By Guest Blogger: David Chapman

Before the Internet came along, one of the most time consuming and expensive tasks of any marketer was trying to get in front of the right target market.  Who exactly is interested in buying our products? Who could use our services? Companies the world over did everything they could, but it was still a very inefficient process. Print ad campaigns were run, but would only mean something to 10% of those that saw it. And you didn’t know who they were or how to follow up with them. Direct mail campaigns were sent, but only 2% or less of the people that got these ever contacted the company. Companies had very little opportunity to have prospects come to them, or employ “pull” marketing. The predominant method was “push” advertising and because the company, not the prospect, was in control, it was an ineffective method.

Then came the Internet. And along with it, pay per click advertising. All of a sudden, everything was turned on its head. True “Pull” marketing could be used – in mass. You could get in front of those who wanted you to get in front of them, essentially. People began knocking on your door. And they did in big numbers. Today, PPC is a multi-billion industry and has helped to make Google a very big and successful company. Yahoo and others have enjoyed the riches as well. Now, it’s your turn. How can you make PPC work for you? Why can you double the size of your business with it? How can a Google Adwords expert help you get there?

Most people know that advertising on search engines like Google and Yahoo is one of the best ways to increase the traffic to your website. With pay per click advertising, you only pay when someone clicks on your ads, which makes it cost-effective and very efficient for new lead generation. Of course, it’s not as easy as it may sound – you need to control your expenses and actively manage it every day. But, once its fine tuned, it can serve your company very well. Through geo-targeting, demographics, and targeted keywords, you can reach your target audience very quickly with PPC.

Pay-Per-Click advertising programs, like Google Adwords, can help grow your business in many ways. If you have never tried it, you should log on to Google Adwords and test the waters.

Consider the following key points:

• Do your research: You’ll want to search for your keyword phrases and see which competitors come up. Check the PPC listings at the top and on the right side. Who is there? Do you know these companies? Depending on your industry, you should see some of them there. Read the ads. What do they say? Are they good? Take a look at the landing pages. Do they motivate you to contact them? Without a good landing page, the whole effort may be wasted. Google Adwords experts can assist you.
• When you start your PPC campaign, your ads will show up immediately, which gives you instant site traffic, regardless of whether your website is indexed by the search engines yet.  You could be in front of millions of searchers very quickly.  Be sure to monitor the clicks to your website – you don’t want to spend too much too quick, unless you have the budget.
• Test, test, test! Use your best keywords to improve your organic search results. Run lots of ads at the same time, run the same ads for different keywords, test pricing, offers…do whatever you think will get you the best results quickly. When you find out which keywords and ads work best, keep using them.   You are on your way to doubling your business!
• Large or small doesn’t matter. With PPC, it’s a level playing field for all businesses. If you are a small mom and pop business, your PPC ad could be right above or below a big brand name ad. That’s the way it works with PPC. If you are small, you can benefit. This type of thing never happened before the Internet.

Keep in mind; PPC is not a silver bullet. It’s not right for all companies or all industries. But, it is for many. And millions of businesses are making big money using it. If you need help with your pay per click management, try using a pay per click management firm.

Now that you understand how pay per click advertising can help grow your business and bring people to your site, it’s time to get started!

Good luck!

Popularity: 15%