Are Pay-Per-Click Ads Really Worth It?

While Search Engine Optimization (SEO) takes a while to impact traffic to your website, you can create nearly instant traffic by paying a company to advertise your website directly to your target audience across multiple websites. While SEO is more cost-effective, as it builds up long-term traffic to your site, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads are instant.

The Cost of a PPC Ad

According to Hochman Consultants, a marketing firm in Connecticut, the average PPC ad cost companies $0.92 in 2013. This is up from $0.84 in 2012. This is, of course referring to the rate for every visit a company received as a result of the ads placed on their behalf. For every 10 customers that found a website via a PPC campaign, one would make a purchase on the advertiser’s website. This meant that in 2013, companies spent $10.44 on average in order to win a meaningful viewer of their site (i.e. viewer who purchased a product or service).

Pay Based on Measurable Results

The benefit of a pay-per-click ad is that companies only pay for results. This makes advertising significantly more affordable for start-ups, and smaller companies with limited advertising budgets. Companies not only get customers to visit their site, but their brand is plastered all over the internet for free until someone clicks on their banner.

False-Clicks from PPC Campaigns

A common vulnerability that all PPC ad campaigns suffer from is false clicks. These are instances where a company’s advertisement is clicked, and someone that doesn’t meet their target demographics for their products or services visits the company’s site; thus triggering a charge to the advertiser. This can be a result of a malicious attack on a company or brand by a competitor that purposely clicks on their victim’s ads in order to drive up advertising costs. Additionally, the websites that display these ads sometimes encourage their staff to click through ads on their site in order to increase their revenue from the advertiser.

The Benefits of PPC Disappear Once Payment Stops

The major downside of PPC advertising, as compared to more traditional SEO, is that once your company stops pouring money into the PPC, the increased traffic sharply decreases; if your ads aren’t showing up on other websites and search engines, how will customers find you? This is why it’s important to view PPC advertising as a more immediate, short-term solution to your company’s SEO requirements.

Combining PPC with A Comprehensive SEO Strategy

Your company’s website needs immediate traffic and strong traffic increases over time. In order to get the best of both worlds, your company needs to use PPC advertisements as part of an overall SEO strategy that capitalizes on the traffic from ads to generate long-term growth for your brand and website. Search engines look at the origins of traffic to your site. If a ton of traffic hits your site as a result of a PPC ad advertising website design, then search engines will use that as an indicator that your site is popular for people searching for website design.

Take the time to develop a strategy where your PPC ads and your SEO campaign work to benefit each other, and you’ll be on the right path towards growing your brand. This is one of the many reasons we recommend sitting down with a professional SEO firm that can help you make smart decisions with your online advertising dollars.