Pay-Per-Click Marketing: PPC Strategy Guide

Pay-per-click is a way to buy visits. We are a Pittsburgh team that shows up where your people already work. You pay a publisher, such as a search engine or a site owner, when someone clicks the ad. The click is the unit. Impressions alone do not tell you whether anyone cared.

What the spend is for

Most PPC work is trying to do one of two things: send people to a landing page so you can collect a lead, or earn the click itself. Other models answer different questions. CPM charges for a block of impressions. Cost per order charges when a purchase happens. Clicks are useful when you need to know whether the ad earned attention, not only whether it was shown.

The quality of the ad, and where it sits, still decides the click-through rate and the bill. A weak line in a poor placement spends money without teaching you much.

Cost per click is simple to read:

Cost per click = total advertising cost / number of clicks received

Two ways the price gets set

Flat-rate PPC

You and the publisher agree on a set amount per click. Often the publisher already has a rate card. Competition on the keyword moves that rate: more sites chasing the same term means a higher price. The page you send people to matters too. A page that attracts more valuable customers can cost more per click. You can sometimes negotiate, especially if you are willing to commit to a longer, larger contract.

Bid-based PPC

This model fits when you are still learning which keywords matter, or when the budget is tight. You compete with other advertisers who want the same term. Each of you states the most you will pay for a spot tied to that keyword. The auction runs on its own as people click. If several spots are available, more than one advertiser can "win." The highest bid often takes the top spot, but the quality of the ad and how it gets clicked also play a part.

Build the campaign around a goal

A useful account is organized by what the click is supposed to do. The common goals are brand awareness, consideration, leads, sales, and repeat sales. Each one wants a different keyword, a different message, and a different page.

Brand awareness

This is the early job: put a new product, or the brand itself, in front of people who could actually care. The clicks you earn here are what move someone toward considering you.

Display ads can stay on topic through keywords, themes, placements, or a mix. It is broad targeting, and it can widen the reach. Search campaigns can bid on general terms. A company that sells gym equipment might bid on something like "gym gear" so the brand shows up beside the category. The risk is a higher cost per click and visits from people who were never going to buy. Exact match and negative keywords are how you tighten that.

Social ads are the other awareness path. Google is not the only place a pay-per-click idea belongs.

Consideration

People in this phase are researching. Their searches get specific: a brand name, a product name, or both. They compare. They read reviews. A query might name a television by brand and size. This is a good moment to come back with a clearer ad and a stronger call to action, including responsive display ads that return someone to a product they already looked at.

In-market audiences are another tool. The platform groups people whose recent behavior looks like they are close to buying, and you can aim at that group.

Leads

Not every sale happens on the first visit. A lead gives you a way to continue the conversation. The call to action might be a demo, a consultation, or a trial. Those asks get people to fill in a form, call, or book a time. What you do with the lead after that depends on the business. The details you collect can also feed customer-match campaigns later.

Sales

Someone who is ready to buy searches in a narrower way. The query may include a model number, shipping, a discount, a coupon, or financing. Run separate campaigns that state the offer, the guarantee, the warranty, or the return policy. That is how the ad answers the doubt that stops a purchase. Cart-abandonment ads, remarketing, and the extra lines in the ad (the extensions) all belong in this phase.

Remarketing has to be set up with care, or you will keep advertising to people who already bought. Build a list of purchasers and exclude it here. Keep the list. You will want it for the next phase.

Repeat sales

PPC can bring someone back when the product needs maintenance, an upgrade, or a related purchase. Before you write the ad, answer a few questions. How long does the product last, or when does it need replacing? Is a better version coming? Do customers buy one, or more than one? Is there something complementary to offer? What would make them choose you again: loyalty, speed, quality, or a feature?

Write from those answers, then use remarketing and customer match to reach people who already bought. A coupon or a discount can be part of the reason to return. The stronger reason is whatever actually makes the next purchase make sense.

After the launch

Include more than one goal, so the account can move someone further along instead of asking for the sale on every click. A simple chart helps: goal, keywords, theme, message, and landing page. After the ads are live, read the results, adjust, and move budget toward what is working. The attribution reports in Google Analytics, or in the ads platform, show paths and assisted conversions. That is the map for the next round of changes.

If you want paid search planned around real goals, our marketing work includes that kind of campaign thinking.