Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a form of paid advertising that allows you to display ads across search engine networks based on a series of predefined keywords.

Like traditional advertising, PPC allows you to reach specific audiences with an interest in your products and services. Benefits of PPC include:

1. Access to a huge number of prospective patients who search the net for information about your products/services
2. Access to market research – e.g., information about who is looking at your website, what kind of keywords patients are using to find your website
3. Easily modified advertising – you can easily, quickly create/modify ads, keywords, pictures, targeted demographics, geographic targets, etc.

PPC involves five main components:

PPC programs offered by powerful engines such as Google AdWords, Linkedin or Facebook allow companies to create or upload text or image-based ads. These ads promote lead generation by leading prospective patients back to your website, allowing patients to call/email you at a click of a button, view a promotional video, complete a form for further information, etc.

PPC systems allow companies to have an enormous amount of control over ads, where they’re placed, how they appear (e.g., in line with search results or along the margins), patient demographics (age, language, location, interests), timing or schedules, budgets and ranking bids, etc.

A set of keywords are established to accompany your ad. Your ads are triggered to appear when Internet users looking for information, using words that match your keywords. Choosing the keywords is vital to a successful PPC campaign and is dependent on really knowing your target audience, a close monitoring of your website analytics, creative and strategic thinking, and a solid bidding strategy.

PPC can be a valuable part of your marketing strategy. After all, it can help drive users directly to your website, but like most things, you have to consider the competition.

Your PPC ads are triggered by keywords carefully chosen by you, and matched by prospective patients who are searching the web for information. But unlike traditional advertising – where you simply buy available time/space on TV or in a magazine – PPC requires companies to bid for the right to have specific keywords trigger their ads at an effective ranking.

e.g., If you and your competitor both select the keywords, “best plastic surgeon in Seattle” for your Google ad, Google will select the company that offers the highest bid and ranks that company’s ad higher in the search engine results.

A successful PPC campaign requires ongoing monitoring for keyword and bidding effectiveness.