How to build a PPC strategy that gets results

Setting up a PPC campaign is fairly straightforward. Many major platforms, like Google Ads and Meta Ads, will walk you through the basics in under an hour. But knowing which decisions to make during that setup, and why, is a different challenge. 

These decisions form the basis of your PPC strategy. And the fate of that strategy is largely determined before you launch any ads.

Your PPC results are determined by 8 decisions

The biggest wins and the most expensive mistakes in PPC both trace back to a connected set of decisions, most of which you make before you launch. 

If you choose the wrong platform at the start, no amount of A/B testing ad headlines later will save your campaigns. But if you get the platform and audience targeting right before you launch, you make it much easier to extract results once you do. 

A PPC strategy is really a chain of eight connected decisions:

1. Who you’re targeting
2. What you want to achieve
3. Where to run your ads
4. Which keywords are worth bidding on 
5. How much you can afford to spend
6. Which bidding strategy to use
7. What your ads will say and where they lead
8. How you’ll reallocate resources based on performance

This guide walks through each decision in order so you can make each one with confidence, whether you run ads on Google, Meta, TikTok, Amazon, or anywhere else. 

Decision #1: Who you're targeting

Choosing the right target audience ensures you set appropriate campaign goals, use the right PPC platforms, target profitable keywords, and create effective ad copy and landing pages.

To decide who you’re targeting, ask yourself who you’re trying to reach and how aware they are of the problem you solve.

Who are you trying to reach?

To work out who you’re trying to reach, start with the buying decision your audience is making. Is it quick and personal, or slow and involving more than one person?

Someone buying a $15 skincare product likely makes that decision themselves, often quickly. Demographics like their age, their interests, and where they spend time online can help you reach them effectively.

Someone looking for project management software is probably one of several decision makers, and the process might take weeks. Understanding their job title, seniority, company size, and industry matters more for this audience than their age or interests.

If you already have customers, look at your CRM or order history for patterns across industries, job titles, and company sizes. For consumer products, check your analytics for demographics like age and location data. If you use Google Analytics, you’ll find this in “Reports” > “User attributes” > “Overview.”

How aware is your audience of the problem you solve?

Regardless of who you’re trying to reach, you need to know where and how to find them. That comes down to how aware they are of the problem your business solves. This affects the platforms you use, and whether you use keywords to target them or audience segmentation.

For an audience that's actively searching for a solution to a problem, the most useful things to know are what they type into a search engine and which search engines they use. The language tells you which keywords to bid on and informs the ad copy you should use. Knowing where they search tells you which PPC platforms to use.

For an audience that isn't yet aware of the problem, you need to understand their overall profile well enough to find them inside a social platform (or elsewhere online), because the platform has to do the matching for you.

To find this information, you need to know how to perform effective audience research. 

One more group worth factoring into your audience definition is people who've already encountered your business but didn't convert. You won't have data on this group until your campaigns are live, but it's worth building the expectation now that your targeting will need to account for them (through retargeting, which we'll come back to in the final decision)

Decision #2: What you want to achieve

Your goal is the objective you want your PPC strategy to achieve. Typical PPC goals include:

• Brand awareness
• Traffic 
• Leads 
• Sales
• Store visits

Your goal influences which platform(s) to use, your bidding strategy, what your ads say, and how you'll judge whether any of it worked.

A business will often run several campaigns with different goals at once, each aimed at people at different stages of the buying journey. But for planning your strategy, stick to one primary goal. 

How to choose the right goal

To choose the right goal, work backward from the business result you need. Then check whether your audience is ready to do what you want them to do.

Ask yourself what your business needs more of right now (e.g., revenue, qualified leads, or foot traffic). Then ask if your ideal audience is in a position to act in a way that aligns with that goal.

For example, a plumber in San Diego might be looking to attract customers for their emergency plumbing services. This works because 4,730 people search for terms related to "emergency plumber san diego" every month.

These people are ready to pay someone to solve their problem at that moment. So a goal to drive calls would make sense for this business. 

But a new project-management app business that most people have never heard of can't expect to drive sales through search ads. So, the ideal goal may be to first drive brand awareness through website traffic. 

Decision #3: Where to run your ads

The platforms you run your ads on affect whether you need to think about keyword targeting, and whether to spread your budget across several of them.

Use your audience’s level of awareness to find the right PPC platform(s) for your strategy. Most PPC platforms fall into one of two categories:

• Some capture demand that already exists, putting your ad in front of people at the moment they search for something. These platforms (typically search engines) work best when your audience is aware of the problem and is actively seeking out a solution.
• Others create demand, putting your ad in front of people who weren't looking but fit the profile of someone who'd be interested in what you offer. These platforms (typically social media platforms) work best when your audience doesn’t yet know they have the problem you solve.

Each major PPC platform suits a different mix of goals and audiences:

Decision #4: Which keywords are worth bidding on

Keywords define who will see your ads and the chances of them clicking through and converting. They also inform the copy you use in your ads and landing pages, and your bidding strategy.

Choosing the right keywords ensures you reach your target audience and effectively spend your ad budget. 

How to choose the right keywords

Three things determine whether a keyword is worth bidding on: 

• Whether the searcher is close to buying (search intent)
• Whether the term genuinely matches what you sell
• Whether the cost per click aligns with what a conversion is worth to you

Search intent

Search intent tells you what the searcher is looking for, and it can be broadly split into four types: informational, commercial, transactional, and navigational. 

Your overall goal will determine the right search intent(s) to target. For example, a sales or conversion goal will typically require commercial or transactional keywords, while an awareness or traffic goal might justify targeting informational keywords.

Relevance

Ensure keywords are relevant to your specific offering, rather than basing your strategy on low-cost terms or search intent alone. 

For example, a term like “free CRM tool” might appear to have high commercial intent. But if you only offer a paid subscription, this keyword isn’t actually relevant to your product.

Economics 

The economics of specific keywords dictate whether you can afford to target that term and still get the results you want. The basic formula to work this out is to take the cost per click (CPC) and multiply it by the number of clicks you’d need to win one conversion. If the answer is lower than the value of a conversion, that keyword is likely to be profitable.

You'll work out what a conversion is actually worth in Decision #5. For now, a rough estimate of the revenue one conversion brings in is enough to filter out terms you can't afford.

For example, let’s say you’re targeting a keyword with a CPC of $1.50. And you know your average conversion rate is 2%, meaning you need 50 clicks on average to convert one user. Finally, let’s say each conversion is worth $100.

The cost per conversion is $1.50 multiplied by 50 clicks, which equals $75. That’s less than the $100 conversion value, so it may be a profitable keyword.

In reality, you need to factor in more than just cost per click to understand whether a given keyword is likely to be profitable. But this simple calculation helps you filter out keywords that are highly unlikely to be.

How to find keywords your competitors are bidding on

A quick way to find keywords that may be worth bidding on is to look at where your rivals are spending money. Do this with Semrush’s Advertising Research tool. 

Enter a competitor’s domain and scroll to the “Paid Search Positions” table to see all the keywords they’re currently bidding on, the positions their ads rank, cost per click, and more.

To find keywords they keep bidding on, which may be keywords driving consistent results for their business, go to the "Ads History" tab. This shows you keywords they’ve ranked for over the past year. 

This can help you quickly identify keywords that may be worth targeting in your own PPC strategy.

How to use keywords in your PPC campaigns

Once you have keywords you want to target, use match types and negative keywords to optimize your campaigns for the right terms.

Use the right match types

Keyword match types control how strictly the platform matches your ad to related search terms. Here are the three keyword match types used by Google, Microsoft, TikTok (for search ads), and Amazon:

Note that the specifics of each match type may vary slightly between platforms.

Add negative keywords

Use negative keywords to tell your PPC platform which searches to exclude so you stop paying for clicks that don’t convert.

Once your ads have been running for a week or two, check the search terms report in your platform. It shows you the queries that triggered your ads. Add any keywords that brought clicks but no conversions, or that are obviously not relevant, to your negative keyword list. Repeat this weekly.

Decision #5: How much you can afford to spend

Your budget dictates how much you’re willing to spend across platforms and ties directly to your bidding strategy. 

Many advertisers set a budget by deciding what feels comfortable to spend overall, then hoping it produces results. The better approach is to work out what a customer is worth to you first, then size your budget around that.

How to set your PPC budget

To set a PPC budget, start with what a conversion is worth, work back to what you can afford to pay for one, then decide how many conversions you want. This will help you understand how much you should spend per conversion, per click, and per month.

For example, let’s say a conversion is worth $300 to your business in revenue. This means you need to spend less than $300 per conversion to make any profit. But let’s say you have a desired profit margin of 50% (before accounting for staff and running costs).

This means your target cost per acquisition (target CPA) would be $300 multiplied by (1 - 0.50), which is $150. 

Then, to work out your monthly budget, decide how many conversions you want to get and multiply that by your target CPA. 

For example, if each conversion is worth $300 in revenue, and your target monthly revenue is $6,000, you need 20 conversions to hit that goal. Your monthly budget would then be $150 (target CPA) multiplied by 20 conversions, for a total of $3,000.

Adjust these calculations continuously as your campaigns gather more accurate data. For example, once you have real CPA data, you can use that value in your budget calculation instead of your target CPA (which may be higher or lower).

Budget pacing and scheduling

Budget pacing controls how evenly your daily budget gets spent, while scheduling (or dayparting) lets you run ads only at certain times of day or on specific days of the week. In Google Ads, the scheduling section looks like this:

Standard budget pacing spreads your budget through the day. Accelerated pacing spends as fast as the auctions allow, which can be useful for time-sensitive campaigns but may waste money for ongoing ones.

If you can see from your data that conversions concentrate in business hours or on weekdays, running ads only at those times stops you paying for clicks at times that rarely convert.

Decision #6: Which bidding strategy to use

Your bidding strategy controls how your chosen PPC platform spends your budget in each individual ad auction.

The specific options for bidding strategy vary by platform, but they typically fall into two groups: 

• Manual bidding, where you set the maximum you'll pay per click
• Automated bidding, where the platform sets bids using its own data on which auctions are most likely to deliver the result you want

The right bidding strategy for you depends on where you are in the campaign lifecycle. If you automate too early without enough data for the platform to learn what works, you risk burning through your budget. But if you use manual bidding ineffectively for too long, you can leave performance on the table. 

How to choose the right bidding strategy

Choose a bidding strategy that matches your goal. It’s typically best to use manual bidding until you have enough conversion data for automation to work well, since PPC platforms’ automated bidding systems need data to learn from. 

For example, Google recommends you have at least 30 conversions (or 50 for target ROAS bidding) for its automated Smart Bidding options.

These are the bidding strategies you'll see on search platforms like Google and Bing, and when each one makes sense:

On feed-based platforms like Meta and TikTok, the options differ in how they’re named and how they work. But they generally follow similar logic, with options for getting the highest volume of results and others optimized around CPA and ROAS.

PPC platforms may also offer other approaches that can handle more than just bid values. For example, Meta’s Advantage+ system is designed to automate audience targeting, budget allocation, and optimization of your ad creatives. TikTok Smart+ and Google’s Performance Max campaign options do similar things.

These take a lot of the control away from you as the advertiser, and rely heavily on AI and algorithms for optimization. They also rely on you having a decent amount of conversion data to run effectively. 

Further reading: The ultimate guide to Google Ads bid strategy (with examples)

Decision #7: What your ads will say and where they lead

What your ads say and where they take users after clicking affect how they perform. While everything before this point decides who sees your ad and how much you pay per click, the ad itself influences whether anyone clicks at all. And the landing page influences whether they convert.

The ideal format depends on your platform. Search ads are mostly text, while social and video ads typically feature images or videos. Ask yourself the questions below to determine how you should approach your ad copy and landing page.

What angle will you lead with?

A few angles work for almost any product or service:

• The result: What the customer ends up with ("Your accounting done in 20 minutes per week") 
• The pain: What they stop dealing with ("Stop chasing invoices") 
• The proof: What other people got out of it ("Used by 12,000 small businesses") 
• The offer: What's specifically appealing right now ("Free for 30 days, no card required") 
• The differentiator: What makes you different from the alternatives they're comparing you to ("The only CRM built for solo consultants")

How does the ad's job change based on the platform?

Search ads and social ads do different jobs.

On search platforms, the ad's main job is to confirm relevance. The user already told you what they want by typing the search. Your ad has to reassure them you have what they want and give them a reason to choose you over the other ads on the page. 

On social platforms, the ad's main job is to interrupt and earn attention. The user wasn't looking for you, which means the visual is the main pitch, and the copy should support it. 

What are your competitors doing?

Look at your competitors’ ad copy and creatives to learn what’s working for them and apply the insights to your own strategy.

Most major platforms have ad libraries that let you look at all the ads a brand is running. On the Google Ads Transparency Center, it looks like this:

Look at what angles your competitors use and what offers they promote. 

Go a step further with Semrush’s Advertising Research tool. Enter your competitor’s domain and go to the “Ads Copies” tab to see their search ads and the specific keywords they’re appearing for with each one.

Where is the click going?

The page your target visitor lands on after clicking your ad (your landing page) needs to follow through with the promise of the ad. It should be immediately clear after clicking the ad that the user is in the right place.

If your ad tells the user your product is "Free for 30 days, no card required," your landing page headline should reflect that too. If your ad leans on a specific result ("Your accounting done in 20 minutes per week"), the page should open with the same result, not give a generic product tour.

There's a bigger reason to keep your ad and landing page consistent than Quality Score and conversion rate. When the two send different messages, you blur the signals that buyers and AI systems both use to understand what your brand offers. As AI tools shape more of how people discover and compare brands, a consistent ad-to-page message isn't just a conversion tactic, it's part of how clearly your brand reads.

Decision #8: How to reallocate your resources based on your performance

Continuously track the results of your PPC strategy to understand where you can shift budget and adapt your targeting to get better results. While you make most of the other decisions above once and only occasionally revisit them, you need to monitor key metrics monthly, weekly, or even daily to understand what’s working and what’s not.

Some of these key metrics are below, along with what a problem with each one might indicate:

Reallocate budget toward people who didn't convert

As your campaign runs and you gather data, you’ll likely find that many users interact with your website or social media profiles but don’t convert. That's valuable data you didn't have when you first defined your audience. 

Reallocating budget toward a retargeting campaign around that group can be one of the easiest ways to improve your overall return, since they’ve already shown more intent than someone seeing your brand for the first time. For more on doing this successfully, read our full guide to retargeting. 

FAQs

Should I use PPC or SEO? 

You can use both PPC and SEO at the same time. This helps you capture organic traffic through high-quality content for relevant keywords, while driving visibility and high-intent traffic through PPC ads. Learn more about both strategies in our guide to PPC and SEO.

How much budget do I need to start a PPC campaign? 

There’s no set budget you need to start a PPC campaign, since it depends on the costs per click of the keywords you plan to target (if applicable), the level of competition in your market, and what a conversion is worth to your business. 

To decide on your PPC budget, work backward from the value a conversion will drive for your business, how many conversions you need within a given time period, and how much a conversion costs.

How long does it take to see results from PPC? 

You can start seeing results from PPC in the form of traffic within hours of launching a campaign. But getting conversions and reliable performance data typically takes longer. It can also take days or weeks for algorithms on platforms like Google and Meta to learn enough about your ads to start properly optimizing for performance. 

How do I set up conversion tracking for PPC?

Conversion tracking is what lets you measure which clicks turn into the actions you care about, and it's what makes automated bidding strategies like Target CPA and Target ROAS possible. To set it up, define a conversion action (like a purchase or form submission), install your platform's tracking tag (the Google tag, Meta pixel, and so on), then run a test to confirm it's recording correctly before you start spending.

Start building your own PPC strategy

The eight decisions in this guide give you a clear view of where your budget is going, who it's reaching, and what it needs to produce to be worth spending.

Once your campaigns are live, you should continue monitoring how they perform relative to your competitors. Knowing which keywords they're bidding on, what angles they're testing in their ad copy, and where they're increasing spend helps you find gaps in your own PPC strategy.

Semrush's Advertising Research tool lets you see this data. Enter any competitor's domain to see their active search ads, the keywords triggering them, and the exact copy they’re using to drive results. Try it today.