PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is a form of online advertising where you pay when someone clicks your ad, which is why it’s popular for generating calls, form leads, and booked appointments fast.
Most PPC happens on platforms like Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising (Bing), and paid social networks, and the basics are similar: you choose what you want to promote, set targeting (keywords, location, audiences), set a budget, and your ads compete in an auction when someone searches or matches your targeting. If your ad shows and gets clicked, you’re charged a cost per click (often called CPC). If you want help building and managing campaigns end to end, our PPC advertising service covers setup, tracking, and ongoing tuning.
For local businesses in Orlando and Central Florida, PPC is usually most useful when you need to show up for high intent searches in your service area, for example “pest control near me,” “urgent care Orlando,” or “divorce lawyer consultation.” Geo targeting lets you focus spend on the zip codes and radius that actually produce revenue, instead of paying for clicks from outside your drive time. The best campaigns start by matching the ad to the search intent behind the query, so the offer and the landing page answer what the person is trying to do right now.
| Common PPC type | Where people see it | What it’s best for |
|---|---|---|
| Search ads | Search results pages | High intent leads (calls and forms) from people actively looking |
| Remarketing | Websites, apps, and some social placements | Bringing back visitors who didn’t book the first time |
| Display and video | Banner and video placements | Awareness and top of funnel reach, usually with lower intent |
| Paid social | Feeds and stories | Demand generation, promotions, and audience based targeting |
One detail that surprises business owners is that PPC is not just “who bids the most wins.” Ad platforms also weigh relevance, expected click through rate, and the landing page experience, because they want to show ads users will actually find helpful. That’s why we treat the page after the click as part of the ad, and why a focused landing page web design update can sometimes improve results more than raising bids.
To tell if PPC is working, don’t judge it by clicks alone. Track the actions that matter, like phone calls, form submissions, online bookings, and qualified leads, then compare cost per lead and lead quality against your close rate and profit per job. PPC is great for speed, while SEO builds long-term visibility, so many local businesses run both, and we explain the long-game side in what SEO is and what it stands for.
