Is your company implementing the most effective advertising method available? You may think so, but if you’re not taking advantage of pay-per-click advertising, you’re probably not maximizing your marketing performance. At least that’s the conclusion of a survey conducted in April 2009 by Practical eCommerce.
A provider of resources and information for online business owners, Practical eCommerce asked its “readers to rate various advertising methods based on their effectiveness in increasing online sales or increasing web traffic. The advertising methods queried were PPC ads, media, online video, podcasts, print ads, radio ads, TV ads, catalogs, and direct mail.”
An overwhelming majority of respondents place pay-per-click advertising at the top of their list in terms of “effectiveness in promoting an eCommerce store and improving sales.” Hard numbers? “The survey found that 79.3 percent of respondents believed pay-per-click (PPC) advertising was an effective way to increase sales, and 27.6 percent of those same respondents said pay-per-click advertising PPC was ‘very effective’.”
Does the assessment of this group of select individuals hold up? MoreBusiness.com, the one stop resource center for small businesses, believes so. The website agrees that PPC can be an effective marketing strategy and describes the following pay-per-click advantages:
1. A good PPC campaign is “easy to build and implement.”
2. Because they are “typically of moderate size”, PPC ads easily attract “sponsors who will allow you to post on their sites”.
3. You only pay for PPC ads “when a potential customer takes an action and clicks on your ad.”
4. Because PPC ads are easy to track, “you can tell who’s looking at your ads” which makes it easy to “get feedback and tailor your ads to the likes of [your] customers.”
However, there are some caveats to keep in mind when implementing a pay-per-click ad campaign. For example, regardless of whether a click leads to a sale, you still have to pay for it. Also, since web visitors almost always ignore the left side of the screen, positioning your ads on the right side of the page is vital for success.
However, you don’t have to learn these lessons the hard way. A web design, web development and SEO specialist who is fully versed in the ins and outs of pay-per-click advertising can help you implement a profitable and effective PPC campaign right from the start. In fact, such an expert can take advantage of the fact that PPC has a huge advantage over traditional print media in that it better targets your audience and provides much more impressions for a fraction of the cost.
A pay-per-click marketing service provider can provide you with fast, targeted traffic by taking advantage of sponsored ad services like Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing. Such an expert can also help you hone the most important considerations when doing PPC: effective ad copy, a compelling landing page, and comprehensive keyword selection. Hire the services of a PPC specialist and watch your online business advertising strategies soar to the very top.