Pay-per-click marketing is synonymous to Sponsored Link marketing and we'll refer to it for now on as PPC. You know - those search results at the top of the page and along the right side of the page. Each time you click on one of those links, it costs the company advertising the link some money - hence "pay-per-click".

Be in the top 25%.

But do people really click on these links? The answer is absolutely yes. In fact, the top three positions (usually at the top of the page in a shaded area) attract about 12% of clicks on the page, and the list along the right gets about 13%. If you are on the right side, your click-through rate (the % of people who click on the ad) goes down the farther down the page you are. However, those on top and the first 3 along the right side attract about 25% of all the clicks on a search results page.

[Read What Is The Right Inbound and Outbound Marketing Mix? to learn about the importance of having both PPC and SEO.]

Should you invest in PPC?

Is PPC marketing right for my business? Most likely yes. Whether you are a B2B or B2C business, you should strongly consider PPC marketing. We have clients in both B2B and B2C areas that do quite well using this marketing method. The advantages are

• 1. Immediate high visibility and rankings in Google, Yahoo, Bing
• 2. Immediate relevant traffic to your website
• 3. You only pay if the person doing the search clicks
• 4. Great for seasonal businesses and special promotions
• 5. Capable of Geo-targeting
• 6. You can budget a set amount of advertising each month

You need a landing page as relevant as your ad.

But don't enter into the PPC arena without knowing and doing a few things. Use specialized "landing pages" to help convert the visitor to a real lead, prospect or sale. Too many web-pages are just informational and you don't usually want to send PPC traffic to your home page. It is critical to provide a connected message from your PPC listing to the page on which the visitor lands. This message should be specific to your search engine ad (or listing). That's a "landing page".

[Check out Testing Page Variations To Boost Conversions to learn more about landing page best practices and testing methods.]

Don't spend money on irrelevant clicks.

Use negative keywords. This prevents your ad from showing up for a search phrase that may not work for you. For example, if you are selling used furniture you would use "new furniture" as a negative keyword. That prevents someone who searches for "new furniture" from seeing your listing. If you don't use negative keywords, you run the risk of that person clicking on your listing only to find that you only sell used furniture when they were specifically seeking new furniture - essentially spending your ad money without getting a legitimate visitor to your website.

[For more information about which keywords your business should focus on, check out What Keywords Should I Target?]

There are many more advantages to PPC marketing, but make sure you do it right so you don't end up spending money and being disappointed by the results.

For more specific PPC information, and to set-up an initial audit and consultation with one of our digital marketing experts, contact WebStrategies, Inc. online or by phone at 804-200-4545.