Buy Now, Buy Later: Pay Per Click Strategy
How many small business owners have the time to be worrying about a problem they will have in one year? The truth is, when someone decides that they are in need of traffic on their website, they usually want it yesterday. SEO is not the solution.
SEO is a long term strategy for your site. It requires a site to demonstrate a slow build up of quality content over the course of time. It requires (ideally) a natural build up of links from quality sites. It requires the building of trust with the search engines.
This is the argument for incorporating Pay Per Click advertising in your short term online marketing plan. When the search engines don’t trust you yet, you can pay them to trust you. However, there are sound arguments for continuing to pay for that space on search results pages well after your long term SEO strategies are paying off. If you have been properly measuring the results of your PPC campaigns for positive ROI, here are some reasons to continue:
Real Estate
Paying for space on the search results pages occupies valuable space “above the fold” on a search results page. This is space that your competitors are not occupying.
Conversion
There is evidence that searchers will click on a paid result when they are ready to purchase. As searchers move from the information gathering stage of purchasing (organic results) to the buying stage data suggests that they are likely to click on paid results.
Control
Paid results are infinitely easier to control. You can send your potential customer to the exact page with the exact product with the exact promotion that you have devised. With a clear conversion goal, you are likely to see a sale.
Second Impression
If a searcher has seen you in both the organic results and the paid results you are giving yourself a second opportunity for them to recognize you as someone that can provide the product or service they are looking for.
Do: Run your PPC ads at the outset of your online marketing plan as a short term fix.
Don’t: Stop running your PPC ads with positive ROI when your long term SEO pays off.
July 22, 2008
Tags: Pay Per Click Advertising Posted in: PPC for Dental Practices
2 Responses
Do you feel that their is a negative connotation towards PPC links? If these are paid for and not earned, why should I give them my business. I would want to go with the proven site.
Research shows that people that are further down the sales cycle (ie more towards the buying stage) they will start clicking on paid ads. Having used the organic results to do research they are responsive to well crafted ads in the PPC column. Go figure.
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