Engaging in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising has its benefits and drawbacks. But what exactly is PPC advertising and what it can do for your business?
Business nowadays is doing different kinds of austerity measures when it comes to advertising their products and services. This is because of the high rates of placing ads in print and television. But there is a fast-growing approach that businessmen can utilize to bring their services closer to the people and that is through Internet Marketing.
One tool that is causing internet marketing popularity is PPC advertising. This is a technique used in search engine marketing that requires one to pay a fee every time someone clicks an ad on your website. Usually, this placement is done through a bidding process. If you are a top bidder for your keywords/phrases, you are sure to be in the number one spot on all search engines. Just be sure of the effectiveness of your ad copy to get the most number of clicks you need for your business.
Here are the benefits of PPC advertising are:
1. You need not be a genius in computer and technology to be able to run this ad campaign.
2. Immediate results are seen after a few days.
3. No need to make a website conform to the SEO rules.
4. Nothing to lose even if you do not top the pages of different search engines. You can still always choose PPC advertising.
5. You can make use of any search engine available.
6. You can type in any keyword you like.
Cons of PPC advertising include:
1. Fixed payments every month to the search engine you choose.
2. Pay for each click received by your website. At times, visitors are just competitors or people playing pranks on search engines. This hassle wastes money you put into this advertising.
3. Inability to pay for the fees next month would mean the removal of your website on the paid listings.
4. This advertising can only be used temporarily because it is difficult to handle in the long run.
5. Pay-per-click pricing can be costly for long periods, therefore, this should be stopped after an ad campaign.
But how exactly PPC advertising can increase traffic, leads and sales?
PRE-QUALIFIED TRAFFIC. All visitors to your website are already considered qualified consumers or buyers of your product. PPC advertising leads your customers to you for a lesser cost.
INSTANT EXPOSURE, IMMEDIATE PROFITS. PPC search engines enable you to get your desired results fast. They will have your website live within just a few hours which means an immediate increase in sales.
CONSISTENT TOP LISTINGS. This is to get your website on top of the sponsored search results for free. You just have to choose the keywords related to your site and business and place them within your web pages. After this, you are done.
PPC advertising enables advertisers to control their advertising campaigns. Advertisers have effectively targeted their audience and set their prices per click. PPC advertising networks provide the platform to identify the desired audience by geographic setting, topic and industry. These networks have a list of websites of the publishers where the ads will be placed.
Tools are provided by the networks to check how the pay-per-click limit is working for a certain advertiser. If it’s still competitive, would it be even listed among the paid search lists or does it generate sales? Of course, if the advertiser made the highest bid, the better chances the ad will be seen in the search engine. These networks too protect advertisers against click fraud. This advertising setup allows advertisers to set a daily budget for their ads, thus, less spending for unnecessary clicks. Advertisers will never go over their budget.
In PPC advertising, what are important are the keywords and phrases. You have to select at least ten “very specific” keywords that would give you the best traffic in the search. Then, write the ad creatively but straightforwardly. Tell the truth about your product or service and do not lie. Good thing if your product or service will not disappoint those that are relying on your ad’s promise – but what if it did otherwise? Important too is the clarity of the ad. Do not use very vague language. Include important details like the price.
You should also remember to budget your bids. Do not go overbidding because you will only lose your money and do not go so low that your ads will never get the chance to show up. Check your profit against your spending. If you see no progress then most likely you have to drop your ad campaign.
More and more advertisers have been using PPC advertising and it will continue to grow faster than any online advertising technique. From revenues of $2.6 billion in 2004 to $5.5 billion in 2009, the cost per click will dramatically go up as well from $0.29 to $0.36.
PPC advertising is new in online marketing and it is going to continue in the years to come. For advertisers, this means increased revenues with fewer advertising expenses, savings, more sales, good return on investment (ROI) and effective ad campaigns in the days to come.
