PPC Interview Questions and Answers (How to Hire a PPC Manager)

By Reid - August 24, 2022

PPC Interview

Hiring top-quality PPC candidates, freelancers, or agencies can be challenging, especially when those said experts work within a field you know nothing about.

The only way to guarantee you're making the best hire is to learn how to separate the actual professionals from the frauds. Here’s what to ask during an interview and how to hire your next PPC specialist.

PPC advertising is a great way to 'buy' visits to your website and generate leads for your company. If you're going to pay for people to click on your ads, but you know nothing about the challenging industry, hiring a qualified PPC expert is a great business decision.

Finding an SEM/PPC expert who is trustworthy and knowledgeable is achievable, but you might have to do a little digging to find them.

With the right interview questions and general knowledge to back your thoughts up, that new PPC Specialist could potentially be your organization's best addition this year.

Why Hire A PPC Expert?

Hiring a PPC expert (pay-per-click or SEM) can save your organization time, provide valuable insights, and drive higher returns through cost-effective paid media channels.

This dedicated specialist makes data-backed decisions to optimize campaigns and drive your target audience to the desired website/landing page to generate leads and sales.

It takes technical know-how to run paid campaigns properly - not fully understanding the tactics/strategies involved often leads to wasted ad spend and a low ROI.

How To Hire Dedicated PPC Experts in 2023

1. Understand The Basics Of PPC

With some background in PPC, you can ensure that you are hiring or outsourcing the right person for the job (and your company).

PPC stands for Pay Per Click. PPC is a marketing model where advertisers pay for each click their ads generate. Google Search Ads, Microsoft Ads (Bing), and Amazon Ads are typically what come to mind when you hear the word PPC, with Google Search Ads being the most significant player in the space.

These “Search Ads” are often listed at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) when someone searches for terms related to one of the keywords you are targeting. Advertisers bid on those spots to display their created ad to a targeted audience.

2. Filter Through Suitable Candidates

Filtering through candidates can be a struggle, especially when algorithms on sites like Upwork, Fiverr, and even Indeed can make searching a challenge. Before setting up an interview, you should screen applicants for basic PPC knowledge.

3. Look For These Skills In A Candidate:

Communication

Communication (both written and verbal) is critical to an effective relationship between a PPC specialist and others within the organization.

Analytical

A substantial amount of time is used to analyze current PPC campaigns. Therefore, PPC specialists need to be analytically and mathematically minded. PPC managers need to be able to handle numbers, statistics, and data to improve campaigns.

Creative

It’s not as simple as throwing up a few ads within the platform and seeing what happens. To generate the most bang for your buck, PPC managers must use their creativity to develop the best results. That could be within audience targeting, writing ad copy, or how they set up their ad campaigns.

Organized

PPC managers need to be organized and have good time management skills to use their time effectively. Most PPC managers make to-do lists; others go as far as creating a weekly planner to maximize their efforts while in the office.

Passionate

Great PPC managers are typically passionate about online advertising. This can often be displayed when discussing a current or previous campaign they managed. The willingness and desire to continue to learn also show a passion for the industry that most experts obtain.

Technical

PPC specialists need to know how to track conversions, build retargeting lists, and possess other technical skills to run an effective campaign. Understanding the ad platforms only scratches the surface of the technical skillset required for the job.

search engine ppc chart

Basic PPC Interview Questions (With Answers)

The most important part of making a great PPC hire is the interview questions! Asking the right questions in a PPC interview is the key to finding your PPC expert. Every interview should be personalized to your specific organization and the applicant, but here are a few basic (but crucial) PPC questions you can use for hiring a qualified and trustworthy candidate.

Start with these simple yet essential questions to gauge an interviewee’s knowledge before digging into the more complex and technical PPC questions:

What Does PPC Stand For, And Which Ad Platforms Have You Used?

Answer: I know what you are thinking; this is too simple, but you’d be surprised at the number of self-proclaimed “experts” who don’t know that PPC stands for Pay Per Click. The ad platforms used all depend on what your organization is looking for, but Google is a must (Bing and Amazon are also important).

What Makes A Good Google Search Ads Campaign?

Answer: Look for answers related to proper keyword research, writing excellent ad copy, building high-converting landing pages, testing within the campaigns, generating a good quality score (QS), etc. They should have a few answers to throw your way if they have correctly run a Google Search campaign in the past.

Which Keyword Research Tools Do You Regularly Use?

Answer: Any keyword research tool like; Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, Google Keyword Planner, Answer the Public, Ubersuggest, Long Tail Pro, and Spyfu will do just fine. Keywords are an essential part of a successful campaign, so if they don’t use any, it might be time to move on.

Are There Any Other Tools Or Platforms You Use While Running Campaigns?

Answer: Some experts use campaign management software like Wordstream and Opteo, but almost everyone should utilize Google products like Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Google Trends. Many PPC experts also build landing pages for clients, so they often have experience with website builders such as WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Unbounce, Instapage, etc.

How Do You Calculate Click Through Rate (CTR)?

Answer: Click-Through Rate (CTR) refers to the number of times someone “clicks” your ad when they see it on the SERP compared to the number of times it was viewed. Clicks divided by Impressions = CTR

What Is Quality Score (QS), And How Do You Go About Increasing It?

Answer: Quality Score determines how helpful and relevant your advertisement is for the user. It’s primarily based on the ad’s CTR, keywords' relevance, and landing page quality_. To increase your quality score, write better ads to generate a higher CTR, separate keywords into more related ad groups, and update the landing page to show highly relevant content or products._

If they can’t respond to the beginner PPC questions mentioned above, it might be time to move on. Ideally, an applicant should be able to break down each of these questions and elaborate on how they have utilized them in previous campaigns. An even better response would be explaining how they could implement specific PPC strategies that would work for your company or industry.

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Final Thoughts | PPC Interview Questions

Any suitable applicant will be well-versed in everything Google does, which should be at the core of any PPC professional's expertise.

If you sense this is true and they have the basic knowledge to back up your initial list of questions, a second interview with more complex questions is an excellent next step!

Hopefully, with the help of this article, you will be on the right path to finding the best PPC expert for your company's needs. We hope this helps, and best of luck in your PPC candidate search!

Title: How to Hire a PPC Expert (PPC Questions with Answers)

Category: Employer Resources

Tags: PPC interview sheet, SEM interview sheet, PPC interview question answer, PPC manager interview questions, digital marketing interview, how to hire a PPC expert, hire dedicated PPC experts

Author: Reid is a contributor for_ theJub. He’s an employment and marketing enthusiast who studied business before taking on various recruiting, management, and marketing roles. More from the author. | Author Profile_