PPC: What Is It and What Does It Do for Your Business?

It is a well-established fact that the Internet has changed the way we do business and shop. These days, you can expect to find an online business presence for over 70 percent of all small companies. Online stores are changing how shoppers search for goods, services, and products and how they compare prices. When properly executed, you can get a good return on investment for your enterprise with PPC, or pay per click, advertisements.

Without seeing an uptick in traffic or sales, a small company can lose money quickly if they venture into the world of PPC advertising without knowing how it works. In order to drive traffic to your business and website using PPC, you must have an understanding of how PPC marketing works as well as the ability to pay attention to details. This entry will help you get started.

How PPC Works

When you type in a search word, phrase, or question on sites like Google or Yahoo, the audience targeted ads that are shown as sponsored ads are PPC advertisements. If done correctly, with the precise services, information, or products they are seeking, your targeted audience will be exposed to your company’s PPC promotion when they perform their search.

As part of a strong PPC ad campaign, you must devote time to budget planning, strategic bidding, and keyword research. Also, you must create compelling advertisements that will encourage your targeted demographic to click on your ad rather than your competitors’ links. The key is to research keyword phrases and keywords that are the most likely to bring in customers who will buy your services and goods, since it costs you money each time your PPC ad is clicked on.

You may wonder why you would not just use traditional advertising rather than the seemingly overwhelming PPC ads. At the place and time your potential clients are seeking information, your PPC ads get your information in front of them. An ecommerce site that uses well-designed and researched PPC campaigns will see an increase in conversions to sales and traffic as online shopping continues to grow in popularity.

Landing Pages Are Important

When users click on your PPC ad, the landing page they are directed to is just as important and influential in driving sales as the physical location of a traditional business used to be. Information about the exact goods, services, or products your PPC campaign is advertising should be included on a landing page prior to creating your PPC ads.

Your first instinct may be to send visitors to your homepage with your PPC ad. Consumers are actively seeking what exactly your business has to offer. Your landing page should help with this need to influence sales.

Offer free information in the form of a special report or booklet, discount coupons, or free samples for prospects who provide their contact information and give you permission to follow up with value based information and offers. This will help you establish a relationship with people looking for what you have to offer and build your potential client base.

Test and Keep Testing

All aspects of your PPC ad campaigns should be tested. This includes offers, landing pages, design, and ad copy. Many businesses use PPC and just hope they get a return on their investment. You can do much more than hope. By constantly testing, you can figure out what is effective and what is not and adjust your campaign accordingly.

Track the Success and Costs of Your Ads

To evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of your promotions and ad campaigns, use the analytics that come with your PPC account. Online advertisements give you a good idea of how many consumers have clicked through to gain more information, bought your services or products, and have seen your ads.

This stands in stark contrast to traditional ads, where you have no clue how many people have seen your ads. Become familiar with cost per acquisition, conversion rates, return on investment, average sale rate, and click through rates.

All marketing and advertising will vary based on a vast array of influences, including location, target audience, cost range, and other factors that you may never be able to identify. Smart companies understand that all forms of media advertising interact, therefore they use a mixture of marketing ideas and tools. PPC for your online store or website gives you a huge advantage, since you can evaluate the effectiveness of your internet marketing with real time data.

About the Author : Jamshaid (Jam) Hashmi

A serial entrepreneur with extensive background in franchising and interests in multiple online business channels, Jamshaid (Jam) Hashmi has played an instrumental role in the franchise development and success of an international franchise company. His most recent entrepreneurial interests include launching ClickTecs, a Digital Marketing company specializing in Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Marketing as well as Website and Mobile Application development. In 2007 he co-founded Search Result, an online marketing company that supplies services to Internet Marketing Consultants. A sought after public speaker, Jam has been the featured keynote at many franchise conferences and international summits. He regularly trains ‘C’ Level Executives and supports both new and seasoned business owners on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Optimization, Mobile Marketing, Brand Reputation Management and Conversion & Measurement through web analytics. When he’s not scaling the heights of the Internet world, Jam ‘unwinds’ on extreme thrill-seeking adventures from the jungles of the Amazon to the highest summits. His passions include working with NGOs on humanitarian missions to areas around the world affected by disasters and poverty.