Look at Pay-Per-Click Tools for Small Business

Managing online paid-search-term campaigns can be like water torture for a small-business owner: A slow drip of deadliness, choosing keywords and deciding what to pay for each on services like Google AdWords and Microsoft AdCenter.

For the uninitiated, paid-search campaigns involve advertisers paying a fee, usually based on clicks or views, to have their links placed high on search-engine results pages. They typically bid on keywords or keyword phrases. Users can find themselves guessing at the words those searching for your products or services might enter into Google, Bing, Yahoo or other search engine. All for the prospect of having your short bit of linked copy appear across the top and on the right side of a web-search results page.

Bigger companies often have help from pricey pay-per-click automation and management services and perhaps professional search marketers. But small and midsize businesses face a tougher task in finding affordable support for paid-search marketing. Programs exist, but none are easy in my view. Or even that is affordable. So to get a feel for the best choices in a tight market, below are the three lower-cost paid - search marketing tools.

Click Sweeper

What you get: A relatively deep, but affordable, pay-per-click bid-management tool. Click Sweeper, by Santa Clara, Calif.-based Varazo, supports Google, Yahoo and Microsoft accounts and offers a nice set of features to optimize your keywords. Four automated bidding strategies let users prioritize keyword bids based on cost, ad ranking, and number of conversions or return on investment. There are analytics tools that can increase the cost, and ways to manage actual ad copy and create performance alerts. You can also generate reports and graphs to track which keywords work and which don’t.

What you get: A great suite of Google AdWords campaign-building tools. Boston-based Word Stream offers a pay-per-click management platform that lets users easily build ad campaigns from scratch or fine-tune campaigns with some cool keyword analysis features.
What you get: A great suite of Google AdWords campaign-building tools. Boston-based Word Stream offers a pay-per-click management platform that lets users easily build ad campaigns from scratch or fine-tune campaigns with some cool keyword analysis features.
What you get: What amounts to an entry-level, top-end paid-search tool. If your business invests significant money in paid-search marketing, then Clickable is for you. You get a top-line PPC management tool that works with Google, Yahoo, Bing and even Facebook. It even -- for an additional $300 per month -- will assign an employee to help you design ad strategies -- that’s actually an affordable option, considering the cost of paid search.
What you get: What amounts to an entry-level, top-end paid-search tool. If your business invests significant money in paid-search marketing, then Clickable is for you. You get a top-line PPC management tool that works with Google, Yahoo, Bing and even Facebook. It even -- for an additional $300 per month -- will assign an employee to help you design ad strategies -- that’s actually an affordable option, considering the cost of paid search.
Source: www.entrepreneur.com

Why you might like it: It’s flexible. Overall we found that Click Sweeper strikes a good balance between automatic bidding and user control. You can let the tool do the bidding for you, or if you need to micromanage a few keywords, you can enter bids manually. There is a nice sense of direct control over your spend.

Why you might not like it: its complex. That’s partly due to the nature of the pay-per-click beast, but there are numerous menus, tabs and options to set for every keyword. So gearing up the service can feel as onerous as trying to manage your AdWords campaign with no help. Click Sweeper does offer a set of tutorial videos. They’re dry and watching them takes time, but they can get the job done.

What to do: If you are outgrowing Google’s Adwords tools, Click Sweeper is logical step. Just be sure you give yourself plenty of time and patience to figure it out.

Word Stream for PPC

Why you might like it: Ease of use. Word Stream simply shines at managing keywords. A long list of powerful keyword research tools helps you decide how to build your campaigns and write ad copy. And Word Stream does a nice job of suggesting new or related keywords, and recommending words to avoid. We especially liked the way the tool helps to effectively group keywords, one of the trickiest parts of search-engine marketing.

Why you might not like it: Simplistic keyword bid management. Word Stream does a good job of tracking how keywords perform, but users might miss the opportunity to assign complex rules and goals for bidding that are available in some other services. So you can waste money, unless you have a firm grasp of your bid strategy.

What to do: For ongoing paid-search-marketing efforts, Word stream makes a lot of sense. It offers a nice mix of cost and features for a more sophisticated pay-per-click marketing effort.

Clickable

Why you might like it: Clickable offers a powerful mix of features well suited to most small business needs. It generates daily bid recommendations based on revenue goals. Custom reports track and compare whatever data you’d like and turns it into a neatly branded presentation. The bulk keyword editing tool quickly manages your ad copy and campaigns simultaneously across different search engines, which can be handy for an advertising blitz. And social media gets its due: Facebook marketing tools also help your business break into what some are calling “F-Commerce.”

Why you might not like it: While Clickable may look affordable compared with sophisticated paid-search marketing, it isn't low cost. Expect to spend about $10,000 a year. And you still might feel constrained. Bottom line: Clickable may not be the best choice for smaller shops or those just wading into paid search marketing.

What to do: If you are looking for value over a full-service paid-search marketing agency, or if you feel comfortable running your own paid-search marketing internally, Clickable is an intriguing option. Just make sure you know the pay-per-click market, and have the money to invest. With up-front costs this steep, a return on investment might be tough to find.

Source: www.entrepreneur.com

Benefits of Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising

Companies of all sizes in all industries are taking advantage of pay per click advertising’s immediate and quantifiable results.  Pay-Per-Click (PPC) delivers highly targeted pre-qualified traffic and your company’s message is delivered the very customers already searching for your product or service.  

Another PPC benefit is that it also offers the unique ability to test messaging, enhance both on- and off-line branding, and quickly adjust to shifting market conditions. 

Immediate Search Visibility – 

If your company does not have strong search engine visibility, pay per click marketing is the fastest and easiest way to show up on the search engines. SEO Inc’s Paid Search managers can launch a new campaign in a matter of days and optimize your campaigns to drive pre-qualified visitors to your site.

Reduce Costs – 

From proven keyword expansion and bid management techniques to ad testing and landing page optimization, through the effective keywords advertiser will get his own targeted customer to his brand.  Whenever the user use the keyword to search any on internet the Ad will display on the page.  Also advertiser will only pay for clicks not for any impressions; this will help to advertiser for reducing cost.

Maximize ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) – 

Working closely with ad campaigns we will get to know the performance of the Ads and collected leads will maximize the Return on Ad spends to the advertiser.  This enables us to get more clicks for the advertising dollar and to deliver the highest quality traffic.

Increase Depth of Keyword Targeting – 

If you have a smaller website but want to target a large amount of keywords, you will need to use PPC advertising. Organic search will only support keywords that show up on your website while with PPC you can target as many keywords as you want.

Reinforce Branding – 

Supplement already strong search engine rankings with PPC and you control more of the search engine results pages (SERP’s) for searches on your branded keyword phrases. Branded keywords are often inexpensive and provide excellent opportunities for testing and also remarketing.

Re-marketing – 

Every marketer knows that the more a potential customer is exposed to your brand and messaging over time, the more likely they will become a customer. Remarketing allows you to show ads to users who've previously visited your website as they browse the Web. Find out more about Re-marketing.

Testing Capabilities – 

Pay per click marketing offers a tremendous opportunity for marketers to test new ideas whether it is testing a marketing message prior to a new product launch, experimenting with offers or price points, or just improving an existing PPC campaign. 

Increase Organic Click Through Rates – 

Once the adopted keywords are search organic we will get a highest rate of valid click through rates from search engines,  but the only one thing is it will take more time and depends on our update of the websites or landing pages.

Local to Global Exposure – 

One of the best PPC benefits is the ability to choose where your ads are served by geography. If you are large or small and want to grow, PPC allows you to target new geographic or demographic markets. . It doesn’t matter if you have a small local business or if you are major global brand, PPC has benefits for all types of companies of all sizes.

Source: www.seoinc.com

Ten Advantages of Online Marketing Vs. Traditional Media

A lot of small business people are very curious about online marketing, but they don’t understand how it can directly increase their business. Many of them are seeing less return from their advertisements in traditional media like The Yellow Pages, newspapers and direct mailing campaigns, and are looking to explore new ways of expanding their market share. When the advantages of online marketing are laid out, it is easy to see how it is oftentimes a more cost-effective marketing solution for small businesses.

These are some of the many advantages that online marketing offers over traditional media outlets:

1. Reduced Cost

The starting cost of online marketing is only a fraction of the thousands of dollars that Yellow Pages, television and radio ads cost. For example, you can get a free listing on Google Local that will be just as effective as a costly online Yellow Pages ad. In addition, while traditional ads may only run for a short time, a search engine optimization campaign can deliver long-term results. You can also save money with online Pay-Per-Click advertising where it is easy to experiment with small ad volumes until you perfect your strategy and then expand your marketing budget when you are assured of a positive sales return.

2. Everything Is Measurable

When you place an ad in the newspaper or a magazine, it can be difficult to assess the direct sales impact for your business. With online marketing, everything can be tracked and illustrated in detailed graphs that illustrate traffic growth, leads and sales conversions from your specific search marketing campaigns. Using a free traffic analysis tool like Google Analytics, it is easy to calculate your return on investment (ROI) so you can appreciate the excellent value generated from your online marketing budget.

3. Brand Engagement

In the crowded market, you need to establish and maintain positive brand awareness and client loyalty. Apart from word-of-mouth and leveraging your personal relationships with your established clients, a website is the most important marketing tool a business can have. A regularly updated website with well-written content that maintains people’s interest is essential to showing people exactly how your business is distinctive – and how you offer the best value to your clients.

4. Demographic Targeting

The degree to which an online marketing campaign can target and measure the response from specific demographics and regions is often astonishing to business owners who normally use traditional media. New demographic prediction and online advertising platforms allow you to specifically target the specific consumer demographics most likely to buy your products. In particular, if you want to target young people between the ages of 16-30, you’ll need an online marketing strategy to reach them where they spend the bulk of their time: On the Internet and on social media sites.

5. Real-Time Results

With online marketing you don’t have to wait weeks to see a significant boost in your business. With a paid search marketing campaign you can experience real-time results that enable you to fine-tune your marketing message to achieve your desired effect. If your marketing strategy isn’t working effectively, real-time monitoring tools allow you to easily pin-point exactly where you are going wrong.

6. Easily Refine Your Strategy

Using online marketing analytics and tracking tools you can test conversion rates at a fraction of the cost of a traditional media campaign. Online marketing levels the playing field and allows savvy small businesses to compete in competitive niches that previously would only be open to large corporations and their massive marketing budgets. If your marketing strategy is not bringing in the return on investment (ROI) that you desire, you can work to perfect it without having to launch an expensive new campaign as would be required with most traditional media outlets.

7. Long-Term Exposure

The benefit of an organic search marketing campaign that optimizes a website for specific keywords is that you will achieve a long-term return on your investment. Once your website’s visibility is well-established with search engines, it is easy to do regular low-cost maintenance of your strategy. The early adopters of new online marketing platforms like social media marketing will have a significant head start over their competition.

8. Product Information

Today’s savvy consumers want to compare reviews and opinions of friends, trusted bloggers and industry experts before they make a decision. If you can provide quality, linkable information that is what people are looking for, then the next step of converting users into paying clients can be very easy. With social media networks like Facebook and Twitter re-enforcing the value of positive word-of-mouth exposure, trust is more important than ever in the marketing field.

9. Less Intrusive

Most savvy consumers dislike intrusive traditional marketing methods like direct mailing, print ads and television advertisements. When someone buys a newspaper or magazine, they want to read interesting articles not are bombarded with irrelevant ads. While mediums like television can still be useful for maintaining awareness of large corporate brands, it is not an effective medium for most small and medium-size businesses. With online marketing, you can target consumers precisely when they are searching for products and services that your business can provide.

10. Holds Their Attention

When people read the newspaper or a magazine they may scan over the advertisements beside the article but there is no way to engage their attention. With online marketing you can encourage them to take action, visit your website and read about your products and services which results in vastly increased “stickiness” of your marketing message.

Source: www.marketingsmartt.com