Increasing traffic on your website can be achieved through various methods, such as guest blogging, utilizing social media, and investing in paid advertising.
The reason why guest blogging and social media are effective for driving traffic to your website is mainly due to their ease of use and being cost-free.
What is paid advertising?
Paid advertising refers to the act of obtaining web traffic by purchasing online advertisements.
Although guest blogging and social media can effectively generate website traffic, they lack measurability and overlook the most significant traffic source: search engines.
Advantages of paid advertising
Integrating paid ads into your website marketing strategy has several reasons.
- by displaying your ads in competitive space, it is a great way to expose your company’s name to a larger audience
- it is a quick way to drive relevant traffic to your website
- with all the targeting options available, even small budgets can produce great results
- results can be tracked and measured to provide you with a better picture of your ROI
- collected data can be used to help you find and target valuable keywords as well as learn more about your visitors’ behavior trends
Types of paid advertising
There exist various forms of paid advertising, with Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Pay-Per-Impression (PPI) being the two most prevalent types.
What is PPC?
PPC is the abbreviation for “Pay Per Click,” which is frequently used interchangeably with CPC, meaning “Cost Per Click.” The term PPC signifies the monetary value that you will be charged for each click on your ad by a visitor. The amount of money required for each click depends on the subject of the ad and the particular platform being utilized.
PPC is an effective strategy for reaching search engine users because they are more likely to click on links that closely resemble their search intent.
Google AdWords is a widely used PPC platform, alongside Facebook Ads as another option.
What is PPI?
PPI, which stands for “Pay Per Impression,” is commonly used interchangeably with PPM (Pay Per thousand impressions) and CPM (Cost Per thousand impressions). These abbreviations indicate that PPI represents the cost of displaying your ad a thousand times. It’s important to note that with this advertising method, you are paying for the ad to be shown, rather than clicked.
PPC vs. PPI, which is better?
Determining whether PPC or PPI is more effective is challenging due to the presence of strengths and weaknesses in both.
PPI rates are generally cost-effective and enable easy budgeting as you only pay for a specific number of views. Additionally, PPI ensures that your ad will be displayed the exact number of times you paid for it. Nevertheless, PPI does not quantify the number of individuals who actually clicked on your ad.
On the other hand, tracking PPC is simple – it is clear whether people clicked on your ad or not. PPC only requires payment for the actual clicks. However, the competition among advertisers for the same ad space in PPC can lead to a costly bidding war.
5 Steps to Getting Started with Paid Advertising
1. Understand (and Use) Long Tail Keywords
Longtail keywords are keywords that consist of multiple words. Instead of focusing on “plumber,” you could focus on phrases like “emergency plumber near me” or “plumber to unblock a drain.” These keywords are important because they have a higher chance of aligning with the words that searchers use, and they also show that the searcher is prepared to hire or make a purchase.
Ubersuggest is an excellent tool for uncovering keywords related to your specific industry.
When using Ubersuggest, keep in mind that the goal is not to find the keywords with the most traffic, but rather to discover the words that your customers use to search for your business.
When thinking logically, rephrase the given text without altering the meaning but by breaking it down into sequential steps. Make sure not to include additional information and not to eliminate any information. Pay attention to long-tail keywords, which refer to longer, more specific keywords that constitute the majority of search-related traffic.
2. Understand the Different Types of Paid Ads
Before getting started, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the major types of paid advertising as well as their advantages and disadvantages, as there are various platforms available, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses.
Display Ads or Banner Ads
When considering online advertising, banner ads are often the first thing that comes to mind due to their conspicuousness. They are widely prevalent and available in different sizes. While these ads can be successful, their main focus is on customers who are not actively seeking something new.
Display ads can be successful if used properly. There are two ways to purchase display ads: through a pay-per-click model or by displaying them for a specific duration. For instance, when a person is reading a newspaper article, they may not be interested in a new social media course.
3. Track Your Paid Ad Results
If you cannot view the performance of each of your ads, it is not advisable to purchase paid advertising. The advantage of online advertising is that you can monitor everything. When it comes to online ad buying, Google Analytics is essential. This free analytics package is simple to install.
Once you have set it up, you should get to know Google Analytics Custom Campaigns thoroughly. These options enable you to generate a personalized URL for each advertisement, which will aid in assessing the overall effectiveness of your advertising efforts. Using Google Analytics in this manner will provide you with a unified dashboard for comparing all of your advertising campaigns.
4. Create a Landing Page
There are three compelling reasons for directing incoming visitors to a distinct page, known as a landing page, on your website instead of your homepage, although it may appear contradictory.
- Landing pages allow you to customize your message for incoming visitors. This means that you can continue the message you started with your ads, which creates a more cohesive experience.
- Custom landing pages allow you to push visitors toward specific actions, such as downloading a free ebook. (Displaying traditional navigation may distract your visitors.)
- Landing pages make tracking your visits very easy. This is especially important.
By combining this strategy with user-friendly funnel-tracking tools, you’ll promptly gather extensive information on effectively reaching and converting your new visitors.
There are instances where you can make a single landing page for an entire ad campaign. However, there are other situations where it may be preferable to create a distinct landing page for each keyword you acquire.
5. Review Your Paid Ad Results Regularly
To ensure accurate trends and information, it is important not to check your results frequently and make hasty changes based on incomplete data. Instead, it is recommended to wait and allow your analytics to accumulate accurate information over time. Once this is done, establish a specific time frame, whether it is on a monthly or weekly basis, to review your statistics and make any necessary changes. Checking your results monthly is particularly effective for identifying significant shifts.
It is recommended to consider the establishment of spreadsheets for monitoring your statistics. This will facilitate the identification of patterns and enhance your understanding of the data when you dive into the analytics to extract the figures for your spreadsheet.
Utilize basic spreadsheets for tracking the traffic generated by your advertisements.
It is important to consider removing keywords that are not performing well in order to optimize paid advertising. The focus should be on conversion rates, which measure the effectiveness of generating leads or sales, rather than just clicks that may not result in any valuable outcomes and only incur unnecessary expenses.
