Among the various digital marketing tactics is the relatively low-hanging fruit of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
If you have the right budget, it’s a sure-fire way to get to the top of search engine results pages. And while it may seem like an easy tactic to implement, PPC should not be taken lightly. Successful paid advertising campaigns require analytical and creative thinking, as it’s necessary to get into the mindset of your target audience, how they search and how to capture their attention.
It also requires a niche skill set and experience to successfully set up and maintain campaigns! If you’re not careful, just one slip of a decimal point could cost your business hundreds or even thousands of dollars. So, how do you know if your business could benefit from Pay-Per-Click Advertising? There are several questions you can ask yourself:
How is my site performing organically?
If your website is killing it on organic search results, it may not be necessary to invest extra resources into paid advertising. A solid balance and strategy of paid plus organic may be the route for you.
- Perhaps you’ve spent lots of time creating great content.
- Your metadata, including title tags and descriptions, is on-point.
- You’ve included the correct number of characters and keywords on each site page.
- You have implemented internal and external links in your blog posts and landing pages.
- Your content is so great that other companies create backlinks to your site.
In this case, when a user searches for a term that closely relates to your business, you’re probably showing up at the top of search results pages. But what about those brands that haven’t had the time or expertise needed to execute such a robust search engine optimization (SEO) strategy or hire a digital marketing agency like Sage Island to do it for them? These are the types of businesses that could benefit from a PPC campaign.
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What action, if any, can users perform on my website?
If your business is an eCommerce site, paid advertising is a worthwhile marketing tactic you should explore further. Especially with options like Google Shopping Campaigns available!
But Pay-Per-Click Advertising is also helpful for various other businesses—you don’t just have to sell products online to benefit from it. Perhaps your company is interested in capturing new leads, and you see the most significant ROI when users fill out a contact form on your site. This is another example of a business that should weigh the pros and cons of implementing a PPC campaign.
What keywords are suitable for my business?
Hopefully, you know what keywords pertain to your business, but let’s discuss further if you’re a bit behind and need a refresher.
Keywords are just terms that relate to your business. If you’re a women’s fashion boutique, for example, some of your keywords may include “ladies dresses,” “women’s hats,” and “fashion accessories.” The more specific you get, the more targeted your audience becomes in the PPC world.
Once you’ve determined what product categories or brands you’d like to focus on, you can refine your keywords accordingly. At this point, it’s time to see how many users are searching for terms that match these keywords and how much they would cost you—which brings us to our next question you should consider:
Who are my competitors, and how much are they spending?
Search engines like Google have tools readily available for advertisers looking for this type of information. A keyword planner tool is beneficial and can be used for several things, including:
- Estimate traffic (how many people search for terms that match your keyword selection).
- Determine quality over quantity (can help you discover new terms and phrases potential customers use to search for businesses like yours).
- The cost of bids (the amount competitors are paying per click for these keywords).
Sure, the tool can’t tell you WHO your competitors are, but a quick search can give you a good idea. It’s best to type your keywords into Google search and find out who is bidding on them. If you’re a small business, competing with a nationally recognized brand will be challenging.
If that big brand is bidding on all your applicable keywords, then they’re ALWAYS going to beat you. We’re not saying it’s not worth it to ride out positions like two or three, so don’t call it quits right away; if this is the case, just pay attention to what it costs you.
How much can I afford to spend?
We don’t hide the truth from prospective PPC clients; if your budget isn’t substantial enough to deliver quality results, we won’t recommend this tactic. Our marketing specialists use tools such as Google’s keyword planner to determine what budget is necessary to accomplish a client’s goals. And if the client’s budget isn’t higher than the amount needed to run a successful campaign, PPC is not worth running.
Setting up and maintaining campaigns is a serious time commitment, and it’s a waste of our time to spend money on a service that’s simply not going to yield an ROI. To put it in perspective, Pay-Per-Click Advertising is an additional tactic for SEO. For brands that have the time or budget to invest in an SEO strategy, we highly suggest doing so. But if you’re looking for fast results, PPC is a relatively easy way to get your business in front of your target audience right away. But keep in mind it’s not as easy as it sounds.
Contact Sage Island today if you’re contemplating beginning or expanding on a paid advertising campaign. Our staff includes certified Google AdWords specialists that can increase traffic to your website, capture new leads, convert more customers, and increase your marketing ROI.