How to Setup Your Own PPC (pay-per-click) Campaign
PPC (pay-per-click) advertising has been around for a while now, and contrary to popular belief you don’t need to be an advertising master or a computer wiz to do it yourself. There are many tools and tips online that will help guide you through setting your first ad campaign and measuring the results of your advertising.
Before starting your up your PPC campaign, it is important to be prepared with some information:
- What is the goal of your ad campaign? Is it to bring more traffic to your website, get more calls to your business, or drive physical traffic to your retail store? Write this down before setting up your ad.
- Who is your target audience? Try to understand who has a need for your product or service. Be specific in determining your target customer
- Location – which geographical area do you want to target with your ad and why?
- How much is an average customer worth to you? Do most of your customers buy your product or service once or is it a repeat type of service or product that you are providing? What are the average repeat rate and frequency of your customers? All of this will help in determining the value of a customer.
- Determine your advertising budget.
- Google search your product or service and look at some of the ads your competitors use. Try to think about their purpose, their goals, and the effectiveness of their ad.
Related Article: Best Practices For Your Adwords Campaign
Once you go through this exercise, use your Gmail account to create an AdWords account and register in the Google Academy for Ads. I highly suggest you complete the AdWords Search and Fundamentals courses in the Google academy for ads before starting your campaign.
Google does not require you to complete these courses in order to use its advertising platform.
If you decide that you're just too busy to go through their courses, you can use their AdWords Express platform that makes it very simple and easy to advertise. The AdWords Express platform is very intuitive and can do most of the work for you.
By answering a few questions, AdWords Express will walk you through designing your first ad campaign. The downside of AdWords Express is that it’s not very customizable and does not give you the full range of tools you need to optimize your campaign.
In my years of managing paid digital advertising campaigns, I find that some of the things I have learned about specific industries, such as what keywords produce the highest return on investment, how to effectively bid, maximize conversions and pick the right media platform based on product/service/industry, cannot be taught in a course.
If you are already doing your own advertising and have some questions, give us a call at 416-268-7241, we will be happy to answer your questions.
If you feel that your product/service needs to be found online and you are just too busy to do it, give us a call at Retailors Group. We help businesses create an online presence, produce more leads, increase your website traffic, optimize your webpages for conversion, and help increase sales.
Why is SEO Important for Small Businesses?
SEO is Important for Small Businesses
Having an online presence for your business is a component that is often overlooked by small businesses. But did you know, SEO is more important than ever, especially in today’s competitive market?
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the process of optimizing your website from “organic” or “non-paid” search engine results to maximizing organic traffic from search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Whether you are a local or an online small business that sells a product or provides a service, having an online presence is an important factor for your success as a modern-day regular business. Having a good SEO makes it easier for search engines to find your business based on a user’s search query so you’re not missing out on any opportunities of getting traffic driven to your business.
Related Article: Quick SEO Guide for Small Businesses
Did you know Google receives over 63,000 searches per second on any given day? Many people use search engines to find small businesses that sell a product or provide a service. In Canada, 75% of consumers do online research before visiting a physical store or making a purchase decision. Therefore, it is crucial for small businesses to invest in SEO because your business needs to appear on search engine results as high as possible when people are searching for your products or services.
Small businesses are overlooking methods of Digital Marketing like SEO despite its importance to their business. Did you know only 17% of small businesses are investing in SEO? SEO is important to your business because it is one of the most effective and sustainable ways to build your online presence!
Why SEO is Important for Small Businesses?
If you have a small business, SEO can help your business grow and meet the business objectives. When people are searching for your products or services, you want to appear as high as possible in search engine rankings. A majority of search engine users are more likely to pick one of the top 5 suggestions on the results page, so appearing high in the search engine rankings is good for business visibility and branding.
Here are 5 reasons why SEO is important for your small business:
1. SEO is important for user experience
SEO is ultimately about provided search engine users with the fastest, friendliest, and best experience possible. Since search engine rank websites and local listings according to its relevance to the public, having a good SEO makes it easier for search engines to understand your content for an improved experience. When search engines can do that, both parties with being happy, and a happy visitor will become a returning visitor.
2. SEO is important for reach
Search engine users “unconsciously” trust search engine results. A recent study by Forrester Research showed a breakdown of how much consumers trust different information sources. Search engines came in third place only behind email from friends and consumer reviews. This research is a great validation to the importance of having a Digital Marketing strategy with people placing so much trust in search engines.
For example, say I searched “Italian restaurant Port Credit” If Google places Ombretta Cucina + Vino high in the search engine rankings, then it must be a good Italian restaurant in Port Credit. So, I share with all of my friends on Facebook that I’m going to Ombretta and leave the link of the restaurant for them to click as well. Before you know it, some of my friends show up to Ombretta because the search engine matched everything perfectly and it all pointed to Ombretta.
3. SEO is important for conversion
SEO attracts people who are already looking for your product or service. These people are already convinced of their need which is why they went searching in the first place. So it is important for your business to rank as high as possible in the search engine rankings. Having a good SEO for your small business provides your business credibility as your ranking is a vote of confidence in the minds of consumers. Staying ahead of your competitors in search engine rankings gives you a better chance of gaining a new customer.
4. SEO is important for exposure
Remember when we mentioned how search engine users “unconsciously” trust search engine results? With the example of Ombretta Cucina + Vino being place high by Google in search engine rankings for “Italian restaurant Port Credit?” Not everyone is going to visit Ombretta as soon as I share the link of the restaurant for my friends to click on Facebook. They might check their website a couple of times, read what is available on the menu, and look at the gallery to see pictures of their food before deciding to eat at the restaurant.
The same goes for search engine users. When they search for “Italian restaurant Port Credit,” they might have seen and checked out other restaurants before making a final decision. But, if Ombretta came up high in the search engine rankings, 8 out of the 10 times they searched, chances are they have clicked through to your website.
5. SEO is important for insight into your customers
Google Analytics can track valuable information about your visitors. Analytics can find out what browser they use, what keywords they typed into a search engine, how much time they spent on your website, and many more. This information is valuable in helping you discover your target market and hone your content to better attract and convert your potential customers. So, the better you know your customers, the better product or service you can provide to them which will likely result in a higher return on investment (ROI).
If you are a small business looking to be found on search engines, then optimizing your site and brand online is crucial. There is no short cut, no quick way to get ranked on search engines. Doing SEO takes time, dedication, and consistency.
Therefore, it is important to leave SEO to experts rather than doing it by yourself. Did you know 71% of small businesses do their own digital marketing instead of leaving it to experts?
Let experts like Retailors Group assess your business and help develop an SEO strategy that will get you to the 1st page of search engines on keywords that will drive more traffic and leads to your business. We are your number 1 SEO Toronto company!
