Should You Use Pay-Per-Click Ads to Generate Leads? (Video + Q&A)

Once again, it’s time for another edition of the WEB ROI video tip series.

Today’s video looks at the benefits of using pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to generate leads for your business.

Video highlights

• PPC helps you get noticed ahead of your competitors on Google
• It’s a smart way to quickly reach a very specific target audience
• You decide how much you want to spend each day
• Your competitors in the contractor, retail & B2B industries are using PPC marketing

Q: What’s crucial to business growth?

A: Lead generation

 Having a strong, stable base of repeat customers is a good thing.

But having a steady stream of qualified leads ready to do business with you is a great thing.

And pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can help quickly deliver those leads straight to your website for a variety of reasons:

• It can appear at the very top of Google and other search engines (including sites which utilize excellent search engine optimization techniques).

• If you know what you want to say, who you want to say it to and where you want to say it, PPC ads can seek out that particular audience.

• You don’t need to spend a fortune on PPC. With professional keyword analysis and a smartly operated budget, you can get great leads at a low cost.

Paid advertising isn’t just for big corporations.

Small and mid-sized companies (like your competitors) are taking advantage of everything PPC has to offer.

Here’s why you should do the same.

Want to beat your competitors with PPC?

Get your personal PPC 101 guide.

Q: How can you rank higher than #1 on Google?

A: With PPC ads

The foundation of any website is proper search engine optimization (SEO).

It takes time, but it pays off.

But if you’re looking to quickly get ahead of the competition (with say, a special offer), pay-per-click advertising can get you there.

In Google and other search engines, there’s ad space for sale.

Where? At the very top of the search results page.

And when someone enters in a relevant search term, your ad will appear ahead of your competitors.

• With SEO, it can take months for your website to get at the top of the search rankings. It’s slow, but very necessary and permanent (meaning you constantly need to adjust your SEO program).

• With PPC, you can get there almost instantly once your advertising campaign is set up. It’s ideal if you have something you want to promote right now.

Q: Who will see your PPC ads?

A: Whoever you want

Would you rather:

• Spend $5000 upfront to advertise in the Yellow Book with no control over who sees your ad, or...

• Spend a budgeted amount each day and have your ad seen by people actively searching for it?

You’d pick the second option. Every time.

PPC lets you decide who sees your ad, when and where.

Let’s say you’re a landscape supplier based out of Hamilton, Ontario. You specialize in patio stones and have extra inventory you want to get rid of.

You could try to naturally rank for that using search engine optimization. But that takes time and this is a short-term offer.

Instead you can create a PPC ad campaign which specifically targets:

• Hamilton homeowners...
• ...Looking to update their patios...
• ...Wanting to use the brand products you’re looking to move...
• ...And are ready to buy now

That (in a nutshell) is how pay-per-click works.

You create an ad and it gets seen only by people looking for it.

Q: How much does PPC cost?

A: There’s a reason it stands for pay-per-click

Once your ad gets seen, do you have to pay for it?

Nope.

You only pay when somebody clicks on it.

With traditional print advertising, you’re paying for it whether someone:

• Looks at it
• Ignores it
• Throws it away
• Picks up the phone and calls you

On the other hand, PPC is an effective way to control your daily budget.

If you want to spend $100/day, you can. Once you hit that $100, your ad no longer appears and you stop spending.

Look at it this way: Imagine you’re a new home builder and you’ve spent $1000 (spread over 10 days) on paid advertising.

If you sold a $500,000 new home, would you consider that $1000 PPC ad spend a good investment?

You bet you would.

Q: Who’s using PPC ads?

A: Your competitors are

The next time you’re on Google, do a web search for the main product or service you offer. Look at the very top of the results page at the PPC ads. There’s a very good chance you’ll see the names of one (or more) of your competitors. And if they’re using pay-per-click marketing, chances are they’re getting leads and customers from it.

Unfortunately, it also means you’re not.

Q: Should I hire a professional for PPC ads?

A: Yes, if you want the best results.

Although you may be able to run your own, chances are you'll waste a lot of money trying. A professional digital marketer knows how to strategically target your ads so you get the best return on your investment.

At WEB ROI, we are your go-to experts for search engine marketing, include PPC campaigns, SEO and more. Contact us today to book your discovery call!

Article Update June, 2023.