Tips and Advice You Need for Pay Per Click in 2025

Pay-per-click is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies for rapidly boosting site traffic. When done correctly and with the help of a PPC agency, your website can enjoy first-page rankings on Google and rise above the competition.

However, PPC is getting more competitive. Many other brands similar to yours will continue to implement their own strategies. This helpful guide offers helpful PPC optimization tips that can set you apart from the rest and bring high-value leads to your website

If you want to learn how Digital Authority Partners can increase your PPC effectiveness, watch this video!

What Is PPC Strategy?

A PPC, or pay-per-click, strategy is when an advertiser (that’s you) uses paid online ads like Google Ads or Facebook Ads to attract new audiences and get them to convert into customers.

Advertisers pay a certain amount every time their ad is clicked on, making it a cost-effective advertising model that brings a positive return on investment (ROI). Advertisers can set this amount to however much they see fit and adjust it whenever necessary.

There are many different platforms that accommodate PPC ads, such as:

• Google Ads
• Facebook Ads
• Microsoft Ads
• YouTube Ads
• LinkedIn Ads
• Amazon Ads

PPC ads can take the form of search ads, which appear at the top of Google’s results. These usually have the word “Sponsored” or “Ad” next to them. Paid ads can also appear on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Similarly, they also have “Sponsored” or “Shop Now” tags.

Display ads are another common type of ad that appear on third-party websites, apps, and other platforms. For display ads, apart from being clicked, the advertiser also pays a specific amount every time the ad appears on a site.

PPC brings quick and measurable results, with some platforms even approving ads on the same day. These ads are also customizable to fit the needs of your target audience. You can tailor ads according to specific demographics, behaviors, interests, and locations.

How Does PPC Work?

Advertisers bid on specific keywords that they want their ads to appear for. The value is based on the keywords, target audiences, and platforms, among other things. The search engine uses different criteria to determine which ads to show and in what order, such as:

• The advertiser’s bidding amount
• Relevance of the keyword
• Ad quality
• The platform being used
• PPC strategy and campaign planning setup

The process varies from platform to platform, but generally, it starts with choosing a campaign type based on your objectives and setting your parameters (location, target audiences, device, schedule, etc.)

You’ll then be asked to provide a daily budget and bidding strategy. You’ll then input the landing page’s URL and create your ad from there.

What Is PPC Optimization?

PPC optimization is the process of refining your advertising campaigns to produce even better results than before. PPC is an ongoing process that requires constant updating and monitoring in order to boost click-through rates, conversion rates, and return on ad spend. 

Optimizing your PPC includes fine-tuning your keyword research to reach more audiences and adjusting your bidding strategy to save costs. 

What Is the Difference Between PPC and SEO?

SEO focuses on generating traffic organically through keyword research, content creation, and local listings, among other things. It also focuses on long-term sustainable results, while PPC is more focused on quick, short-term results.

Even though SEO takes more time to generate good results (assuming you do it correctly), it’s essentially a free process since you don’t have to pay for every click on your link. Meanwhile, PPC requires you to bid on keywords to gain instant traffic and pay for every click. It can be costly, especially if you have many ads with high budgets on many different platforms.

Does PPC Improve SEO?

Yes, PPC can improve SEO rankings — albeit indirectly. Even though the two are different, they can still work together to improve your brand’s visibility. When you add PPC to SEO, you get enhanced user engagement. 

You can start with a PPC campaign to gain a quick boost of traffic. This can attract more visitors to your website and increase conversions. Once you have a steady amount of traffic, focusing on ongoing SEO efforts like regular content creation and website optimization is a typical next step. As you increase organic visibility, you can reduce your PPC budget and focus more on maintaining long-term SEO campaign success.

How Can I Improve My PPC?

Let’s go over six ways that could improve a PPC strategy:

Prioritize Keyword Research

Tools like Semrush and Google Keyword Planner help you target and bid on the most relevant keywords. Since your competitors will likely be targeting the same keywords, narrow down your search further by targeting low-volume, long-tail keywords. 

Long-tail keywords are longer, hyperspecific keywords that have less competition. You can target keywords that include your main service or current location.

By targeting hyperspecific keywords, you won’t have to increase your bid because of the low competition. This helps your ad appear for the right keywords and reduces the amount that you have to pay per click.

Target negative keywords as well. Negative keywords are those that you don’t want your ad to appear for, such as those of competitors, brand names, or outside your niche. Otherwise, if your ad appears for an unrelated keyword, there’s a chance someone clicks on it, meaning you’re paying for a click from an unqualified lead.

Target and Retarget the Right Audience

You want your ads to appear to the right people at the right time. This is where targeting the right audience is key. Conduct audience research to understand who your ideal target market is and what their specific needs and pain points are.

Audience segmentation is one of the best ways to do this. This process categorizes your target audience according to specific criteria, such as demographics, online behaviors, purchase history, interests, etc. You can gather this information through surveys, focus groups, and online tools like Google Analytics.

There may also be customers who click on your ad but don’t fulfill a call to action. Consider retargeting to reengage their interest and turn them into customers. To successfully set up a retargeting campaign, have all customer tracking activities set up correctly, including appropriate channel pixels for attribution and audience bucketing. This helps you to target the right people with personalized ads based on their previous interactions.

Write Compelling Copy

Your ad copy is one of the first things readers see when they come across your ad. Write copy that leaves a lasting impression and that elicits action from the user. Incorporate social proof into your copy to establish credibility and instill confidence in your brand. These can be testimonials or endorsements from other brands.

Showcase the benefits of your product or service rather than the features. Users are more likely to click if your ad can address a specific need or make their lives easier. Additionally, use persuasion to create a sense of urgency that prompts users to act quickly. This can be by using phrases like “Limited Time Offer” or “Exclusive deal for today only!”

Include a clear call to action with an enticing copy as well. The copy should convince users to fulfill a specific action, like making a purchase or providing their email address. Keep it short and concise (no more than four words) and use actionable verbs as well, like “Subscribe Now” or “Get Discount.”

Use Geotargeting

Geotargeting for PPC helps you zero in on your local area and make the most out of the proximity. Geotargeting is when advertisers set a specific perimeter where they want their ads to show. This is an essential tip for local businesses that rely on foot traffic or in-person deliveries, like restaurants and brick-and-mortar stores.

Target the areas where your business serves. If you run a business in Chicago, focus on targeting Chicago and other cities in Illinois. This helps your ad appear to your target location’s audience. With that, you’re paying for more high-value clicks. Similarly, just like in keyword research, exclude places you don’t want your ad to appear in. 

Google Trends is a great tool that shows which places have the highest potential for conversion. You can check the search volumes according to country, region, and city. Take advantage of local extensions as well to make it easier for local customers to find you. These show your company address and contact number on the search result. 

Create Custom Landing Pages

Every PPC ad should be accompanied by an informative and helpful landing page. How you create your landing pages determines if your user will convert or not. Instead of bringing each click to your website’s homepage, bring them to a custom landing page with content that’s specific to the ad. 

Someone clicked on your ad for a reason, whether that’s purchasing a product or signing up for your services. Lead them to the page that lets them do exactly that so they don’t have to go through the hassle of searching for that page from the homepage.

Make sure your landing page’s messaging is consistent with the ad. Provide all the necessary details that the customer will look for, such as order forms, contact details, and a clear call to action. 

Choose the Best Bidding Strategy

You’ll have a different bidding strategy depending on your PPC goals, whether these conversions, clicks, impressions, or views. Let’s quickly go over the different PPC bidding strategies to use based on your specific goals. 

If your goal is to:

• Prompt customers to take action and optimize conversions → Use smart bidding to focus on conversion
• Generate traffic → Focus on cost-per-click bidding
• Increase brand awareness → Use cost-per-thousand viewable impressions (vCPM)
• Increase views or interactions of video ads → Focus on cost-per-view (CPV) or cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) bidding
• Increase product or brand consideration → Focus on cost-per-view bidding

How To Optimize PPC Campaigns

Let’s go over five helpful optimization tips to ensure you make the most out of your ads strategy.

Update Keywords Regularly

There might be some keywords that you’re paying for but aren’t bringing good enough results. 

This is where you should review the performance of each keyword and prioritize those that are doing well and remove those that aren’t. Minimize the budget for poor-performing keywords or take the budget away completely and reallocate them to your best-performing ones.

Additionally, use this chance to add more negative keywords and hyperlocal keywords if necessary. This helps your ad appear for even more precise terms to maximize every click.

Ensure Your Site Is Secure

If someone trusts your ad enough to click on it, you should maintain that trust by taking them to a trustworthy website. This can also improve your site’s SEO performance as Google prioritizes secure sites.

To ensure site security, upgrade from HTTP to HTTPS to boost your security measures. This also ensures that every interaction is encrypted, protecting your user’s personal information. Make sure your site uses an SSL certificate to verify your site’s legitimacy and gain the trust of users.

The ideal type of SSL certificate to use would be extended validation (EV), which offers the highest level of security. This is particularly important for businesses handling sensitive data, such as those in healthcare, finance, or law.

Use Ad Extensions

Ad extensions are free-to-use that provide additional information about your business. Some types of ad extensions include:

• Sitelinks that provide links directly to a specific page (Contact Us, About Us, Services, etc.)
• Callouts that highlight specific offers and benefits (24/7 Customer Support, Free Delivery, Free Trial, etc.)
• Review extensions that include testimonials and ratings (out of five stars)
• Call extensions that display a business’s phone number

By using these ad extensions, your users can get a clearer picture of your business as a whole. The more information a user has about a business, the more likely they are to trust it and click on it.

Conduct A/B Testing

One version of your PPC ad might perform better than another, so it’s worth testing multiple different versions to see which one generates the best results. Conduct A/B testing to experiment with different ad elements, such as copy, images, layout, CTA, and ad placement.

Keep relevant metrics in mind when testing your ads to gain an objective idea of which ad performs better. These metrics include conversion rate, click-through rates (CTR), bounce rate, etc.

Use Google Ads to conduct A/B testing by using the Experiments tab, which lets you add different variants of your ad and review their respective performances. For example, you can provide two different links to two different landing pages.

Prioritize the Best Performing Ads

Suppose you run multiple types of paid ads across different platforms, such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, YouTube Ads, and so on. Over time, some will generate better results than others. When you figure out which ones those are, prioritize them to maximize conversion rates.

Decrease the budget for low-performing ads while increasing the budget for the best-performing ones. This prevents you from spreading yourself too thin across multiple platforms and saves costs per click.

How Successful Are PPC Ads?

A PPC strategy can be highly successful and exponentially increase traffic and conversions. Digital Authority Partners (DAP) has extensive experience helping brands gain the visibility they deserve using PPC ads. One example is LifeMoves, a leading nonprofit focused on innovative programs and services that combat homelessness.

LiveMoves needed to properly align combined paid advertising, display ads, and retargeting strategies. This is where DAP stepped in and implemented paid search campaigns. 

By targeting high-conversion keywords, creating user-centric copy, and geotargeting regions in California, they were able to target users looking to donate to LifeMoves’s Ride to End Homelessness event. These proved to be successful in driving engagement and a 180% increase in donation value.

DAP was also successful in driving a 10.5x return on ad spend, which was 2.5x above the industry benchmark. 

Consult With a Professional PPC Agency

Digital Authority Partners is a professional PPC agency that helps companies increase conversions and bring in high-value customers. We provide customized PPC optimization, paid media, and paid social advertising services that can exponentially grow your clientele and lead to greater returns on ad spend (ROAS).

We were named a Top PPC Company in Chicago by Clutch and Best Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Agency by Expertise, among other awards.

Send us a message today to get started!