Does Pay Per Click Really Help Your Business?

Pay-per-click advertising offers businesses a way to advertise on the Internet that is relatively inexpensive, is cost effective, and can yield excellent results. Because an advertiser pays only when a user clicks on an advertisement, it costs nothing for a business to set up PPC advertising. This low initial cost enables small businesses to compete with companies that have significant amounts of capital to sink into their advertising budgets.

In order to obtain the best pay-per-click benefits, it is important for the advertisements to be built correctly. Unless a company takes care to do so, PPC marketing stands the risk of being ineffective, can prove to be costly, and might yield disappointing results.

As with all advertising, success depends on a variety of factors. It also needs constant attention and effective administration.

Here are steps to take when setting up pay-per-click advertising that will enable your business to stand a heightened chance of turning clicks into cash.

Select effective keywords

PPC marketing is based on a set of keywords that you choose. Anyone who enters those words in a search engine will see your advertisement in the search results, often on the first page. After reading a summary of what your company offers, a user will decide whether to click on the link to your business as displayed in the advertisement. Those who click on your advertisement will be directed to your website, where they will decide whether to buy your products or services. You will be charged a predetermined amount when someone clicks on your advertisement.

Clearly, it is important that you select the keywords carefully. Doing so is part science and part art, but with the use of a few techniques, you will be able to select those keywords that work best for your particular business.

Concentrate on keywords that are specific to your business

A phrase that relates directly to the items that you sell, for example, is more likely to receive clicks that will more readily turn into sales. Reaching a wide range of people is not always the best way to go. For example, if you enter the phrase "office supplies" when you sell only paper, people looking for all kinds of office supplies, such as ink, computer hardware, and even desks will click on your advertisement. They will not find what they want on your site, but the click will cost you money.

At the same time, you should not select words that are so specific to one aspect of your business that few people will ever search for them.

As a guide to your selection of keywords, Google offers the opportunity for you to check which keywords occur most often in searches.

Limit the geographical area

If you provide your services in just one suburb, you do not want to reach everyone needing your services in the entire United States. In such a case, it is essential that you mention in your keywords the geographical area that you serve.

If you serve, say, several suburbs in a city, it might be a good idea to set up separate advertisements for each suburb to gain the clicks of those people who are looking specifically for your service in each suburb. Similarly, if you serve several cities, build advertisements for each city and possibly each suburb, too.

As a guide, think which words you would use if you wanted to search for your service in your area.

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