The 10 Best PPC Tools Picked by the Pros

First things first: a brief PPC 101. Class in session (feel free to skip to the next section if you’ve got this covered).

PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is a way to get the right message, in front of the right people, at the right time — by paying an ad platform (Google, Instagram, etc.) a sum for each user that clicks your ad.

It’s a lot more targeted than traditional advertising and, if done right, allows your message and product to land in front of people who are far more likely to be interested in it.

Your PPC ad can exist in various places online — search engines, other websites, or on social media platforms. That part’s up to you!

Why choosing the right PPC tool is so important

An excellent PPC approach is the bread and butter of your paid search strategy. If you’re not occupying the right spaces and getting in front of the right eyes, at the right time, you’re missing out on fundamental customer connection and acquisition.

That’s where an excellent PPC strategy comes into play. With the right tools, you can change the game.

Your time? Saved.
Pivotal insights into what your competitors are doing and spending? Gained.
Crops? Flourishing.

You get it: ROI is robustly increased and you get to create ad content that really lands. Ultimately, the best PPC software is one that inspires you. From lighting up copy or creative to predicting what your target audience is getting excited about.

But you’ve got to get your research, planning, and implementation right. That said, combing through every tool option out there can be a pain.

So, along with our other PPC and marketing experts here at Similarweb, I’ve hand-picked and curated a list of best-in-class software to make things simpler.

The top PPC tools

1. Similarweb

(that’s our own horn being tooted). Our platform helps maximize your ROI with razor-sharp, accurate analytics and insights data.

When it comes to PPC, here’s what’s crucial:

• Keyword research tool: uncover the most up-to-date keywords in the world. Expanding into these allows you to increase conversation volume at similar or lower costs than your baseline. Discover a huge range of search terms, and the cost-per-click for each, that your competitors are ranking for. Cue: campaign opportunities and optimization you may not have even considered

• Ad intelligence tool: random ad tests are a pain. Skip go and save time plus marketing budget by analyzing your competitors’ ads and ad networks (take a shot every time we say ad), as well as landing pages bringing the crowds. Et voila: fine-tune your own creative and copy, and craft highly effective campaigns by analyzing the best practices and strategies.

• Predict seasonal changes: with unmatched accuracy. Your market’s constantly on the digital move: react to their upcoming needs at the right moment. Here’s an example using our Keyword Seasonality tool (using Fashion and Apparel as our industry and “sunglasses” as the keyword):

• Traffic Analysis tool: we’ll uncover the traffic to your and your competitors’ sites so you can pinpoint effective sources and channels for your PPC campaigns. You can also track detailed changes in your competitors’ traffic to adjust your strategy accordingly.

2. SpyFu

SpyFu is a great PPC tool for digging into the nitty-gritty. It’s also super user-friendly.

Key functions

• SpyFu’s pièce de résistance is its ad history feature. This gives you the chance to see not only what your competitors are doing, but also have done and how those campaigns performed.
• Its PPC keyword research features are some of the most comprehensive around: from estimated monthly clicks and specific ad budgets to keywords with the highest CPC or most clicks.
• SpyFu’s also one of the best PPC platforms when it comes to campaign recommendations.

Pricing

Basic: $39/month (or $16/annum)
Professional: first-month discount of $39, then $79/month (or $36/annum)
Team: $299/month (or $149/annum)

3. Unbounce

When we say PPC you (possibly, maybe?) say “effective landing pages!”. Enter: Unbounce, a tool that really steps up here. Landing pages that, well, land with your target market are crucial for overall PPC success.

Key features

• From its best-in-class drag-and-drop editor, nifty popups, sticky bars, and over 100 chic templates with multiple conversion best practices built-in, Unbounce earns its eponymous name via its landing page finesse.
• You’re also given loads of tailored options and flexibility for every type of landline page and a ton of in-app integrations.
• The tool offers easy A/B testing, slick AMP landing pages (change the text on your page and split test without touching the code ), and dynamic test replacement.

Pricing

Launch: $99/month (or $74/annum).
Optimize: $145/month (or $109/annum).
Accelerate: $240/month (or $180/annum).
Concierge: $625/month (or $469/annum).

Free 14 days are included in all plans.

4. Hotjar

Hotjar pulls through when it comes to understanding your users in a highly personal way. It gives you what you need to serve them well and help them stick around

Key features

• Data and A/B testing are integral to PPC, but direct feedback from your visitors is a fantastic cherry on top. Hotjars Polls and Surveys feature, built right into the tool, makes this easy.
• Hotjar also includes a Session Recording option: 100 recordings on its base plan and the ability to store 300 of these for a year.
• A Rage Click Tracking filter helps make sure, once your PPC ad has done its initial job of catching your audience’s eyes and clicks, said audience has a good time on your site. Figure out where visitors are struggling and ensure less , more

Pricing

Basic: 35 daily sessions for free
Plus: €39/month (or €32/annum)
Business: €99/month (or €80/annum)
Scale: €213/month (or €171/annum)

5. Mixpanel

Mixpanel’s packed with functionalities that are built to increase customer retention and readily boost product engagement.

Key features

• Unlike a lot of tools, which dive into page views, Mixpanel offers event tracking (user actions). This makes gauging the health of each account simple.
• Alongside this, the tool’s visual metric analysis is out here doing the work for us visual learners . See easy-to-understand data in real time.
• Mixpanel also makes connecting with your users easily via email and in-app notifications.

Pricing

Free: 20M events/month for free
Growth: Starting at $20/month. Up to 300M events/month
Enterprise: $1667 per month. 5M-1B+ events/month

6. VWO

It’s safe to say VWO reigns supreme when it comes to advanced A/B testing (without requiring an advanced skill set). Website optimization should be a consideration every time you’re finessing your PPC strategy. Your ad’s the invite; the landing page is the party. Make it a good one

Key features

• With a UI as intuitive as VWO’s, multivariate testing is a breeze (no, really. The technical-sounding term is the most complicated part). It’s A/B testing on a wider scale: test an unlimited amount of page elements. Plus, add a custom Javascript or CSS to each variation.
• Another one for the visual folk, VWO’s heatmaps are super effective, too. See exactly how visitors are scrolling on your site, how engaged they are in each section, and (a personal fave) where they stop scrolling.
• The tool’s clickmaps work similarly: see exactly where visitors are clicking on your site. Use this to gauge which buttons need highlighting, or if certain elements need simplifying.

Pricing

Starter Pack: free
Growth: $357/month
Pro: $82/month
Enterprise: $1438/month

Free 30 days trial (no credit card required). All plans are billed annually.

7. Bonus: ChatGPT

It’s the AI on everyone’s tongue (and top Google searches ). While ChatGPT isn’t specifically a PPC tool, it does offer a helpful hand.

Here’s a very general example:

Key features

• The Chatbot can stimulate content ideas, be it landing page content or ad copy, and provide insights into keyword trends as well as audience behavior.
• It can also automate certain aspects of PPC campaigns — think bidding strategies or ad targeting.

Let’s ask it directly:

Me: Can you help me run successful PPC campaigns?
ChatGPT: Yes, I can provide you with some tips on running successful PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns: set clear goals, know your target audience, choose the right keywords and craft compelling ad copy. […]

Pricing

Pricing’s a little less straightforward for ChatGPT:

The AI offers multiple models, each with different abilities and price points. Prices work on a token system and are per 1,000 tokens. Think of tokens as pieces of words: 1,000 tokens equals about 750 words. 

GPT-4 (one of the offered models coming soon), for instance, costs:

Model	Prompt	Completion
8K context	$0.03 / 1K tokens	$0.06 / 1K tokens
32K context	$0.06 / 1K tokens	$0.12 / 1K tokens

The best free PPC tools

1. Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is a no-brainer top PPC tool to add to your box because of its integration with Google Ads (which dominates when it comes to ad platforms). You’re able to create and manage ad campaigns directly through Keyword Planner.

Key features

• Google Keyword Planners’ Forecasting feature is a goodie. Providing data prediction that helps you estimate the performance of future campaigns, it includes estimated clicks, CPC, and impressions. At the core of a successful PPC campaign is informed decision-making and forecasting’s got your back
• Once you’ve found a cluster of keywords you’re keen to use (or save for the future!), you can group keywords into various, themed groups. This feature shines if your or your client’s business offers multiple goods or services.
• You can also add your keywords directly to a campaign or ad group and free up time.

2. Google Analytics

Another elemental tool, Google Analytics connects to your Google Ads account and delivers thorough campaign insights without cutting into your marketing budget.

Key features

• Google Analytics is a must in any serious digital marketer’s kit. From user flow, hard and soft KPI tracking, audience creation (remarketing), as well as smooth benchmarking against your industry.
• Easily view your ad and page metrics, including the number of clicks and cost-per-click, bounce rate, number of sessions, and conversion rate. Data-driven decisions made easy

3. Google Trends

It’s uber important to ensure you’re ready — and your strategy is dynamic enough — to restructure the budget when trends change . That’s where Google Trends comes in.

Key features

• Google Trends provides that little leg up when it comes to planning because you’re able to fully understand the level of user interest for topics and keywords.
• Identify trending topics, queries, and user journeys via search volume metrics. Alongside this, grow your inspiration pool through the tool’s Related Topic feature.

Why is Similarweb the right PPC tool for you?

Your time and marketing budget are invaluable. Similarweb (our PPC features and beyond) maps out your — and your competitors’ — digital worlds with unrivaled precision.

Understand your market, update ad campaigns based on foolproof data, and beat rivals with finesse.

Hungry for more of the best-in-class tools?

The 8 Best Competitive Analysis Tools

The Top SEO Tools

The Best Affiliate Marketing Tools Across the Board

FAQs

What is the best PPC tool?

Similarweb shines as a paid search tool. We offer ridiculously in-depth insight based on the most up-to-date data. This data empowers you to benchmark against your competitors and craft versatile creative campaigns.

What is a good PPC tool for landing pages?

Both VWO and Unbounce offer best-in-class landing page optimization.

What is the best free PPC tool?

Google Keyword Planner and Google Analytics offer great metrics and insights for free.