Having a website is great – it really is – but the big question is, does it have enough traffic? After all, a website without traffic is like a billboard in the middle of nowhere.
There are some really effective ways to utilize the Internet to improve traffic to your website, with online advertising being one of the most common (and most affordable).
Advertising has changed significantly over the last few decades. Although there are still some traditional advertising sources (newspapers, magazines, billboards, etc.), these are falling ever-steadily to the up-and-coming juggernauts of new media.
One area of the new media revolution is Google Adwords, which is commonly referred to as Pay-Per-Click (PPC).
Driving Traffic with Google Adwords
Google PPC is a highly targeted form of advertising every business should be utilizing to its fullest potential!
In a nutshell, Google Adwords allows you to target only those actively engaged in searching for your business’ products or services.
For example, let’s say you are selling liquid cooling units for high-end gaming PCs. Now, how on Earth do you think you could reach this highly-targeted consumer base in traditional media without breaking the bank? You simply can’t.
However, PPC allows you to attach ads on search engine results pages targeting those that are searching for liquid cooling units. Since you are only targeting those who are already searching for what you offer, you are only paying for your target audience (which is far more affordable than traditional advertising).
To add to the greatness of PPC, you only pay for people who click on your text ads. Therefore, if the cost of a click is $1.00 and you receive 1,000 impressions and 5 clicks, then your cost is only $5.00.
Data Collection with Online Advertising
The great thing about online advertising (and Google Adwords) is the ability to run ads, test their effectiveness, and continue only with what is getting you clicks and ultimately generating sales.
In short, you can see the exact number of people who visited your website from your ads – including which keywords they were searching for when they stumbled upon your ad.
These measured results allow you to increase the spending on what is working and decrease, or pause, spending on what isn’t getting the desired results. Unfortunately, it is much harder to measure the results of your newspaper ad or billboard.
Traditional vs. Online Advertising
In additional to the ability to track online advertising, new online methods for advertising have significantly less lead time than traditional mediums.
When advertising through billboards, magazines, and television, you will likely have to wait weeks before your advertisement is live.
However, PPC advertising allows you to start advertising the moment you realize a trend within your market. In short, PPC is not only more affordable, but can also be set up and go live a lot faster than traditional advertising.
At the end of the day, online advertising with Google Adwords is a great way to get your target audience to your website – and it only costs a fraction of advertising in traditional outlets.
Ultimately PPC advertising helps drive traffic to your website and gives you:
- The ability to target consumers actively searching and willing to purchase what you offer.
- An arena where you only pay when people click on your ad (assuming you are running text ads only).
- Streamlined data analysis that allows you to quickly adapt to what is working and adjust what is not working as desired.
- An ability to advertise based upon quickly changing factors within your industry, and push out deals to drive sales within a day’s notice.
- Targeting capabilities that will be the engine to driving sales by not wasting your advertising on uninterested eyes.
Want to learn more about using online advertising to grow your business? Contact Uptick Marketing today!
