How to Use PPC to Drive Traffic to Your Website

The phrase "PPC" can send shivers down the spine of any small-business owner breaking into the online world of selling. What is it? Will it cost a lot? Do I have to hire out for this? What platform should I use? Don't feel overwhelmed, this article will cover what it is, along with some good standard practices and a few PPC platforms available.

PPC stands for pay-per-click advertising. It's a way to advertise your business while only paying if someone clicks your ad.

How Does PPC Work?

You create an ad with relevant keywords--phrases people will use to search for a product. Then, set a maximum bid of what you are willing to pay if someone interacts with the ad by clicking on it. When someone searches online for those keywords, or close variations, it goes into a virtual auction. The ad with the best quality and bid is placed in the top location of the search results, with some runner-up ads appearing in the lower positions. You only pay for the advertising if someone clicks on it.

Tips for Successful PPC

Research the platforms. They are all different, and you will want to pick the one that will benefit you and your business the most.

Use relevant keywords. Be sure they appear in your ad and on the web or product page that your ad links to. Doing this helps the PPC provider to serve your ad to the right person at the right time.

Don't set it and forget it. The internet is an ever-changing landscape, so take time every week to check on your ads and their performance. Are they leading to desirable results? Are they being served for the right searches? How is the budget doing? It's also important to note any seasonality or limited-time sales for your products and be diligent in setting date ranges for those items or manually turning them off.

Start small and be patient. When beginning, baby steps are best until you start seeing results. It takes time to gather enough data. Some experts recommend a month before making any changes. If you feel the results are positive, then expand your ads.

A Few PPC Platform Options

• Google Ads has a vast array of PPC options and has the most reach. They offer ads for search engine results, YouTube videos, shopping and Google partner ads.
• Microsoft Ads is somewhat like Google, only you will be reaching shoppers using Bing, Yahoo or AOL search engines. Some feel that since advertisers have less competition for their ads on search engines, like Bing, they subsequently pay less for clicks. One benefit is that existing Google Ads can be imported into Microsoft ads.
• Etsy has a largely automated PPC program. You must have an Etsy shop first, and then you can create ads by setting a budget and selecting the listings to be advertised on the Etsy site. Anyone who signs up for Etsy advertising is also enrolled automatically in offsite advertising, which means they show on other websites along with the Etsy site. Only shops making less than $10,000 in 365 days can opt out of offsite advertising.
• Pinterest allows you to turn almost any organic pin into an ad and can be a fantastic way to reach those interested in unique, specialty items.

When used thoughtfully, PPC can be a powerful piece of your marketing puzzle. Use it in combination with other strategies, like social media and email, for the best results.