PPC Invoice Template

PPC is an abbreviation of the term pay-per-click, which is a model of advertising that enables a host to place an ad on a platform then pay that platform whenever the ad is clicked. How does it work? When a keyword is searched in a search engine, an auction begins. After the winner of the auction is chosen (which is determined through factors that include the quality of the ad and bid amount), there is an ad placed in the top position of a search engine results page (SERP). A very popular PPC model is Google Adsense through which individual website owners and Youtube creators are able to earn money when visitors and viewers click ads on their websites or video content.

Both the advertiser and platform host benefit greatly from taking part in the PPC advertising model. The advertiser is able to drive traffic to their website or app while expanding their audience to include that of the platform host, while the platform host has the opportunity to earn a passive income by simply allowing ads to be placed on their website pages or videos.

There are various types of PPC that advertisers are able to utilize. A few include:

• Search advertising: This form of PPC advertising involves a person conducting a search on an engine like Google or Bing. During a search on one of these engines, one might notice ads along the side of the page adjust to the words being typed. This type of PPC is popular because it allows advertisers to promote their business to consumers who are in the midst of real-time product and service searches.
• Display advertising: Through display advertising, programs like Google Adsense are able to partner with websites and showcase advertisers through both image and text ads. One major difference between display advertising and search advertising is the former enables advertisers to handpick the audiences that see their ads.
• Social advertising: Advertisers benefit from social advertising when they use social media networks like Twitter or Facebook to promote their products and services. This form of PPC allows advertisers to target specific demographics on their newsfeeds without having their own huge social media presence.
• Remarketing: Remarketing is a form of PPC that allows advertisers to have their ads pop up on the Internet in a different place after a customer has visited their site. This type of advertising can remind the consumer to revisit the site they just browsed.

Primary components of PPC include queries, keywords, ads, bids, budgets, ad ranking, targeting, and conversions. Individuals who work in PPC specialize in various forms of advertising and have a quality understanding of its components. Job titles associated with individuals who work in PPC include “paid media strategist,” “PPC specialist,” “paid search analyst,” and “PPC manager.” Depending on their level of expertise, roles and responsibilities of individuals working in the PPC field might include designing and constructing paid media campaigns, developing paid media strategies, managing launched campaigns, conducting keyword research, and managing media budgets (usually for long-term gigs).

PPC is a very in-demand advertising model because it brings companies – including heavy-hitters like Google – a large portion of their advertising revenue. It’s for this reason that individuals working in the PPC field usually don’t come at a cheap price. Their work is highly valued because it can bring a business substantial income.

So how should you go about billing clients for your valuable work? Here are some methods to consider:

Hourly Rate

In the PPC field, charging by the hour might be of great benefit to your client if they can cram a lot of work into your day. Hourly billing can also present challenges for individuals who are so efficient that they fit more high-quality work into one hour than the average worker. But that doesn’t mean this method isn’t a good one. When determining your rate, simply make sure to account for the amount of time and effort needed to work on a campaign so you will be well compensated, even if you are highly efficient.

Flat Fee

If you are new to the PPC field, you might not feel completely comfortable with charging a flat fee, especially if you’re not yet sure how to quantify your work. Consider the efforts you’ve given in the past and the time it took to complete prior projects. If you can gauge the number of hours you’ll need for research and work, you may be able to come to a flat fee that leaves you feeling that your effort has been well compensated.

Ad Income Percentage

It’s common in PPC to bill your clients 10 to 20 percent of the total ad spend. Taking this billing route accounts for adjustments your client might make in the scope of their projects. If you are required suddenly to manage a larger ad campaign, then you can get a larger percentage of your client’s total ad budget to make up the difference in your work.

When setting your rate, consider your educational background and current level of experience. Be prepared to showcase your portfolio or provide recommendations to show evidence that you are worth the amount you bill. Also, consider increasing your earnings by keeping up with the latest trends and becoming an Accredited Bing Ads Professional or Google Partner.

When creating your invoice for PPC work, you want to make sure that its contents are easy for your client to understand. If you’re not sure how to create your own invoice, Indy offers an expansive database of invoice templates. Browse the templates until you find the right one for your business. Also, feel free to customize it so it reflects your brand.

Whether you choose from Indy’s online invoices or design your own, you want to create the best invoice possible for your clients. Here are some details to include:

• Contact information: It’s important to include your official contact information on your invoice. This information includes your full legal name (or business name), address, telephone number and/or email address.
• Client details: Your invoice should list your client’s contact information, including their name, address, phone number and/or email address.
• Invoice number: This number helps you identify every invoice you send out. Each invoice should have its own special identifying number or set of numbers.
• Invoice dates: It’s important to include the invoice date, which is typically the date you issue the invoice to your client. You also want to include the payment due date, which is the date you expect to receive payment.
• List items: You want to make sure a section of your invoice is dedicated to listing and thoroughly detailing the services you provided to your client. This way, both parties are clear about what the client is paying for.
• Payment terms: This section lets you offer clarity on how your client is being billed. If you charged a flat fee or hourly rate, be sure to state it in this section.

After determining your invoice layout, you can create it then email to your client, or utilize our invoice generator to design your invoice and send it through our electronic system.

Some estimate that PPC work costs an average of $250 to $1500 per month, though it can be much more expensive depending on the scope of a project. In fact, some small businesses pay as much as $9,000 to $10,000 per month on Google Ads alone.

How much you bill will depend on the services you provide, your years of experience in the field, and your ability to produce references or a quality portfolio. A way to increase your value as a PPC freelancer is to specialize in areas your competition may not. For instance, if you are particularly skilled with Amazon ads while the rest of your competition focuses on Google and Facebook, you might be able to charge a higher price for your overall skill set. If you’ve added other forms of PPC advertising like Quora or Yahoo Gemini to your list of skills, you could charge even more for your higher level of expertise.

As a PPC expert, you want to present to prospective clients a PPC portfolio that showcases your skill set. For instance, you can share your success in landing page design, content creation, reporting, and analytics. You can also share your hours of experience in the field, how many websites you’ve launched, and the financial results of your advertising campaigns. If you are certified as opposed to being self-taught, be sure to provide this information.

After making these considerations, here are a few examples of the amount you could charge for your work. If a flat rate is your preferred route, you could consider charging a fixed monthly amount for managing the ad campaign after your client pays a one-time fee of $400 to $500 for the initial set up. Also, you can find out how much your client has set aside for their ad budget. If they plan to pay $1,500 per month on PPC advertising, they pay you your initial setup cost and then $200 per month afterward.

If you opt for the ad income percentage model, then you can simply bill for a portion of your client’s monthly ad spending budget. So instead of earning $1,500 over time, which would be the client’s ad campaign budget, you could earn 10% to 20% of their spending budget. If a company plans to pay $12,000 per month on their ads and you choose 15% of that budget, you would secure $1,800 monthly for your efforts.       

Some PPC specialists who are trying to build clientele might opt for milestone-based pricing through which they only charge based on achieving specific milestones after beginning the campaign. In this case, you might earn based on increasing a client’s click-through-rate (CTR) or return on ad spend (ROAS). The bigger the milestone, the more you can earn through this pricing model.

You can also mix pricing models by asking for an upfront flat fee and then a portion of the ad spending budget. Deciding how to bill your clients is all about determining how best to cover your experiences, time, and effort while ensuring you don’t undervalue your work.