What is PPC advertising, and should you be using it?

If you’re navigating your way through the world of digital marketing, you’ve probably heard of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and might be wondering how exactly it works, and if it’s a smart investment for your business.

In this article, we’ll cover how pay-per-click ads work, the benefits of using pay-per-click ads, the various platforms where you can use PPC advertising and the differences between them.

What is PPC advertising?

The basic idea of pay-per-click advertising is pretty simple - businesses place an ad on an online platform, and only have to pay for that ad when it is clicked.

Each platform has its own system for ensuring that relevant ads appear for the right consumers, whether that be keywords or audience targeting. Some platforms, like Google, also uses bidding or auction systems to determine which PPC ads will appear above others. We’ll discuss this in further detail later on.