Pay Per Click - Should I Do It? Considering that the majority of your web traffic is going to come from searches that people conduct in major search engines, it only stands to reason that it is imperative you rank on the first page of the major search engines for the types of searches people will conduct to find the type of service or product you are providing. The question then comes, should I conduct a Pay Per Click Campaign? If you are not familiar with this term, go to Google and perform a search on just about anything. You will notice some results in the right column and usually, a few at the very top of the page as well that say discreetly "Sponsored Links". It is actually difficult for the untrained eye to even tell where the sponsored links end and the "organic listings" begin because the background of the sponsored links is generally a very light pinkish color. Many people might not even realize there is a difference and might think those first few links listed are simply the best or top sites. However, there is a big difference between them and the organic listings. The sponsored link is actually an advertisement that the advertiser has control over the wording of, whereas the organic listing, the description is less controllable to a certain extent (although generally it is pulled from the pages "meta description" tag so in theory you can control it. And more so if you understand how it all works and what is under your control. When you realize it is possible to capture one of those top slots with a PPC listing and have even more substantial control over the wording of the listing, it makes perfect sense that you should conduct PPC in addition to your standard search engine marketing and website optimization. This is why we do recommend PPC in addition to search marketing and optimization. Naturally, optimization is important because every ranking you have on the first page in the organic listings, those clicks don't cost anything and over time that can add up to a huge savings. PPC on the other hand, every click does cost something even if the person does not purchase anything. With a professionally conducted campaign you can however minimize the cost and be certain to have a positive return on your investment. Advantages of a Pay Per Click Advertising Campaign: Top Rankings- easy to acquire top placement in the search index Controllable targeted advertising - You decide what to advertise, how to advertise and when Controllable targeted demographics- you decide who to show your ad to Pinpoint advertising costs - Only pay for searches that are relevant to your success Compare PPC advertising against traditional advertising in the newspaper or radio. Newspaper or radio advertising is "hit or miss" and might be considered to be a "blanket approach". You don't know if the relevant prospect actually sees your ad. PPC is highly targeted. You only bid on the keyword phrase searches you know gets traffic and you know are relevant. Here is an example from a case study of an actual client. The client is a dentist. Traditionally, he paid over $4,000 per month for a full page yellow page advertisement. Over the last few years he has found that more and more people have gravitated to using the Internet to search local business and that those that say they found him in the yellow pages were less and less. So he scrapped his yellow page ad altogether and began to spend about $1500 per month on PPC. With PPC he was able to target the people that were searching specifically for a dentist or dental services directly in his area. Not only did his website traffic increase, he is getting more calls and more customers form those calls. And more importantly perhaps is that he is able to mroe directly control the results of his web advertising. Also too, there are some other very distinct advantages and reasons to consider PPC. For a new site, as an example, a PPC campaign will give you an immediate presence in the major search engines, generally within the hour of activating your campaign. This can quickly get you noticed and quickly bring you revenue. You can also target your PPC ads to show only in specific regions or demographics, as an example. There are many other ways you can construct the campaign targeting to further enhance the return on your investment. In a sense, PPC is no different than traditional advertising except that it is quicker, more controllable and much easier to measure. With all of this in mind it makes sense that PPC should be part of any advertising budget. When you are ready to conduct a PPC campaign we can assist you in operating the most effective campaign at the lowest possible cost. We have years of experience with PPC and know how to squeeze every penny out of the campaign to your greatest possible benefit. And as a leader in low cost search engine marketing, our rates are generally much less than other firms offering PPC management services. How much does it cost? We have an average management rate of between 10% and 20% of the monthly spend, with low initial setup costs. The minimum management fee is $75 per month for the most basic campaign and budget, with an initial setup charge of $195.00. For more information, or to discuss this in further detail, please contact us directly at 1-866-622-5710. [ Home ]