paid search engine advertising

Why should you pay for advertising when you can get listed in Google (the big guy!) for free with natural site optimization?

It's a great idea to work on your site to achieve a top position in the "free" search results, but free can only get you so far - maybe a lunch, but definitely no dinner or snacks. That's why we recommend you set aside some of your marketing budget for search engine advertising. The good news is that it doesn't have to be a lot. You can dabble in advertising for a few dollars here and there until you are comfortable with the process, and as your exposure and conversions increase, your advertising budget can increase, too.

Paid advertising can, and should, work in conjunction with any natural site optimization programs you may be engaged in. If you've got the time, you can set up and manage your own advertising campaigns or for busy business owners who'd rather leave the headaches to someone else, we can help you gain targeted search engine exposure for your site.

The different types of search engine advertising

There are a couple of ways to advertise your site. Like everything you do in business, your options depend on your budget and your marketing goals. We can help you figure out the best way to spend your advertising dollars and suggest paid programs that can benefit your site. We can also set up, manage and maintain any of your search engine advertising accounts.

These are a couple of options available to you as a web marketer:

Paying for a directory listing. Some search engines charge yearly listing fees (often between $50 and $100 per year). While paying these fees doesn't guarantee you any particular position in the search results, it does guarantee a link from the directory to your site. This can benefit your site in two ways. One, it gives searchers another avenue to find your site. Two, and probably more importantly, that link provides value for other search engines who may boost your "natural" rank based on the number of links pointing to your site from external sources.

As part of a paid search engine marketing program, we can research applicable directories, create your accounts, write titles and descriptions for your directory listings and submit your site.

Engaging in pay-per-click advertising. This is currently one of the most common types of advertising, and it's a relatively straightforward process to get started. Best of all, you can usually set your budget so that you never spend more than a specific dollar amount each month. And most pay-per-click programs (usually referred to as PPC for short) allow you to determine your site's position in the search results based on how much you pay per click.

With PPC advertising it's important to research keywords, because these are central to your program. For each keyword you select, you must place a "bid" to determine how much you will pay each time a searcher uses that keyword, finds your site, and clicks on the link to visit your site. Keyword bids can range from the less competitive, at only a few cents per click, to the most highly competitive, at a few dollars per click. That may not sound like much right off the bat, but imagine bidding on a competitive keyword for $1.00 per click, and multiply that by even ten visitors per day. times thirty days per month. you can see where the cost comes in, and that's only one keyword!

Part of running a successful PPC program is balancing competitiveness with cost so that you reach searchers who will ultimately convert into customers. We can research keywords, keyword bids, help you set a budget and set up and manage your PPC accounts.

Paying for ad space. Sometimes you might simply want to place an ad on another web site, whether in the form of a banner, an animated graphic or a text link. You've seen this type of advertising everywhere, offering you low mortgage rates, credit cards, auto insurance and magazine subscriptions. These ads are generally not guaranteed a particular position but rather will appear a predetermined number of times or in a specific location within a search engine or on another web site.

Since we're all so familiar with ads, we also know that "ad clutter" can really detract from your marketing campaign. With popup blockers and all kinds of ad filters out there, how do you make sure yours is seen? The truth is, sometimes it won't be - there will always be a determined segment of web users who will avoid advertising at all costs. But these aren't the people you want to target anyway. And there's the magic word: target.

When you set up advertising, it's important to know your target audience and find avenues to reach them. You probably don't want to advertise all-cotton machine-washable pot holders on a fishing web site. But a cooking site might be a good place to start.

If you are interested in online advertising, we can help you find your niche, design and develop ads, and set up and manage your advertising accounts.

The Bottom Line: dozens of ways to budget your search engine advertising dollars

If you're a small business, don't let all this talk about paying for words scare you. There are so many budgeting options available for search marketing that one is bound to work for you. For larger businesses, there are options for you, too. The key is to set goals and work from there. We can help you plan, budget and implement a search engine marketing strategy that fits your specific business needs.

To learn more about paid search engine advertising and how it can benefit your business, Contact Us, or for new customers or existing customers with a new project, take advantage of a free initial consultation and no-obligation project planning for your search engine advertising campaign.