The short answer is that PPC will get you leads --- qualified ones. If your website is set up to convert leads, then PPC is an equitable strategy. However, to do the most with PPC, you do need to periodically adjust and fine tune your approach.

Why PPC is a good strategy

To really understand the value of PPC, consider that visits to your website are valuable in two ways.:

1. They are leads, and they’re qualified ones.

2. More visits = more visibility on search engines. The more popular your website is, the higher up you will be on search engine rankings.

So with PPC, What you’re doing is paying for leads, to supplement (or even outperform) your organic traffic. In the process, you become more visible. And, you only pay when somebody actually clicks through and lands on your site.

Those click throughs are leads, and you control what kind of leads you get --- at least, you control what those leads are interested in, because you only pay to appear in the PPC rankings at the top for specific phrases.

The click throughs you do get are leads, and X% of your leads are sales, and (hopefully) people who buy once are also returning visitors, which contributes more clicks to your “popularity” score on the search engine. But next time, they might navigate straight to your site, so you won’t have to pay for the visit.

Of course, if you get enough organic leads, paying for clickthrough leads can become a less cost-effective strategy by comparison. Theoretically, PPC should push itself toward obsolescence over time, but never actually reach obsolescence. You can always benefit from PPC by paying for leads in the areas you want them most.

If the upside in one area diminishes, you can scale down or buy clicks for other keywords and phrases. You can measure the return you’re getting on PPC quite easily, and you can compare it to organic leads just as easily.

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An analysis will show you both the number of leads and the conversion rate on PPC clickthrough visits and organic visits.

How to make it work for you

---set the budget you are willing to play with --- a specific amount each month.

---decide which searches are most important to target

---see how competitive each search is: how popular it is for both users and your competitors, and what you have to bid for each phrase to actually show up in the PPC rankings at the top.

‍(You’re essentially in an auction for those leads. Each bidder will have a price they’re willing to pay, but only pay if the user actually lands on their site. You’ll be ranked in the PPC pool at the top of the search results page according to how much you’ve bid)

‍---decide how much you’re willing to pay for a click from each search. Remember, the more specific ones are more qualified, and thus more likely to be converted into a sale. Also consider that certain search phrases can be an indication for how much money a customer is interested in spending. For instance, somebody searching “engine rebuilds” is probably willing to spend more than somebody searching “tune up”.

How to optimize over time

A useful analysis for PPC and organic leads is looking at cost-per-lead and cost-per-sale. Obviously, the average cost per sale needs to be lower than the average sale total. The difference between the two is your profit (without accounting for operating expenses, etc). Indeed, this is a useful metric for all marketing strategies. With PPC, its easy to quantify.

Just take the cost per click-through, and your conversion rate over a period of time, and calculate how many click throughs you have to buy before you get a conversion. Then, you can take the average sale cost for leads converted on the website, and compare it to the total cost for that number of leads.

You’ll want to consider adjusting your PPC strategy over time if you:

---increase the strength of your organic presence

---roll out a new product

---see interest in a specific product or search phrase either increase or decrease

PPC offers a few unique advantages over other marketing strategies. The data is clear and accessible; this makes the cost-per-lead and cost-per-sale easy to quantify. Additionally, you only pay for actual leads, and these leads can be much more qualified than with other marketing strategies.

As a bonus, you get visibility for free, just for being in the auction. You’ll be seen at the top, even if you don’t get the clickthrough. This will add legitimacy to your brand and help people remember it, especially if the user scrolls down and sees you in the organic results below, too. And of course, every click you pay for improves your organic presence, which will hopefully bring you more leads and sales through that part of the funnel.

If you’re confident in your website, there’s a way to increase growth using PPC. All you need is a defined strategy, and the time to assess and adapt your strategy over periods of time. To set up a chat with a local marketer who can help you launch and manage effective PPC campaigns, you can fill out one of our contact forms. Just click here.