Paid search advertising is a type of digital marketing strategy that enables businesses to pay search engines to place their advertisements higher on pertinent search engine results pages (SERPs) in an effort to increase website traffic.
Small businesses believe that if they pay to be on a search engine, they do not need to invest time and resources in search engine optimization to rank higher organically. However, it is important to note that paid search is not a replacement for other inbound marketing strategies; it should be used to complement them.
Paid online advertising requires a great deal of time and effort, a great deal of resources, and a great deal of administration, but you should invest in it because:
It produces immediate results.
It generates real, targeted prospects.
It provides measurable results.
It increases brand recognition and is especially beneficial for local businesses.
It is easy to check the results as they can be measured directly against expenditures.
Paid search has a wide variety of applications, which means that as you gain experience and begin to analyze your results, your use of paid search will vastly improve.
Landing Page Testing - A single ad can be directed to various destination URLs and landing pages can be tested. Paid search is an excellent method for testing landing pages and identifying the best pages for selling your products, services, or solutions.
Discovering New Keywords - In addition to evaluating landing pages, you can use paid search to discover new keywords for your campaign. Google provides you with a list of the actual keywords that people are entering into Google's search engine, providing you with extremely valuable information. You can simply discover new keywords that you can use to optimize your page.
Target Specific Audiences – With paid search, it is possible to divide the search in an infinite number of ways and monitor your conversion rates. You can target specific audiences with your ads; for instance, if you sell dog food, you can target by younger or older dogs, by breed, by different product benefits, or by any number of other sectors. Paid search provides independent, specific analysis for every ad you run and is infinitely more precise than any other advertising method.
Develop Brand Recognition – If you include your brand name in the headline of your ad, the more ads you run across a larger number of keywords, the more frequently your brand name will be displayed. This works before anyone acts on the advertisement, providing you with free brand exposure.
Improve Lead Generation – Running a business is difficult; it is impossible to operate a business that is not generating leads. By utilizing paid search, you will generate leads, and if these leads do not convert, you will have useful information indicating that you need to make adjustments to your landing pages; this is information you would never have if no leads were generated.
It has never been simpler to expand your company through online advertising.
PPC is especially helpful for:
Paid Advertising can be a wonderful ally for businesses that are just starting out online and don't rank well organically for relevant keywords.
Paid media can also supplement your SEO strategy for terms where the search engine results are extremely competitive, pushing organic results down the page.
Expanding your reach – With so many targeting options, you can reach new audiences who may not have heard of you and stimulate their interest.
Retarget existing visitors – Customers who have purchased from your company in the past may not have revisited your site; however, seeing your name on their search results will remind them of your company.
Social Media Marketing Content
If you want to increase sales, promoting your content to the four billion social media users can be a great alternative to pay-per-click advertising. Social media content marketing can occur on any social media platform that your business utilizes, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Statistics indicate that content marketing, including social media content, can generate three times as many leads as other marketing strategies at a much lower cost. Therefore, if you are searching for a cost-effective alternative to PPC, you should develop a social media content marketing strategy.
Reputation marketing is the process of utilizing positive brand content, such as testimonials and social media content, to increase sales. Reputation marketing employs both online forums such as Reddit and traditional press.
When you engage in reputation marketing, you promote to potential consumers positive reviews, comments, and news about your company. Reputation marketing enables you to better control your company's branded search results. When you market your reputation, it can be beneficial for your business because, on average, customers read seven reviews before trusting you and deciding to do business with you.