Using Per-Per-Click Advertising to Generate Leads

We’re often asked by our clients, “What’s the best way to generate more leads from our website?” Of course, there’s no simple answer. Firstly, a successful site has to be designed with lead generation or sales as primary goals. However, this will only be helpful if you have enough prospective customers visiting your site. This is where search engine optimization (SEO) plays an important role.

Whenever you search for something using Google you are presented with organic search results. These are compiled using Google’s latest search algorithm. As business owners, we all aim to be in the top three listing or, at the very least, on the first page. Depending on your industry and/or location, this may be very difficult no matter how skilled you are at SEO.  Improving organic search engine results can be a time-consuming and costly task. This is where pay-per-click advertising comes in.

What is Pay-Per-Click Advertising?

Pay-Per-Click advertising or PPC is a method of online marketing where advertisers pay a fee every time someone clicks on their ad. This allows advertisers to quickly achieve more exposure than they might when using traditional search optimization techniques.

Due to their overwhelming market share, Google Ads is the most popular PPC option available. Purchased ads can appear at the top or bottom of search results pages. They can also appear on Google Play, Google Shopping, Google Maps, and even third-party websites that make use of Google’s AdSense program.

When searching for something on Google, you’re presented with results that will look similar to the graphic below. The paid ads generally appear above the organic results, but they may sometimes also be present at the bottom of the page.

In the graphic above, the sponsored (PPC) ads appear in the blue box. Google clearly marks these with an “Ad” label. The results that appear in the orange box are known as organic results.

What are the Benefits

They’re Cost Effective

Unlike other forms of online advertising, you only pay a fee when someone actually clicks on your ad. You also have complete control over your advertising budget. You can set your monthly budget to whatever you like. If you decide that you don’t want to spend more than $200 per month, your ads will automatically stop running when you hit that threshold.

They’re Targeted

You have complete control over how, where, and when your ads are displayed. That means you won’t waste money displaying your ad to people who aren’t interested in your product or service. You specify exactly who sees your ads based on their location, keywords, interests, etc. You can also choose whether you want them visible to people using desktop or mobile devices. Google Ads even lets you choose the time of day that your ads will run. This can be useful if you’re offering business-to-business services. You might not be interested in running ads after typical work hours.

They’re Trackable.

Google Ads provides in-depth analytics on how individual campaigns are performing. This lets you make adjustments to maximize the number of clicks you are receiving. You can also try multiple variations of ads to see which ones perform best.

How Much Does Google Ads Cost?

There is no set cost for Google Ads. It works on a bidding system. This means that advertisers bid against one another to compete for the top spot in the sponsored results section. Because of this, pricing can vary greatly based on a number of factors such as industry, location, keywords used, etc. For example, dentists in Toronto would probably pay much more than taxidermists would because they are in a much more competitive industry. However, the price differential might not be as great in Muskoka or another more rural area. Currently the average cost per click for Google search ads across all industries in North America is around $2.50 to $3.00. In other countries, you might pay substantially less.

Conclusion

As discussed above, using Google Ads is a great way to generate leads and/or sales much faster than by traditional SEO. You can start seeing results in a matter of days rather than weeks or months, and you have complete control over your budget. They’re definitely worth considering as part of your ongoing marketing campaigns.

Need Help?

Just let us know if you’re interested in setting up a Google Ads campaign but you’re not quite sure how to do it. We’d be happy to discuss your needs and see how we can help you achieve your online marketing goals.

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