{"id":92979,"date":"2021-09-15T04:54:52","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T04:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/corp\/?p=92979"},"modified":"2025-10-21T21:39:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T21:39:20","slug":"ppc-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/blog\/marketing\/sem-ppc\/ppc-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"PPC Strategy Unleashed: Creating Campaigns That Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you’re a tried and true marketeer or new to the role, pay-per-click<\/a> (PPC) advertising is the most effective way to quickly<\/i> generate results and secure profits.<\/p>\n

It helps you get your brand in front of interested parties (even if they don\u2019t know it yet) and lets you test the waters. Most importantly, with the right ad analytics tools<\/a> and know-how, honing an effective PPC strategy is pretty straightforward.<\/p>\n

In this guide, we\u2019ll walk you through how to develop a robust PPC campaign strategy, measure, and optimize your campaigns in a 10-minute read.\u00a0If you\u2019ve been doing PPC for ages and are just looking for a best practices refresher, drop down to the PPC best practices section.<\/p>\n

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What is PPC?<\/h2>\n

\"PPC<\/p>\n

Pay-per-click (PPC) is an internet advertising model that lets you place ads online using platforms such as Google Ads and Bing. With PPC advertising, you\u2019re only charged when users click on your ads, hence the name: \u201cpay-per-click.\u201d<\/p>\n

How PPC works is simple: Every time there\u2019s an ad spot on a search engine results page (SERP) for a keyword, an auction automatically takes place for that specific keyword.<\/p>\n

Interested businesses then bid to appear for that keyword. Bids are set beforehand so the entire process is automated. The winner is selected based on several factors, including bid amount and ad quality, and shown in the top ad section.<\/p>\n

More specifically, the top spot is based on the advertiser\u2019s Ad Rank, a metric that\u2019s calculated by multiplying the cost per click (CPC), the highest amount an advertiser is willing to spend, and Quality Score, a value that takes into account click-through rate, relevance, and landing page quality<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can create accounts on platforms like Google Ads or Bing to set up and manage a PPC campaign, but just knowing what PPC is and how it works is only half the battle.<\/p>\n

Knowing what you want to achieve is the other half. That\u2019s right, you can use PPC campaigns to achieve different goals, from generating new leads and sales to promoting brand awareness<\/a> and building authority on search engines. Ultimately, PPC is all about providing targeted content to your audience right when they need it.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the true value of PPC?<\/h2>\n

With PPC advertising, you can drive targeted traffic to your website and reach people with a high degree of purchase intent for your offering.<\/p>\n

For example, if you target the keyword term: \u201cfree accounting software,\u201d you know that those who click on the link and arrive on the associated landing page are looking for accounting software.<\/p>\n

Typically, those who click on ads are further into the buyer journey or sales funnel<\/a>. They know what they\u2019re looking for and are ready to find out more about a particular product, service or solution.<\/p>\n

Of course, while you pay the advertising platform a fee every time your ad is clicked, when your PPC strategy works correctly, that fee is trivial because the visits are worth far more than what you pay for them. If a click costs you $5 in ad spend but you manage to close a $5,000 sale as a result of your PPC campaign<\/a>, you\u2019ve made a tremendous profit.<\/p>\n

Creating and optimizing a PPC campaign requires:<\/p>\n