January 02, 2009

As advertising budgets get slashed here in 2009, there's one area that you might want to spend a few dollars on, even if you have never spent money on it before. Pay Per Click advertising (PPC), Paid Search, Search Engine Marketing, Adwords or whatever you know it as, offers some immediate benefits to companies in need of website traffic, lead generation, or just some really helpful market research.

1. Pay Per Click Commands Generous ROI -- In 2007, according to Marketing Sherpa, online marketers ranked PPC and email marketing as one of the most profitable channels with the highest ROI. AdWords can average five times stronger ROI than other online marketing channels, including email marketing.
   
   
2. Instant Targeted Traffic -- If you have a new website, PPC ads are your best bet. Invest a minimum of $100 a month, and PPC gives you immediate traffic which can help generate sales right away. While organic site optimization (SEO) offers long-term benefits, its bottom-line results can take months or years.
   
   
3. Test your website, landing pages, or promotional offers -- The moment your PPC brings traffic, you'll have immediate feedback about your site's effectiveness. You'll know your convertion rates for sales and leads, which pages generate the most interest, and above all, you'll know your site's bounce rate -- the key metric that tells you if viewers are abandoning your site after viewing one page.
   
   
4. Branding -- If you're simply looking to put your company name in front of your target audience, PPC also works quite sell. For every click you buy, PPC exposes your brand’s name, message and offerings to the most qualified prospects, not just to everyone. But make sure your branding has a measurable conversion goal, like an email sign-up.

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