What Is Small Business Pay Per Click Advertising?

PPC for small businesses is a form of online small business marketing that consists of listings that typically show up at the top of search engine results and which only cost the business owner if someone clicks on them. Google is currently the largest platform providing PPC. If you do a search on Google for “dentist”, typically the first listings in the results are pay per click ads and have a small box with the word “Ad” in front of the website name. The cost for each click varies by the number of advertisers competing to have their ads show up and can range from under a dollar to $30 or more. The effectiveness of PPC is influenced by a large number of factors including the level of competition, the effectiveness of the ad text, the offer, the website the ad is pointing to, the selected bid, the days, times and regions where the ad is running.

On average, 41% of clicks go to the top 3 paid ads on the search results page.

Google Ads

Google AdWords enables small business owners to instantly tap into the enormous market represented by the huge number of potential customers who use Google’s search facilities when searching.

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Bing Ads

Bing Ads may be regarded by some as an afterthought, but this online advertising service can bring many benefits to small businesses in the United States.

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Facebook Advertising

Online social media platform Facebook provides a golden opportunity for small businesses to generate new customers. It attracts a large volume of visitors and boasts sophisticated targeting technology for advertisers.

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YouTube Advertising

YouTube provides small businesses with a powerful alternative to marketing via traditional television advertising. YouTube advertising enables you to target audience by geographic location, parental status, age and gender.

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LinkedIn Advertising

LinkedIn can help your small business by establishing a businesslike presence on the social networking site to help you maintain a trustworthy reputation that can ultimately result in more business and repeat customers.

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Instagram Ads

Now owned by Facebook, Instagram is a great way to reach your current and prospective customers. Statistically, customers react better to images and videos than texts and slogans.

Small Business Internet Marketing: PPC For Small Businesses vs. Other Methods

Small business internet marketing has become the dominant way for small business owners to grow their business, connect with customers and build their reputations. Small business pay per click advertising differs from other methods primarily in the speed with which it can bring results and how easily those results can be tracked and measured to determine their ROI or return on investment. Compared to other online marketing methods like SEO or search engine optimization, PPC can bring in new customers within days while SEO typically takes 2-3 months to show results. Compared to social media, PPC is also faster as you don’t need to build up a following first. Pay per click advertising also has an advantage over traditional small business advertising because it targets those who are currently interested. Potential customers show that interest because they initiate a search on a engine search. Pay per click advertising only shows to those interested searchers and a charge is only made to the business owner if the potential customer clicks their ad.

Best Practices For All Online Small Business Marketing Methods

Whether PPC for small businesses or other internet marketing, there are a few best practices that you can follow to ensure your efforts are more likely to succeed. First, make sure that the online marketing method you choose is best to get you to your long-term goals. Be wary of “one-size-fits-all” solutions for small businesses internet marketing.

Second, make sure you put in place a system to measure exactly the ROI or return on investment you receive from any particular internet marketing program. Online methods are much easier to track and measure than traditional advertising. Take advantage of that so you can be sure, and not guess whether your online marketing is fulfilling your goals or floundering. Set short term weekly or monthly objectives and then see how closely you meet those. Use that data to educate your decision whether to increase or decrease your investment in that online marketing method.

Should Small Business Pay Per Click Be Your Top Priority?

If you need growth fast, or are trying internet marketing for the first time then pay per click advertising may be your top marketing priority. PPC for small businesses however can become very expensive very quickly and if not set up or optimized correctly can quickly waste money. If you are interested in using this method of online marketing it is wise to find an experienced partner to set it up and manage it for you. Ready to discover what your top marketing priority should be? Click the link below to see if pay per click advertising or another priority would most benefit your practice.

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