Bagging the top spot on the Google results page is like completing a Rubik’s Cube in 3.12 seconds – both challenging and rewarding. As a small business owner, you’re too busy navigating the choppy waters of entrepreneurship to get to number 1 organically.
Fortunately, you've got a hidden tool in your belt that'll turn curious clickers into paying customers.
What is PPC?
PPC (Pay-Per-Click) is the magic trick you can use to boost your online presence and get targeted visitors to your site. But how does it work? Brands bid on keywords, with the winning bidder getting their advert at the top of the results page. When someone clicks on the ad, the brand pays their bid amount.
Let’s take a closer look at how to harness the power of PPC…
Choose your goals
As with any marketing campaign, diving in before considering your goals is a recipe for disaster. Ask yourself what you want to achieve. Are you aiming to increase your website traffic, generate those oh-so-precious leads, or turbo-charge your sales figures?
What's your budget?
PPC might be magic, but it's not free. Decide which keywords to target, how much you should bid, and keep an eye on the return on investment (ROI). And do extensive research first. What keywords are the most important to you? Because you don't want to waste your money.
Check out the competition
Don your deerstalker, twirl your moustache, and put your magnifying glass to good use – it’s time to analyse the competition and their advertising antics. If your competitors are already using PPC then so should you. Make sure you're keeping up and staying in the race.
Why use PPC?
Immediate visibility sounds great, right? Once your ads are created and published, they’ll almost instantly appear on the search engine results pages. Talk about instant gratification. The better your PPC, the higher you'll appear.
Secondly, you’ll get seen by the right people at the right time. PPC allows you to better target specific keywords, locations, demographics, and devices. Bidding for highly-targeted keywords puts you in the best position to lure your audience to your website.
Yes, it does cost, but it’s not going to break the bank. You only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad – plus you can set a spending limit to keep costs within budget.
Even if no one clicks on your ad, they’ve seen your brand and message – boosting your online presence without handing over a penny. And if the ads aren't working for you, you can adjust and optimise them in real time. Allocate more budget to higher-performing ads and tweak keywords to get it up to scratch.
If that’s not enough, all your campaigns are measurable. You can check in on the performance of your PPC ads with Google Analytics.
Get your PPC pzazz
Not marketing your website effectively is like throwing a birthday party without sending out invites. No one wants to open presents by themselves. While PPC might not solve all your problems, it can help you on your way to growing your business.
If you’re not sure where to begin, try Fasthosts Ads Manager. Take away the headache of search engine advertising, plus easily create and edit Google Ads in minutes. Still got questions? Get in touch with our support team. They're around 24/7 to help with anything you need! Give them a call on 0333 0142 700.
