If you’re in PPC advertising and have already experienced some success with it, at some point it must have tickled you: what is it that draws people to click on search ads?

It’s a very interesting phenomenon to explore, considering the fact that it has actually been proven that most people don’t really know the difference between paid and organic search results. However, as reality in PPC success shows, there is a significant portion that does acknowledge the difference.

This acknowledgement may easily be one of the reasons why so many digital marketing agencies don’t specialise in just one discipline, but on the contrary, offer a full package for businesses that want to get into online marketing.

So what is it with paid ads that make people click? A survey conducted on over 500 people narrowed it down to a few factors.

First, ads make it easier and quicker for searchers to find the information they are looking for. This, of course, can only be true if your ads are relevant to the searches conducted by people and actually answer the search queries.

Second, people are drawn to brands they’re familiar with and click on ads simply because of the brand name in it. They don’t want to be tricked into paying for something they don’t really want. So it’s mostly the element of familiarity and security that makes people click and visit an advertiser.

Finally, people are most familiar and confident to click on search ads on Google search engine other than other types of ads such as shopping or video ads and other search engines. 

To sum it up, when starting a PPC advertising campaign, go with the easiest and safest option first: search ads on Google. People find it easy to understand and consider it safe enough to actually perform the desired action. If you’re new to PPC advertising, get familiarised with some facts and how-tos to safely get started and set yourself up for success.