PPC Advertising for Small Business

A question many small businesses face is whether to invest in PPC or SEO. The answer is both. While pay-per-click advertising can be a quick and easy way to drive traffic to your site, it can also break your budget if you’re not careful. To plan a smart PPC campaign, you must choose the right keywords, write relevant ads, and optimize your landing pages. This can help cut your average cost-per-click while increasing your sales.

Advantages of PPC

• Immediate search presence.
• Great for seasonal or promotional items.
• Useful for sites with challenges getting organic listings.
• Good for new sites that have not yet ranked organically.
• Easy to track performance and ROI.
• Allows for quick and easy testing of new site design
• Easy testing of organic keywords.
• Quick feedback on market conditions or demands.
• Split test to a live audience for real time results.

Drawbacks of PPC

• Can be expensive.
• Bid prices always rise and can create bidding wars.
• Time intensive to set up and monitor.
• Benefits disappear when campaign is turned off.
• Possibility of click fraud.

Advantages of PPC over Organic SEO

• More control over placement (i.e., 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.).
• Better control of titles and descriptions in the SERPs.
• Match keywords to specific landing pages to increase conversions.
• If set up correctly, PPC can lead to improved branding.

Advantages of organic SEO over PPC

• Users prefer organic over PPC links.
• No cost for organic listings unless you pay for SEO consulting.
• Easy to track performance and ROI.

PPC Strategy for SMBs

Start a PPC campaign to gain visibility in the SERPs and define the best keywords to target for SEO. As you gain SEO visibility, you can reduce some of your PPC spend, but not all, because you need both PPC and SEO for best results.

While PPC search engines have similar rules, they are not all the same. They have different demographics, a different reach, and the cost-per-click will vary.

Bidding Strategy

It’s important to define a bidding strategy. What position do you want to be in? Which positions convert better than others? The number one spot is not always your best choice. It’s crucial to monitor the first few hours of your campaign to determine answers to these questions. It’s also important to avoid bidding wars.

Planning Your PPC Campaign

Start with smart keyword research. Use a keyword tool like Keyword Discovery or Word Tracker. Many engines also provide keyword tools. You may find that longer word phrases will convert better and that single words rarely convert well. You must select the best keywords for your campaign and also understand your matching options.

For instance, at Google, you can set each search-targeted keyword to have one of four settings: broad match, phrase match, exact match, or negative match. These four keyword matching options help control who sees your ads.

• Broad match allows your ad to show for searches on similar phrases and relevant variations.
• Phrase match allows your ad to show for searches that match the exact phrase.
• Exact match allows your ad to show for searches that match the exact phrase exclusively.
• Negative match ensures your ad doesn’t show for any search that includes that term.

Note that broad match can eat up your budget quickly. That’s why you need to understand the matching options and don’t forget to use negative match. If you are not using exact match, remember to use negative keywords to keep your budget under control.

Writing Ad Copy

You can write the best ad copy possible by testing multiple ads with different ad elements like the title, call-to-action, benefit statement, display URLs, etc. You want to use keywords in your title because the engines will bold keywords if they match the search query. You really can’t tell which ad is going to perform best until you test.

In creating ad copy, give users an incentive that will garner the click. This might be a discount, time-sensitive offer, etc. Ask a question (Do you need kick-ass web design?). Compelling copy calls for benefits rather than features. Try to differentiate yourself from the competition by reviewing their ads. You can also pre-quality prospects by age, price range,  geographical location, etc.

Creating Landing Pages

Your landing pages are very important. They must be optimized for targeted keywords. Test various versions of your landing pages the same way you tested your ad copy. Create consistency between your keywords, ad copy and landing pages for maximum findability. Landing pages don’t have to be part of your website. You can exclude them from indexing by using the robots.txt file. Don’t use your homepage as a landing page; it’s not specific enough. Your landing page has to be specific to the ad and should focus on one action per landing page. That means it should be simple. Establish trust on landing pages by showing BBB affiliation and by offering secure transactions.

Conclusion

SMBs need a balance of organic and paid listings for best results. The more search real estate you own, the higher your click-through rates. Ultimately, more exposure in the SERPs will build your brand.