So you’re a small business in a big world, and you want to drive traffic to your website without breaking the bank.

Welcome to the world of Pay Per Click advertising!

PPC advertising allows you to target consumers searching for key phrases related to your business. The beauty of Pay Per Click is in the name: you only pay when someone clicks on your ad, making it an excellent option for businesses with a limited marketing budget.

That means your ad can potentially get millions of impressions and views for free. The only time you pay is when someone clicks to visit your website. What’s really great about PPC is that these visitors are often very motivated to buy goods or services.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Here’s an overview of the best PPC options out there.

Google AdWords

Reach:

Google is the top dog search engine. Google has a 63% market share amongst the leading U.S. search engine providers, and has tracked 4 billion site visits from ad clicks. According to the Google Economic Impact Report, businesses make $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on the PPC service Google AdWords.

Cost:

Google AdWords’ average Cost Per Click (CPC) is ~$2, but depending on what industry they’re in and how competitive a keyword is, a company may pay over $20 per click through.

Legal services is one such competitive industry with a higher than average CPC of ~$6. It’s worth it for them, however, as they can bill new clients between $300 – $1000 an hour. A lawyer would be very happy to get a new client for $6.

The dating and personals industry, on the other hand, has one of the lowest CPCs at $0.20. Think about that. An ad that sits at the top of a search page that only costs you $0.20 when someone clicks on it. We’re drooling.

Alternative: Bing Ads

Bing is smaller than Google, but it’s no slouch. Bing makes up 30% of the search engine market share in the U.S.

On average, Bing’s cost per click is 50-70% less than Google. There’s also 36% less competition on Bing than on Google AdWords, meaning higher ad placements and lower costs.

Demographics-wise, Bing skews older; 40% of Bing users are 35+, with many falling in the 55-64 age bracket.

So if you have a lower budget and/or want to target your ads at an older group, Bing might be a better choice than Google.

Facebook Ads

Reach:

The king of social media. Facebook has 1.13 billion daily active users on average.

Thanks to the amount of personal information available in Facebook’s database, marketers can get very specific about the type of people they’re targeting. Age, sex, location, education, religion, interests, politics, job title, marital status, interests, and more can all be used as filters for ads.

Cost:

Facebook ads run on the same PPC model as Google and Bing, and are comparatively very affordable. CPC can be as low as $0.16 and rarely surpasses $2.

Alternative/Supplement: Instagram

Instagram offers CPC rates similar to Facebook but provides something Facebook does not – high social media engagement. So if your goal is to get likes and comments, Instagram is the place.

Instagram’s user engagement with brands is 10 times higher than on Facebook, 54 times higher than Pinterest, and 84 times higher than Twitter. Instagram also trends younger with a very large teen demographic.

Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be either/or with Facebook and Instagram. A successful Facebook campaign can easily be adapted into an Instagram campaign and vice versa, seeing as they share an ad platform.

Linkedin Ads

Reach:

LinkedIn is the largest business-to-business (B2B) social media network. LinkedIn demographics skew higher for both salaries and job responsibility than other networks.

In short: it’s easier to connect with purchasers and top decision makers.

To reach these high-level individuals, LinkedIn offers business targeting options – you can target specific industries, job types, and even job titles.

If you are strictly targeting businesses as clients, LinkedIn should be considered.

Cost:

Because LinkedIn gives B2B content marketers access to a high-value audience, advertising on the channel comes at a premium. Average CPC is estimated at around $6, with a $10 minimum daily budget for campaigns. Compare this with Facebook’s estimated CPC of $0.50 and daily minimum of $1.

Alternative: Google AdWords, Facebook

LinkedIn is great for targeting niches and specific individuals, but there’s a danger of your target audience being too narrow, as LinkedIn’s network is much smaller than Google’s and Facebook’s.

Lots to consider isn’t there? And this is just an introduction.

Thankfully, you don’t have to do this on your own. Eden Advertising has a team of PPC marketing specialists that can help you increase your website’s traffic and sales. Contact us today to get started on growing your business!