All businesses need customers, which is why companies go to great lengths to attract them. High-street stores install eye-catching signage to lure shoppers, while other firms distribute leaflets and take out advertisements in newspapers. Some businesses prefer to advertise on the radio and television. Online businesses are no less in need of customers than traditional bricks-and-mortar firms, but the way in which they advertise their services can be quite different.
What is PPC?
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising provides small businesses with the opportunity to promote their products or services on the internet. This form of advertising is considered to be more cost effective than any other type of paid search because advertisers are only charged when users click on a sponsored link to their site.
The advertisements are usually presented as text-only links on search engine results pages (SERPs) above and alongside organic results. The links appear for certain keyword searches (for example, ‘florists in London’), so advertisers can focus their attention on particular areas of business. The idea of PPC advertising is that paid links to the advertiser’s website appear for the most relevant keywords, as identified by the advertiser.
The positional order of PPC links on SERPs is usually determined by the cost per link (CPC) of each. Some keywords are more expensive than others. While setting a very low CPC might result in links appearing at the top of SERPs if the keyword is relatively unpopular, the most expensive or popular keywords (insurance, loans, mortgage, etc.) require advertisers to set a very high CPC if they hope to appear near the top. Advertisers are usually asked to select a specific quantity of page impressions (the number of times a link appears for a particular keyword), after which the campaign comes to an end. Any clicks made during this period are charged at the agreed CPC.
Measurable Success
Most online companies should try PPC advertising if they wish to drive targeted traffic to their websites. Due to the clear pricing structure employed by Google AdWords, small businesses can control their PPC marketing costs. They are not required to spend huge amounts of money on advertising campaigns that will not necessarily produce any results. Every aspect of PPC advertising is measurable, from monitoring the click-through rate (CTR) to identifying how many clicks are converted into sales.
PPC can enhance the profile of any small business online, but it is important for new companies to find specialist PPC agencies to manage their campaigns. A trusted PPC agency can be the difference between success and failure.
Sophie works alongside www.managed-ppc.co.uk and firmly believes that online marketing efforts are a fantastic place to start when it comes to increasing awareness of small businesses.
This is a guest post, as such the author’s views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of OnlineRetailingBlog.com.
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With thanks to Sophie and managed-ppc.co.uk
