Like anyone involved in the digital marketing niche, you’ve probably heard a lot about PPC, and the various benefits that it’s offered countless modern businesses. PPC is pay-per-click, a model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Essentially, it’s a way of buying visits to your site, rather than attempting to “earn” those visits organically. Search engine advertising is one of the most popular forms of PPC
You’re probably also aware that it’s possible to pump a load of money into it, make a total mess of your campaign, and end up with a massive dent in your overall profits and nothing to show for it! Whether you’re a business owner looking to rake in conversions or a marketer who wants to further their education, here’s some advice on learning PPC.
Read up on the basics and gather resources
If you’re completely new to the concept of PPC, then your first step should be setting aside some time and learning the basics. There’s a lot of things you’re going to have to get through before you can call yourself an expert, so giving yourself a solid foundation is a must. The Google AdWords help resource is a great place to start off, and get the information you’re after right from the horse’s mouth. There are various books on PPC you can download from the Kindle store which will also be a great place to start. Just make sure you’re shopping around here; some of these books are worthless! There are also countless blogs on PPC and how to leverage it. Check out this post for an example: PPC Management: Do You Really Need It? This Will Help You Decide!
Learn from the pros
As with pretty much anything else, one of the best ways to learn about PPC is reaching out and networking with people who have more experience with it than you. You may have colleagues or old professional contacts who are clued up on PPC, and will be willing to give you some tips. Alternatively, you can try to create some fresh contacts by joining online forums and groups, like the ones on LinkedIn for example. Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you’re reaching out to new contacts. You may feel like you’re just being irritating, but a lot of PPC professionals will take great pride in their work, and will be happy to talk it over with you.
Read about conversion tracking
Ask anyone who’s experienced with using PPC, and they’ll tell you that it’s more or less useless unless you combine it with good conversion tracking. This is what’s going to tell you what’s working and what isn’t, and how much the money you’ve invested is really doing for the overall campaign. There are various different tracking tools available to those who want them, including ones created by Google itself, designed for monitoring the ads you’ve set up through AdWords. However, you may want to subscribe to software from third parties depending on the kind of product or service you’re selling, and the way your target market behaves online. You’re not going to be able to apply PPC effectively without some grasp on conversion tracking, so make sure it’s on your to-do list.
If you’re looking to educate yourself on PPC, I hope this post points you in the right direction.
