What is PPC Marketing? - Basics of Pay Per Click Marketing

Whether you’ve heard a little about Pay Per Click marketing and want to learn more, or you already know you want to use PPC to grow your business but aren’t sure where to start—you’re in the right place!

What is Pay Per Click?

PPC stands for Pay Per Click, a digital advertising model where advertisers pay each time someone clicks their ad. Essentially, you’re paying for targeted visits to your website, landing page, or app.

When PPC is done correctly, the cost of each click is small compared to the value it generates.
Example: You pay $3 for a click, but it results in a $300 sale—your profit is huge!

PPC ads can take many forms—text, images, videos, or combinations—and they appear on search engines, websites, social media platforms, and more.

How Does Pay Per Click Advertising Work?

While platforms may vary slightly, the general process is:

Choose your campaign type based on your goal.
Set your targeting and settings (audiences, devices, locations, schedule).
Define your budget and bidding strategy.
Input your destination URL (landing page).
Build your ad creative.

Once live, algorithms decide where and when your ad appears and how much each click costs, based on your budget, bid, campaign settings, and ad relevance.

Platforms reward relevant and trustworthy campaigns with better placement and lower costs, so learning PPC correctly is key to maximizing profits.

What is Google Ads?

Google Ads is the world’s most popular PPC platform. It allows businesses to create ads that appear on Google Search and other Google properties.

Each time a search occurs, Google selects the most relevant ads to display based on factors like keyword relevance, ad quality, and bid amounts.

How Pay Per Click Works in Google Ads

Advertisers select keywords to target and place bids on each keyword. Google uses an auction-style system to decide which ads appear.

Quality Score: Google rates each ad from 1–10 based on keyword relevance, expected click-through rate, and landing page quality.
Ad Rank: Quality Score × Maximum Bid = Ad Rank. Ads with higher Ad Rank appear in better positions.

This system ensures advertisers reach potential customers within their budget.

How to Run PPC Campaigns with Google Ads

Google Ads is especially powerful because it drives massive traffic. To run successful campaigns:

Bid on relevant keywords.
Create high-quality landing pages.
Optimize your Quality Score.
Use attention-grabbing ad copy and creative.

PPC Keyword Research

Keyword research is critical to PPC success. Your campaigns rely on keywords, so you should:

Be relevant: Avoid clicks that won’t convert.
Be exhaustive: Include popular and long-tail keywords.
Be expansive: Continuously refine and expand your keyword list.

Use our Free Keyword Tool to find high-volume, industry-specific keywords.

Managing Your Pay Per Click Campaigns

After launching campaigns, regular management is essential:

Add new relevant keywords.
Use negative keywords to remove wasted spend.
Review and pause underperforming keywords.
Refine landing pages and CTAs to boost conversions.
Split ad groups for better CTR and Quality Score.

Getting Started with Pay Per Click

Ready to start? Set up a Google Ads account and check your campaigns with our Free Google Ads Performance Grader to identify improvement areas in under a minute.

If you need help running PPC ads, explore our Digital Marketing Solutions for expert guidance.