A lot of small businesses, including those that are just starting out, typically rely only upon search engine rankings that occur organically in order to build their online presence. Operating on a smaller budget has its limitations, after all. But investing in pay per click, or PPC, advertising, though a bit more costly, could be the best option for these companies.
There are a lot of benefits that small businesses and startups can derive from PPC advertising.
1. Yes, it can work with small budgets!
In the world of online marketing, you don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune to get a lot of attention, and PPC is actually quite effective for those companies that have limited budgets.
To make the most of PPC on a small budget, target visitors who are in all of the stages of the buying funnel. Focus on keywords that people will type in search engines when they are ready to purchase something that you sell. Then add things like time, geography, and language to narrow it all down to your target customers.
Avoid using broad matches because you will end up spending money on unqualified clicks that will only serve to drain the budget. Instead, begin with modified broad matches.
2. You can test a variety of markets and messages
Rather than having to test only a single version of something like a print brochure that advertises your business, with PPC, you can test different combinations of message and keywords, as well as content, to find the ones that work best at targeting your audience and getting people to visit your site and make a purchase. For example, you can rearrange the copy in your headline, change your description line to a customer quote, and find other ways to increase the number of click-throughs you get.
On top of being able to test various messages, you can also test out various markets. This means that you can turn into a global company that advertises to consumers in more than 100 countries and in multiple languages. The key is to market to these audiences using their native languages, so hiring expert translators is key.
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3. You can really target your audience geographically
You already know that you can set the geographical locations that you want for your PPC campaign, but you may not really understand just how important this is.
If you‘re a small local business, you definitely don’t want to be spending your advertising budget marketing to people who live too far away to even make use of your products or services. This is especially important for businesses that can’t sell their products and services online.
With PPC advertising, you can set your geographical target right down to the zip code, if you want. Otherwise, you can go by city and/or state instead. This allows you to really hone in on those customers who are in the right location to take advantage of whatever it is that you have to offer, whether you’re a photography business, a restaurant, or a retail shop.
4. Improve your search engine rankings
Advertising online also involves trying to get your website to appear as high as possible in relevant search engine results. That is why so many companies emphasize the use of the latest SEO tools and strategies on their websites. Without these strategies, your website will never be found and you’ll miss out on hundreds or even thousands of visitors who would otherwise make a purchase or come visit your brick-and-mortar location.
With PPC ads, your business can make it to the first page of search engine results. Again, if you’re a typical small business, you’re probably already using organic SEO techniques, as mentioned above, but you also have probably been struggling to achieve the results that will really make a difference to your bottom line.
With pay per click advertising, you can make yourself known in an otherwise overcrowded market. The more people see your website when they search for relevant keywords, the more visitors you’ll get to your website and the higher your chances will be that they will convert into purchasers. This is, of course, provided that your website is also optimized and user friendly.
Now that you know a few of the many benefits that small and startup businesses can derive from pay per click advertising, if you are interested in giving it a try for your own organization, contact an expert PPC company that can help you make the best decisions and make the most of your marketing budget.