In today’s digital world, 63% of all shopping journeys begin online, whether that means making an online or in-store purchase. If your website is not showing up in these results, you could be missing out on valuable customers. One suggestion that can get you fast results if you have a marketing budget is pay-per-click advertising. Our pay-per-click Austin experts are here to share how this kind of advertising works and the benefits it delivers to businesses. 

What is pay-per-click advertising?

PPC, short for pay-per-click, is a form of online advertising where the advertiser pays a fee every time someone clicks on their ad. These ads are typically displayed on search engines like Google and Bing. Companies use these kinds of advertising to drive traffic, sales and inquiries from their target audience. 

How does pay-per-click advertising work

You can start pay-per-click advertising by choosing your marketing channel. The most common are Google Ads and Bing Ads. Within themselves, these ads have different channels designated to the different kinds of pay-per-click ads you want to create. 

The most common marketing channel for PPC is Google Ads. The reason is the large number of Google users and the numerous ways to set up and run campaigns depending on your goals. Pay-per-click Austin advertisers suggest that, to start a pay-per-click advertising campaign, you need to:

1. Sign up for an advertising account with the platform of your choice

2. Create ads that target your ideal audience and use the correct keywords

3. Set a maximum amount you will pay for each click

After you’re all set, your ad goes into auction with other ads that are using the same keywords. This auction will determine the order of the ads being shown. Lastly, you’ll only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad.

What determines if your ads will show

As stated above, your ads go into auction before being displayed. There are various factors that come into play when platforms choose which ads to display. The first influencer is maximum CPC (cost-per-click), which is how much the advertising is willing to pay for each specific keyword or ad group. 

Next influencer is the quality score, which takes into account several factors, such as the expected CTR (click-through rate) of the ad, the relevancy of an ad and what experience the landing page provides. The third is ad rank, which consists of a score based on the quality score multiplied by the max CPC. 

The benefits of pay-per-click advertising

Reach your target audience

One of the best benefits of using pay-per-click advertising is being able to reach your ideal audience. When creating a pay-per-click advertising campaign, you can choose your audience's demographics, interests and keywords they are using to find your product or service. 

Get results fast

Unlike SEO, pay-per-click advertising gives you fast results. All you have to do is set up your ad account and use the correct keywords. Then you can start bringing in qualified leads or generating traffic to your website. 

Easily track results

A big advantage of online advertising is being able to track the results of your pay-per-click campaigns. This means that you can gather information about what is working for your strategies and what is not. From there, you can make informed decisions about where you could improve your strategies. 

Cost-effectiveness

If you want to get the most bang for your buck, pay-per-click advertising is the way to go. You get to set how much you want to spend on advertising. That way, you do not go over your advertising budget. Plus, you can make adjustments based on Google's recommendations. 

Hire one of the best pay-per-click Austin companies!

At OMG Austin, our team of digital marketers can help manage your PPC campaigns. We will create a strategy, measure the results and provide feedback on what could be done to improve your campaigns. Contact us before you start your next pay-per-click advertising campaign.