It’s easy to find the typical FAQs about PPC:

• What is PPC?
• Who is Google?
• What is a conversion?

But beyond this vocabulary lesson, PPC is a very complex and often misunderstood component of a successful marketing strategy.
So let’s skip right past all the humdrum, and answer the questions you really want to ask, but rarely do.

I’ve heard it’s cheap. Is that true?

The nature of PPC is that you can spend as much as you want. So if you’re looking to go low-budget, that’s technically possible. The real question is one of ROI (return on investment).
Maybe you can spend 10¢ to make $10, or you can spend $1,000 to make $100,000. Which would you prefer?

I’ve heard it’s expensive. Is that true?

See above. Your budget drives your cost, up or down.

I just got this card in the mail for free AdWords. Can’t I just do it myself?

Absolutely! It is definitely possible to do AdWords on your own.

However, working with an agency brings the benefit of experience. We integrate AdWords into a broader inbound marketing strategy which may include other media. That leaves you to do what you’re skilled and experienced in: running your business!

What’s the biggest mistake I can make in PPC?

The biggest pitfall in PPC is throwing money blindly at bids with no consideration of landing pages. In all online advertising campaigns, landing pages play an obvious role in the magic alchemy that changes traffic into profit, but many advertisers don’t realize how important it is to optimize landing pages.

The result can be an improved quality score, a reduced cost-per-click, a higher click-through-rate, and a lower cost-per-acquisition. In a nutshell, you can waste a lot of money if you don’t get your landing pages right.
This is an extremely common mistake. And an extremely pricey one.

Isn’t PPC just a scam?

Ouch! I’d love to pretend that I have no idea what you’re talking about, but truth be told, I get it.

Despite perceptions, the bar for creating an AdWords account is very low. And there’s no shortage of bottom feeders that are willing to use the ease and mystery to further their goals of taking your money, letting you wonder if it’s even doing anything. But resist the urge to write off PPC entirely.

Why? Because even if there are bottom feeders that abuse it, PPC is very productive when used properly.

Choose a PPC manager that has integrity. They’re handling your money, after all. And yes, you can use PPC and integrity in the same sentence. Crazy, I know.

What’s in it for you?

So, if PPC gets such a bad rap, why do we participate?

Well, obviously we don’t handle our PPC clients for free. We charge a straightforward fee that varies based on how much we’re having to do. If I spend a few minutes a day managing a small client, there’s no reason to charge them as much as the big client who is dropping a few thousand per day on a single campaign.

However, believe it or not, we don’t do it for the money. Frankly, we don’t really even make that much on PPC. However, it’s an essential component of our broader inbound marketing strategy (which we love doing), and our clients miss out on some great opportunities for growth if we fail to suggest PPC as a part of that big picture.