Is Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Still Relevant?

With so many different ways to reach your audience, you might think that Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is an unnecessary use of your valuable advertising dollars. But before you think about pulling the plug on your PPC campaign, there are a few things to know.

Here are the top three reasons why PPC is still extremely relevant to the success of your business.

1. Allows businesses to cover all of the bases

Google gets over 3.5 billion searches per day and a whopping 1.2 trillion searches per year (http://www.internetlivestats.com/google-search-statistics/) With these stats, it’s easy to see that Google gets A LOT of yearly traffic. So if people are constantly on Google, then it just makes sense to show your ads on there as well. Peep Laja of ConversationXL states that, “PPC is another channel to reach targeted audiences. If you’re not tapping it, you’re making a conscious decision to not use all the channels at your disposal.” (http://unbounce.com/ppc/is-ppc-still-relevant-in-age-of-inbound-marketing/) Utilizing PPC is a fool-proof way to ensure that when people Google things relating to your business, you are right there advertising to them.

2. Gives you a chance to test out targeting, keywords, & messaging in a short amount of time.

Unlike other traditional or digital mediums, PPC lets advertisers test different aspects of their campaigns and see results in real-time. Industry expert Matt Hessler of Trada said that, “With PPC being a more mature medium at this point the data is more granular and there are several robust tools including the AdWords platform itself to get meaningful data quickly from your campaigns.” (http://unbounce.com/ppc/is-ppc-still-relevant-in-age-of-inbound-marketing/). When you use PPC, you are able to see what parts of your campaign works, whether it’s a call to action, a keyword, or a targeted location, and then implement the things that work to not only your PPC campaign, but to any other aspect of your advertising. Utilizing PPC allows you to prioritize other marketing endeavors based on what PPC has proven to work.

3. Google, one of the world’s most valuable brands (http://www.forbes.com/companies/google/), has a vested interest in it performing well.

Finally, if you ever doubt if PPC is still relevant, just know that Google makes $30 billion from PPC advertising. It is in their best interest to make this platform as relevant as possible, which is a win for both Google & the businesses that advertise on there.

PPC advertising, of course, has many other benefits that make it extremely relevant to all types of businesses, so if you don’t have PPC running, it might be time to take the leap.

For more info about how PPC can help your business, check out Stream Companies’ eBook PPC & SEO: Understanding How They Work Together to Maximize Results.  (http://offers.streamcompanies.com/ppc-seo-maximize-results-ebook)

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—Morgan Schuman is a Paid Search Strategist at Stream Companies, a full-service Philadelphia-area advertising agency.