Utilizing Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising Effectively
Utilizing pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is an effective way to drive targeted, quality traffic to your website. Building a customer base, reaching new customers and increasing sales are a few of the many benefits that can be reaped through the use of a PPC campaign. Many companies jump into a PPC campaign without enough forethought and without a targeted plan that has the potential to be financially catastrophic.
To turn your PPC marketing efforts into a profit-making center, you need to understand the tools to effectively implement it:
- Know your audience. Evaluate your customer base and understand what drives them to purchase. Do they look for coupons? What are your competitors doing to target customers?
- Evaluate the competition. What company are you hoping to emulate? What items do they sell and are they selling to the customers you’re targeting? What are they using for PPC keywords?
- Choose keywords carefully. Unless you do in-depth research you may wrongly believe your customers are searching for you by typing in keyword “X” but they’re really finding you through keyword “Y.” If you’re an accounting firm and you believe your customers are searching for “accounting” but they’re really searching for “bookkeeping” you need to update your thinking, and your keywords.
- Don’t overspend. Set a budget for your PPC campaign and test. Without careful planning the costs of a PPC campaign can quickly escalate. Start with a reasonable budget and add more to it if you’re seeing results. Measure the ROI at the end of a specified period to determine whether PPC is working for your business and make appropriate adjustments. PPC keyword bidding can also quickly escalate and may tempt you to pay a higher price than you’d originally planned.
- Keep it fresh. Even if you’re purchasing the best keywords for your area of expertise, if customers aren’t being compelled by your PPC ad, you’re spinning your wheels with the campaign. Make certain your ads; keywords and landing pages are relevant!
Pay-per-click advertising is a viable marketing option for business owners. Consider it as a way to drive traffic to your site as well as leads and conversions.
