Targeted PPC (pay per click) advertising has been growing in popularity since its inception in the early 2000s. But is PPC the right way to go for your business?
Does your business need a visibility boost?
If your sales are on the slow side and your business doesn’t appear on the first page of a search engine’s results, PPC could be used to increase your brand visibility. However, it’s also important to consider whether your business is geared-up to cope with a sudden influx of new enquiries and orders. If you can’t handle a dramatic increase in interest, you could end up damaging your company’s reputation.
Is your website ready for PPC?
It’s also important that your website and landing pages are ready to maximise a potential increase in traffic. If your website is not ready, a PPC campaign could just be an expensive exercise that doesn’t result in conversions. Wait until your site is ready before implementing a PPC strategy so that you don’t miss out on the momentum your advertising campaign has generated.
Consider your target market
It’s important that you have a good understanding of your target market before launching a PPC campaign. For example, if your business attracts mainly local customers, there’s no point in paying for clicks from people on the other side of the country, so be sure to focus on geo-targeting if you want to drive local sales. On the other hand, if you just want to increase awareness and general brand recognition, a broader PPC campaign might be more appropriate.
Another important consideration when considering your target market is customer value. For example, if your ad costs you £2.50 each time someone clicks on it to visit your site, but the actual product they buy is only worth £3.00, PPC is probably not helpful. However, if the product is worth £250 and you have a decent conversion rate, £2.50 per click offers a much more viable ROI.
What is your budget?
Costs per click can be very high within certain industries and it’s important not to get carried away in bidding wars. Always set your own budget within the PPC platform, rather than allowing the process to be automated so that you can keep full control of what you spend.
If you’re not experienced in using PPC, it can be helpful to employ an expert in the field to set up your campaign and run it for you, so that you don’t have to worry about researching keywords, budgeting, and composing adverts. However, this is another cost to be factored in when calculating your PPC advertising budget.
Although PPC can at first appear to be a kind of Holy Grail that will generate a landslide of leads and send your website rocketing to the top of Google, Bing, and Yahoo, it’s important to understand how PPC could affect your business and whether it is actually appropriate and helpful for you.
