Best Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising Companies – September 2019 Reviews

As marketers, you must have heard the concept of PPC marketing and are inquisitive in understanding more about it, or you have already set your mind to using PPC to market your business, but are confused as to what is the starting point, don’t worry, we are here to help you.

Just like a cupcake is incomplete without frosting; successful digital marketing is incomplete without a PPC campaign. If you don’t know what Pay per clicks are, just open any google link and you will see small boxes of advertisements that pop-up. These advertisements that cling on to search results on Google and other search engines is called pay-per-click, or PPC advertising. Let’s dive into the depths of this topic.

>> What’s PPC exactly? In what ways could it help my business?

Advertisers choose specific keywords that when searched by people display advertisements for their goods and services. In simple terms, PPC is an online advertising model that charges you on a per clicks basis to bring users to your site. This enables you to generate relevant traffic on your site that significantly leads to conversions and purchases.

You might think why shouldn’t I just opt for SEO then?  While SEO undoubtedly offers websites an opportunity of getting higher chances of customers clicking on your link, PPC gives much more visibility and assurity. It might take days, months or even years for your website to come on the first page of search engines, whereas through PPC you know when people see your advertisement.

Google it! has now become a mainstream slang ignoring the fact that there are other search engines. It has come to become synonymous with ‘search’ and you would want to do everything in your power to use this to your advantage. Availing its paid search service, AdWords, helps you drive more traffic, conversions, and business.  Google Adwords is the most standard and widely acceptable PPC advertising allowing you to create ads that can appear on the Google search index, different Google services and other online platforms.

Adwords works on a bidding system that lets advertisers identify some keywords, i.e., words used for surfing the web by users they want to bid on, pay and then create different Ad sets according to their requirements.

Every time a search query is initiated, Google digs into the keywords and chooses an Ad set considering these two factors:

1. Quality Score – a combined value consisting of landing page experience, ad relevance and Click Through Rate
2. CPC Bid – the highest amount (Cost Per Click) an advertiser is willing to pay for the bidding process

>> Things to keep on mind while managing your Adwords campaigns

1. Add relevant keywords: Adding an uncut lime to water has the same effect as adding irrelevant keywords on Adwords; both don’t make any difference.  Add keywords that your target audience is searching for or is related to your products/services. Relevant keywords help you to get better CPC and conversions. You can also take assistance from a PPC service provider to get better results.  Make sure to get rid of every negative keyword; it improves your ad CPC and quality score.

2. Search Volume & Performance of Keywords: Before deciding the keywords for your campaign, use Google Keyword Planner, to see how your selected keywords are doing. Check if they are frequently searched and if the bidding amount falls under your budget and your competitors. This research will help you to select better high volume keywords.

3. Landing Pages: When a user clicks on your ad, he will be redirected to a page on your website – this page is known as the landing page. The landing page should have all necessary information for the user and well defined Call To Action (CTA) button that matches with your user’s search query.

Ad groups: Rather than showing generic ads, create separate ad groups for different products and services of your business. This should help you to create precisely targeted, specific advertisements and landing pages.

While digital marketing has taken over the traditional ways of marketing, PPC has been successful in proving its worth by being one of the best platforms for online advertising. Day after day we see it evolving and seeping into all forms of digital advertising channels. As a tried and tested method, many companies have made profits from the PPC model. Today almost everyone recommends it as a means to promote business online successfully. You might wonder how PPC is better than other organic SEO options, let’s dive in to find out!

>> Quick Setup

Organic content may take years to show up, and Facebook Ads may or may not be seen by the consumer. But with Google Adwords you know that isn’t the case. It does not just offer more assurity, but it is way simpler and faster to set up. Want to set up a campaign? All you need is half an hour with  Adwords. After setting up your campaign, your ads go in for a review process and once approved, Adwords start running ads for your selected keywords.

>> Instant Results for everyone

But what if you have just launched your website? That’s the beauty of Adwords. There are no specific requirements for being a Fortune 500 company to run ads. Even if your site has just launched or your website is not receiving any traffic, no need to worry! Google Adwords run for any website or web pages. A well managed PPC campaign can get you the first rank leaving your competitors behind. Why would you want to wait months to get on the first page of the Google search index, when the same is possible with AdWords within minutes? Think for yourself

>> From a dime to crores, PPC will work for you

The bounds of limited advertising budgets often tie small businesses from getting effective marketing results. PPC is an excellent option because you get an opportunity to generate huge targeted traffic to your website for a fraction of the cost compared to other forms of paid advertising.

>> Pay only for what you use

You get charged only when someone clicks on your ad. When calculated, this cost is a minimal investment compared to the total profits you drive out of PPC campaigns because of the excellent rate of online conversions.

>> Customize to save money

One quick pro-tip is to customize ads for different groups of target audience and demographics that will enable you to do much more while deciding how much you wish to invest. Sometimes, you get lucky and find keyword niches at a  fantastic deal, as everyone does not hound long and highly specific phrases.

>> Build your brand

You know why there are billboards after billboards of the same brand on the streets? No, it’s not only to get you to buy it, most importantly it leaves a print of the brand in your head. Chieh Huang, CEO of Boxed, who has been investing in billboards said, “While download numbers are important, so is teaching people to shop from their smartphones, which requires a brand-building campaign.” That’s precisely what PPC does for you. It introduces you to your target audience and makes your brand visible above your competitors.

>> Long-term results

There might or might not be an immediate benefit of brand awareness on search engine index, but be sure that it gives better long-term results. A constant reminder of your brand develops a sense of trust among consumers and increases your chances of conversions online and offline.

>> Get effective targeting & database

Google Adwords is a Location-based service that allows you to display your ads geographically. Additionally, it offers targeting people by their mobile device software.  From the geographical location of a person to a particular language you can customize your marketing campaigns to reach the right audience.

>> Offline stores use Geo-targeting wisely

Use the geo-targeting feature wisely if you have an offline, brick and mortar store. With Adwords’ Geo Targeting, you would be able to show your ads to customers near to our store’s location. Just like you get a review pop-up every time you visit a new place.  Furthermore, you can help them with directions to your store using google maps and google business pages along with PPC campaigns.

>> Get detailed reports

Apart from geographical details, you get every tiny detail of the amount spend versus the impressions, clicks, and conversions without any extra efforts. In fact, you would be able to track calls, too. When you get the full report of your campaign results and analysis, you can easily compare your spends and profits and reinvest wisely.

>> Schedule posts

As Google states, if you’re selling packaged family vacations to popular theme-park destinations, you may want to run your ads more heavily from 11 AM to 1 PM when parents are apt to break for lunch. If you’re selling an insomnia remedy, you might want to target 1 AM to 4 AM. Are you then planning to stay up all night or get a team to do so? To save your team from this unproductivity. Google AdWords lets you schedule your ads as per your requirement. Say you wish to start the campaign over the weekend when you are not working, you can plan it with date and time, and it would go live on exact time.

>> Real Time tracking

While you might think scheduling is a fantastic feature, welcome the real-time feature. One of the most appealing benefits of PPC advertising is, you can see your campaign results in real time, at any time of the day and make adjustments for better results.  Whether you are running your PPC campaign on Facebook or Google or Amazon, your campaigns could be altered and viewed in real time.

>> Algorithm Changes don’t affect your business

Everytime YouTube changes their algorithm; some YouTubers lose quite a few dollars. Avoid something like that when you use Google Adwords and save your SEO team from having a nightmare.  As you may know, an algorithm change can change your website rank. But with Google Adwords, your ads would run without any effects from algorithm changes, and you will rank higher till the time you run your Adwords campaigns. Talking about technical aspects, if your competitor is offline due to some technical issues, you can increase your bid and divert their angry customers towards your website. That would be a game well played!

>> Test, Format and Innovate

Say you are running a nationwide print campaign, and you are not sure if it would work (you can’t risk your million dollars after a test) you can test it with Adwords. Adwords gives you the liberty to do so. Experiment by creating different ad groups with copy options and run your campaign with desired demographics and term. Check your CTR as your campaign ends to understand which copy is performing better based on clicks. Adwords allows you to define a format for your ads by allowing you to choose different headlines, call to actions, descriptions for different ad groups and run all these ads separately. Not only will it add more value to a users’ search results but also increase your chances of getting a higher CTR.  You can also run the same kind of test campaigns before starting your ad campaign so you are saved from more substantial damages.

>> Get Quality Traffic

Most of the advertising models use the PUSH strategy, but Google Adwords has implemented the PULL strategy. Firstly you get engagement with the right group of people and secondly, people aren’t annoyed with constant advertisements.  Instead of convincing people to buy your products, pitch in places where people are already looking for it, and that’s how PPC gives you quality leads and better returns. Quality leads also mean better ranking as there are good page views.

The Pay Per click industry has been going through changes every other day, and if you still haven’t caught up, you have three months more to rock it in 2019. Have you been wondering about your strategy in this changing era of PPC? Here are quick pointers by our experts about the latest trends that will set the path for a revenue-generating business through PPC:

>> Voice Search

Creating a to-do-list, ordering groceries for home or playing songs for a nice cozy evening, Google home is doing it all. And just like Google homes, we’ve Alexa, Siri and many upcoming devices that are going to take away the troubles of typing and searching. Voice reinforces a different type of behavior than typical mobile searches. Be sure to create separate strategies in your marketing plan that decide the budgets spent on voice search marketing. Even if 2019 may not see a boost of voice, it surely will serve as the year that will be the foundation of a new trend and a decline of typed-in standard search terms.

>> Make PPC audience oriented

If you’ve focused all your PPC strategies based on keywords, you need to reconsider your marketing plan. Facebook has been offering detailed audience search specifically targeted audience groups since the beginning of time, and now Google has begun spreading its wings in this territory, considering they do not want to lose their client to Facebook. Unlike past years, only a robust keyword strategy is not enough for any business in 2019. PPC practices now need to include effective targeting, custom audience, retargeting and improved content, too.

>> The rise of Visual Search

Taking advantage of our visual senses, Pinterest built its empire. Pretty pictures, informative articles, and customized boards lead Pinterest to go from 100 million to 600 million dollars. As said by Pinterest’s CEO Ben Silbermann, “the future of search will be about pictures rather than keywords.” Today we see this coming true as people love Pinterest for its user-friendly interface and high-quality visual content. Google and Bing are now preparing for the next leap into visual search segment. In fact, Google has already started providing a visual search tool – Google Lens on Pixel devices that have been widely used.

>> Machine learning

If ML is still an alien term for you, our apologies, you are far behind in the PPC marketing game. Let’s buck up and get you updated. Google jumped right into the machine learning market by introducing their “smart bidding” system that is expected to optimize conversions using machine learning.  Jeff Baum, Director of Services, Hanapin Marketing says, ‘The biggest trend for PPC marketers to focus on in 2019 is adopting machine learning. As a PPC marketer, it’ll be important to take advantage of machine learning to gain deeper insights into account performance and its underlying drivers so account managers can make more informed strategy decisions. Leveraging machine learning will drive creative messaging, audience targeting, and bidding in new, more granular ways that allow marketers to gain a leg up on their competition.’

>> Amazon Ads

Elizabeth Marsten, Senior Director, E-commerce Growth Services, CommerceHub points out that,  ‘last year, I stated that when it comes to e-commerce it would be the need for feeds, more of them and more often and I’d say that the trend was there, but not as prevalent as I thought it would be. So I’m staying close to this as a trend for 2019 as well.’  Amazon’s ad revenue has grown over $1Billion over past year, and it continues to grow for 2019, too. The primary way to see ads on Amazon is on Amazon feeds which allows you to interact with Amazon’s 300 million users looking for products on Amazon. Our experts suggest anyone selling a tangible product online should go for advertising on Amazon.

Google Shopping Ads, earlier known as Product Listing Ads has been remodeling search advertising across E-Commerce markets for quite a while now. According to a survey,  Marketers spend over 25% of their Google advertising budgets Google Shopping alone, let this sink in! But Google enjoyed these days without any prominent competitors. Today Amazon Sponsor Products has brought in a new option for a product based, well intended, visual advertising online that lives up to customer expectations. In this war, users seem to reap maximum benefits. We’ve listed the pros and cons of both these products so you can choose better.

>> Fundamentals of Advertising

Google Shopping Ads display visuals according to the user’s search query on the search engine with rich content like an image, product name, price, promotional discount, store name and user ratings. This helps buyers to make better decisions at first glance on the search index. You can start with Google Shopping ads with a GMC account to update your product catalog and Google AdWords account.

Whereas, Amazon Sponsored Product is advertised on its shopping platform as banners or product listing. When a user enters a search query on Amazon, specific ads are displayed with the product name, image, price, store detail, rating and additional information provided by the seller. You can get started on Amazon with a sellers account and a monthly subscription for your professional selling plan.

Depending on your targeted marketplace, budget and niche audience you can choose a relevant platform.

>> Costing

Both of the ad platforms work on Cost Per Click model, so you get charged only when someone clicks on your ads. Considering Amazon has just stepped into the game, the bidding on Amazon tends to be lower than Google’s Shopping. Also to run your ads efficiently on Amazon, your prices should be highly competitive. You will pay lesser for Amazon Sponsored Products ads than Google Shopping Ads at least for some time now.

>> Ad Display

Google Shopping displays ads according to your product name/description, product type and category. Modifying any of these fields may make your ads irrelevant. Whereas Amazon lets you create your customized campaigns for relevant product groups under Amazon’s Manual Campaigns. If you want to display ads like Google Shopping, you can do it using “Automated Campaigns” in Amazon Sponsored Products.

>> Metrics & Reports

Google Shopping and Amazon Sponsored Products provide you with similar in-depth reports with parameters like Impressions, Clicks, Revenue, CTR, Conversions, etc. The one feature that distinguishes Google from Amazon is its ability to let you have customized performance tracking pixels like Adwords, Analytics or any third party platforms to track user activity on your website. Understand how much time users spend on your page, how many times products have been added to the cart and removed and many other metrics that help you build a better sales funnel. Whereas for Amazon, you have to be dependent on only the reports that Amazon provides.

>> Relevance

Google Ads are often displayed based on keywords and the user may or may not be wanting to see such listing. So the chances of a sale are really slim. Comparatively, a user on Amazon is explicitly searching for that product and appreciates the options provided to him. According to a report, now 55% of people in the U.S. start their online shopping trips on Amazon—a 25% increase from last year’s survey.

>> Remarketing

Remarketing can help you to get in touch with everyone who has walked away from their purchase decision or who have shown interest in your product. It also helps to build brand loyalty by bringing customers to your shop repeatedly. Google Shopping lets you target the store’s audience and segment them for customized bidding.  Amazon Products does not offer remarketing options currently.

>> Availability across the world

Google Shopping ads are currently available in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czechia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi, Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, the UK, the US, and Vietnam.

Amazon Sponsored Products is available in Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, UK, and US

Remember seeing a product adding it to your cart and not buying it? But within a few hours, you start seeing the ads for it everywhere. That’s called Remarketing. It is a way of connecting with the indecisive audience who have not made an immediate purchase or inquiry for your products/ services but have shown interest in it. In our marketers’ term, we refer to it as brand recall that brings about a behavior change in the consumer. One more chance to lure them back! Google Remarketing is an ideal advertising platform, and if executed properly, it drives crazy sales and raises your brand profile.

Remarketing works by placing cookies on your website visitors’ devices when they meet any particular criteria set up for marketing. Their cookie ID is added to the list of Google remarketing lists and used while performing remarketing. This feature gets upgraded and has recently been upgraded with more features and controls meant for the advertisers. It has become more flexible with google analytics code that allows to create and manage lists without placing any codes on the website.

>> Why should you add remarketing to your PPC campaign strategy?

Remarketing is a cost-effective tool that can drive meaningful results for advertisers.

Here are some more points to convince you:

More brand loyalty: Remarketing improves your brand visibility and brings back customers to your website which leads to significant purchase decisions.

Detailed targeting: You can improve your remarketing segmentation by adding demographic filters to your audience list. It gives you a chance to get in touch with only desired buyer personas.

Improved ROI: Better visibility brings better conversion rates, and you can earn improved ROI easily and faster than before.

Flexible budget:  Like all other Google marketing tools, remarketing also comes with the flexible budget. In fact, it charges lesser than search advertising. It gives you the flexibility to check which sites or networks are working better for you and run your remarketing campaigns accordingly.