TLDR: Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a powerful way to buy visibility online. You bid on keywords, and your ads appear when people search for related terms. You only pay when someone clicks. Platforms like Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and Meta (Facebook) make it easy to reach audiences quickly, track results, and adjust in real time. The trick is understanding how it works, and avoiding common mistakes.
What is PPC and what does it stand for?
PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click, a form of online advertising where you pay each time someone clicks your ad. Think of it as buying visits to your website rather than relying purely on organic search rankings. It’s one of the most common digital marketing strategies used by businesses to drive targeted traffic quickly and measurably.
The most popular PPC platforms are Google Ads and Microsoft Ads (Bing Ads). These ads typically appear at the top of search engine results pages, either as text-based search ads or as product listings with images, such as Google Shopping ads. Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn also use PPC-style models, allowing advertisers to target users based on demographics, interests, and behaviour.
The biggest difference between PPC and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is cost and control. Tom Pickard, our Head of Paid Search, says, “With PPC, you’re paying for exposure, whereas SEO is based on your organic rankings.” SEO takes time and effort to climb the rankings, while PPC gives you instant visibility… for a price.
How does PPC work?
Behind every PPC ad you see is an auction system. When someone searches for something on Google, for instance, advertisers who’ve bid on keywords relevant to that search enter an instant auction. Each advertiser sets a maximum bid, the most they’re willing to pay for a click, and Google decides which ads appear, and in what order.
But it’s not just about who bids the most. Google considers something called Ad Rank, which considers your bid and your Quality Score, a measure of how relevant and useful your ad, keyword, and landing page are to the user. Even if you bid lower, a high-Quality Score can push your ad above a competitor’s.
Keywords are the backbone of PPC. You can choose from three main match types:
- Exact match, which triggers your ad only when a user searches for your exact keyword.
- Phrase match, which includes searches that contain your keyword phrase in order.
- Broad match, which is more flexible and can trigger your ad for related searches or similar meanings.
Tom explains that broad match can be useful for reaching a wider audience, but it’s important to manage it carefully with negative keywords to avoid irrelevant clicks.
When your ad appears, it looks almost identical to an organic result, except for a small “Sponsored” or “Ad” label. For the user, it feels like a natural part of the search experience, but for the advertiser, every click counts.
Key benefits of PPC
There’s a reason PPC remains one of the most effective forms of digital marketing. For one, it delivers immediate visibility. While SEO can take months to show results, PPC ads can appear at the top of search results almost instantly after launching.
It’s also highly measurable. You can track exactly how much you’re spending, how many people are clicking, and how many of those clicks are turning into conversions. This level of control means you can adjust your campaigns in real time, something organic marketing rarely allows.
As Tom explains, “It’s easily measurable, easy to control, easy to budget, and allows you to appear for terms that you might not necessarily have the rankings to appear for on SEO.”
PPC is particularly effective for launching new products, promoting time-sensitive offers, or competing in saturated markets. It’s also great for testing new audiences or messaging before committing to a long-term strategy.
How to set up your first PPC campaign
If you’re ready to dive in, the setup process doesn’t have to be intimidating.
- Define your goal – Decide what success looks like (sales, leads, traffic).
- Choose your platform – Most start with Google Ads, but social media platforms like Meta Ads are great for awareness.
- Do keyword research – Pick a mix of exact, phrase, and broad match types to control when your ads show.
- Write effective ad copy – Craft compelling headlines and clear calls to action.
- Set a budget and bid strategy – Start with manual or max-clicks bidding until you’ve got enough conversion data for smart bidding.
- Launch and monitor – Give your campaign time to learn and optimise continuously.
As Tom reminds us, “You’re not going to be instantly successful. Give the campaign some time to learn, and yourself some time to learn too.”
Common PPC mistakes to avoid
Even experienced marketers can slip up in PPC. One of the biggest mistakes is not tracking properly. Without accurate tracking, you’ll never know which keywords or ads are driving revenue, and smart bidding strategies won’t work.
Another common oversight is ignoring negative keywords. These are terms you don’t want your ads to appear for. For example, if you sell luxury handbags, you might want to exclude “cheap” or “free.” Regularly updating your negative keyword list can save money and improve relevance.
Landing pages are another area where campaigns often fail. You can have the best ad in the world, but if your landing page is slow, confusing, or doesn’t match the ad’s promise, you’ll lose conversions fast.
Tom also warns against switching to smart bidding too early: “Make sure you’ve given the system enough data, ideally 30 conversions in a month, otherwise it won’t be able to accurately bid towards the right people.”
And finally, don’t assume PPC is a magic switch for success. It takes time, testing, and optimization to see consistent results.
Best practices of PPC
Once your campaign is up and running, the real work begins, optimization. Tom’s advice is simple: keep testing, keep learning, and don’t treat Google Ads as a “set and forget” channel.
Start by running A/B tests on your ads. Try different headlines, calls-to-action, or landing pages to see what performs best. Make sure to use ad extensions such as sitelinks and callouts, which add extra information and make your ad stand out in search results.
Keep an eye on your performance metrics, things like click-through rate (CTR), cost-per-click (CPC), and conversion rate. These numbers tell you what’s working and where to improve.
Above all, review your campaigns regularly. Competition changes, budgets shift, and user behaviour evolves. Staying on top of performance is key to maintaining strong results.
Final thoughts
Managing PPC across multiple platforms can quickly become overwhelming. That’s where ASK BOSCO® comes in. As Tom explains, “The benefit of ASK BOSCO® when it comes to Google Ads is that I can see it alongside other platforms, my Microsoft Ads, my Facebook performance, my SEO performance, all in one place.”
ASK BOSCO® provides a unified view of your marketing data, letting you compare PPC and SEO performance side by side. It also offers competition insights, helping you understand where you might save money or outperform rivals. With its intuitive dashboards, you can easily monitor metrics from Google Analytics, shopping campaigns, and multiple ad platforms, all without endless spreadsheets.
In short, PPC gives you visibility and control. ASK BOSCO® gives you clarity and efficiency. Together, they make a powerful combination for any marketer who wants smarter, data-driven results.
