget is and your call to action.

Common goals for PPC marketers include raising brand awareness, generating leads, promoting a specific offer, driving sales and increasing site traffic.

Choose relevant keywords.

In order for search engines to know where and when to display your advert, your ads need to be assigned a set of target keywords.

We’d recommend selecting between one or five keywords per ad group. Make sure they are really, really, really relevant to your content.

You can change your keywords as the campaign goes on. It’s best to tailor your ads to have the most relevant and effective keywords by eliminating ones that don’t work as well.

Craft enticing ad copy.

Ad copy is the text users see displayed on their search results, so it needs to convince them to click through.

Of course, this is a small character limit to work with so make sure every word counts, speaking directly to your target customers and providing an actionable call to action, so the user knows what to do next (click your ad!).

Create a quality landing page.

Once your visitors click through from your paid ad, you’ve got around three seconds maximum to impress them. So, it’s essential to create an impact with your landing page.

Grab their attention with an eye-catching and emotive headline, use plenty of striking visuals and set a clear call to action.

Without an effective landing page, none of your visitors will convert into sales or enquiries.

PPC advertising can seem a bit scary at first, but if you start small and tailor your ads as you go along, you could reap the rewards extremely quickly. According to one study, PPC ads can put you on the first page for a given search term within one day. If you’re wondering how to run Google Adwords or would like help creating an effective PPC landing page, or planning a PPC campaign, get in touch with us today and talk to a member of our team.