As a small business, it's essential to set a budget for your PPC campaigns and manage your costs closely. PPC can be an extremely effective way to bring in new customers, but it can also be expensive if you're not careful.

When setting a PPC budget, it's important to start by understanding your goals. Are you looking to generate leads, increase sales, or raise awareness of your brand? Your goal will help you determine how much money you should allocate toward PPC and which channels to focus on.

Once you know what your PPC goals are, the next step is to understand what kind of results you can expect from each channel. For example, if you're advertising on Google Ads (formerly AdWords), then consider their suggested cost-per-click (CPC) rates as well as the current market demand for keywords to get an estimate of how much your PPC budget should be.

Researching Keyword Costs:

Before setting your PPC budget, it's important to research and get an idea of what keywords are more expensive than others. To find out the cost-per-click for specific keywords, you can use Google Ads Keyword Planner or any other PPC keyword tool.

When researching PPC keyword costs, consider the competition as well. If there is a lot of competition for a particular keyword, then it will likely be more expensive than if there were fewer competitors.

Understanding keyword Costs:

The cost-per-click of a PPC ad depends on several factors, including the competition in the market and Quality Score. Quality Score is Google's rating system for PPC ads which takes into account click-through rate (CTR) as well as relevance to the search query. As you can imagine, if your PPC ad is highly relevant to the user's search, it will be more likely to receive higher clicks and better Quality Scores.

Stats on the average monthly PPC Budgets by Industries:

The Search Engine Journal suggests PPC budgets can range from as little as $500 to $50,000 per month, depending on the industry. For example, PPC campaigns in the legal and finance industries tend to have higher budgets than those in other industries, such as hospitality or retail.

Here are some Industry averages for monthly PPC spending:

• Real Estate: $2,000 to $6,000 per month
• Legal: $1,000 to $10,000 per month
• Retail: $1,500 to $4,000 per month
• Healthcare/Medical: $1,500 to $7,500 per month
• Automotive:$3,500 to $5,500 per month
• Travel: $2,500 to $6,000 per month
• Education/Training:$1,500 to $5,000 per month
• B2B/Software as a Service (SaaS): $2,400 to $7,700 per month
• Wellness: $1,000 to $4,000 per month
• Construction: $2,500 to $5,000 per month
• E-commerce: $2,000 to $7,500 per month

These are just general estimates, and PPC budgets can vary between industries and companies depending on their PPC goals.

Tips for Controlling PPC Budget and Costs:

The key to controlling PPC costs is to monitor, adjust, and optimize your campaigns continuously. Some tips for managing PPC costs include:

- Set daily spending limits so that you never exceed your budget.

- Use geographic targeting to reach your desired audience.

- Refine and narrow your PPC keyword lists to only those most relevant for you.

- Test different PPC ad variations, such as headlines or call-to-actions, to determine which performs the best.

- Monitor PPC performance and bidding strategies daily to ensure you get the most bang for your PPC buck.

Setting a PPC budget and managing PPC costs can be tricky, especially if it's your first time running PPC campaigns. However, with some knowledge of PPC budgets by industry and some tips on controlling PPC costs, setting a PPC budget is something any small business can do. With the right PPC budget in place, you can ensure that your PPC campaigns are successful and cost-effective.

It's also important to monitor PPC trends, as PPC costs can vary monthly. For example, PPC costs are higher during holidays and other busy times.

Quality score and wasted spend:

It's important to note that if your PPC ad has a low-Quality Score, this can lead to wasted spending. For example, if you're bidding on keywords with a high search volume, but your PPC ad isn't relevant or engaging enough, then it won't be as likely to get clicks – meaning that all the money you've invested in PPC could go to waste. That's why it's important to optimize your PPC ad so that it resonates with users and encourages them to click.

Bidding PPC Budget Strategies:

Once you understand keyword costs and quality scores, you can start exploring different bidding strategies that work best for your small business PPC campaigns. Different PPC platforms come with their own unique set of features and customization tools which allow small business owners to adjust their PPC budgets according to their objectives and budget.

PPC Budget Optimization:

Finally, optimizing your PPC budget is key for maximizing revenue from PPC campaigns. There are several ways to optimize PPC budgets, such as defining daily budgets, setting geo-targeting, or segmenting keywords into ad groups with different CPCs. By doing this, you can ensure you're getting the most out of every dollar spent on PPC advertising.

By setting a PPC budget for your small business and managing it closely, you'll be able to maximize your ROI and get the most out of your advertising dollars. With the right strategy and effective optimization techniques, PPC will be an invaluable tool that drives new customers to your business. Good luck!

**useful Links**

- PPC Campaigns: https://www.wordstream.com/ppc

- PPC Quality Score: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2454010?hl=en

- PPC Bidding Strategies: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/paid-search-bidding-strategies

- PPC Budget Optimization: http://searchengineland.com/ppc-budgeting-best-practices-234510

Carl Messenger-Lehmann

Carl could be considered the nucleus from which everything happens. He has 25 years of knowledge stuck inside his head just waiting to come out.