How to Use Pay Per Click Search Marketing to Promote Your Small Business

In last week’s post, I presented an overview of pay per click search marketing.

This week, I wanted to provide you with the resources you need to get started with using pay for click ads to promote your own business.

That’s why I’ve gathered links to a bunch of posts, infographics, sites and solutions, all of which contain useful and actionable information that will help get you on your way.

So enjoy and remember, pay per click search marketing can seem overwhelming at first, but you can easily limit the amount of time and money you will spend so take it at your own speed.

Pay Per Click Search Marketing Resources

The Basics

It’s time to get started – these links will help you understand the basics of pay per click search marketing:

• Why PPC – 3 Reasons to Start Doing PPC Now
• How to Optimize Pay-Per-Click Advertising #SmallBizChat QA – solid basic information here targeted at small businesses.
• Free eBook: The Paid Search Primer – a great guide (warning – you do need to give them some information before you can download the ebook).
• These posts provide a great introduction on how to run a pay per click search marketing program including how to think at the start and how to analyze your pay for click ads results on Google Adwords (what do all those numbers mean and how can you use what you learn from them?):
  • An Introduction to Pay-Per-Click Search Marketing Part 1
  • An Introduction to Pay-Per-Click Search Marketing Part 2 – Get The Power
  • An Introduction to Pay-Per-Click Search Marketing Part 3 – Customer Acquisition
• What Is Google AdWords? How the AdWords Auction Works – this awesome infographic explains how Google selects which ads to run in which position each time a search occurs.
• Landing Pages for PPC – this infographic provides some more information about how Google rates landing pages (the web pages to which PPC ads link) and is a good supplementary lesson after looking at the infographic link above.

Tips and Tricks

Pay per click search marketing can be tricky – use these links to learn the ins-and-outs and to get ideas:

• 5 Tips For Getting Started With Pay Per Click Advertising – basic tips for the beginner.
• The 10 Cardinal Sins of Paid Search Marketing –  some excellent points and tips in here!
• Seven Tips for Improving Pay-Per-Click Campaigns – a handy list for making your pay for click ads more effective.
• 15 Tips for Small Business PPC Advertising
• Top 5 Hidden Features in Google Analytics – some more tips on how to track your pay per click search marketing results.
• 5 Tips for Getting Started with Local PPC
• 3 Ways Local Small Businesses Can Use PPC

Insights

These are thoughtful posts which will give you greater insight on the “big picture” of pay per click search marketing:

• PPC vs SEO – Which Drives More Traffic to an E-Commerce Site – loved this holistic view on search marketing!
• Is Google AdWords Too Complicated for Small Businesses? – good question and insightful answer! As I mentioned above, you can easily limit the amount of time and money you will spend on pay for click ads so take it at your own speed
• PPC on Brand Terms: Pros and Cons – should you run pay for click ads that use your business or brand names as a keyword? An interesting look at pay per click search marketing strategies.
• What Kinds of Businesses Should Use PPC Advertising?

Solutions and Tools

These links lead to solutions and tools that can help you manage your day-to-day pay per click search marketing tasks:

• A Look at Pay-Per-Click Tools for Small Businesses
• WordWatch
• Pay Per Click Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator – enter the amount of clicks purchased, the cost-per-click, conversion rate and average sale per customer to determine the ROI for your pay per click search marketing campaigns.

But Wait, There’s More!

Yes, there are many great posts and blogs that focus on pay per click search marketing:

• 35 Posts to Define Your 2012 Pay-Per-Click Marketing Strategy – the post linked to here links to even more information on getting the most out of pay per click search marketing.
• The Trada Blog – use the “Categories” drop-down selector at the bottom of the right column to find topics such as “PPC Tips” and “PPC Help”.
• WordWatch Blog – useful posts on pay for click ads.
• Sound Web Solutions Blog
• A Directory of PPC Blogs – a great resource for finding much more information on pay for click ads!

Weekly Link Roundup

Each week, I collect the 10 best posts that I’ve read and share them with you here.

These posts focus on web-based solutions, online resources and up-to-date news for small businesses.

Enjoy!

8 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Site With Google+: Handy tips for getting the most out of the SEO power of Google+.

Facebook App Shares ‘Friend’ Data With Marketers: This could be a marketer’s goldmine! I’m going to keep an eye on this…

Little-known ways to improve your social-content strategy: Social content? Yes, even at 140 characters, content is king!

Google’s new social report focuses on dollars instead of Likes: This could be very valuable in regards to determining social media ROI.

What You Get When You Invest in Content Marketing: A CFO weighs-in on the ROI of content marketing.

Humble email saves suburban Chicago pizza pub: Loved this article on the power of e-mail marketing and customer loyalty!

Should Small Businesses Get New Top-Level Domains?: A look at the pros and cons of using domains extensions other than .com, .net and .org.

How can b2b marketers reduce opt-outs from email marketing?: When e-mail list opt-outs start to rise, it’s important to pay attention and adjust your approach.

7 Questions Your Visitors Want To Know (Does Your Website Tell Them?): Basic but solid checklist to assure your website is as effective as it can be.

Altimeter Report: The Rise of Digital Influence: Very interesting report which focuses on the measurement of digital influence and the capability of the current “measurement solutions” on the market.