PPC vs. CPC – What is the Difference?

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Digital marketing has allowed many businesses of all sizes to leverage their businesses and increase their profit margins. The influences of innovation, technology, and a global market can be attributed to the rise of online marketing. Whether you are a sole proprietor, in a partnership, or have a large corporation, each entity will find digital marketing extremely beneficial in their business growth. Such forms of effective online advertising can be through social media ads, Amazon ads, search engine ads such as Google AdWords, or even through your own business website. There are some business owners who leave their online marketing strategy in the trusted hands of digital marketing professionals, while there are those who willingly navigate their own digital marketing efforts only to find themselves confused with terminology and concepts – resulting in ineffective campaigns. The acronyms that often get people confused, unless you are a digital marketing expert, are PPC and CPC. For those new to the online marketing world PPC and CPC may look alike but they are not, and in order to get the best ROI (return on your initial marketing investment) you need to have a comprehensive understanding between the difference of PPC vs. CPC.

What is PPC and CPC?
Pay-per-click (PPC) is an internet advertising model used to drive traffic to websites, in which an advertiser pays a publisher (typically a search engine, website owner, or a network of websites) when the ad is clicked.
Cost Per Click (CPC) refers to the actual price you pay for each click in your pay-per-click (PPC) marketing campaigns. Cost per click is calculated by dividing the cost of a paid advertising campaign by the number of clicks. For example, you paid $125.00 for your PPC ad and it got 125 clicks total, then you spent one dollar per ad click.

Cost Per Click = Total advertising Costs/Number of Clicks Per Advertising

The importance of PPC and CPC?

In order to have an effective and successful online ad campaign a business has to take several important elements into consideration before creating and publishing an online ad such as:

Platform – Where will the ad appear?

Audience – What is your target’s age, gender, city state, or countries?

Ad Content – Do you have a click-worthy heading, sales-copy, and photo?

Call to Action – “Buy Now”, “Learn More”, or “ Call Now” are some call to action examples.

Duration – How long do you want your ad to run?

Keywords – Searchable keywords will increase your ad of being shown to your target audience.

Budget – Decide on how much you want to spend on your ad campaign.

When implemented and executed properly your PPC ad and CPC should work together, your ad should draw attention and your final metrics should provide effective results giving you a good ROI. These factors will help your business stay competitive against similar businesses in the industry, especially when your target customer is searching for a product or service that you provide.

benefits of online advertising

How to Increase Traffic to Your Online Business

online marketing

 

There is a plethora of online businesses selling similar products and services to consumers on the world wide web to select from. Competition among online retailers is fierce because of easier startup requirements in comparison to having an actual physical presence such as a brick and mortar. Nonetheless, e-commerce is still serious business which needs constant attention and strategic implementation. If you own an online business it is absolutely necessary to increase your web traffic in order to generate sales. Ultimately, if you want regular traffic to your business website then you need to stay consistent in your efforts. Here are several ways you can increase traffic to your online business:

Target audience
Understanding your target audience is likely to have a profound effect on your online business success. When you know who your target audience is you will have a better comprehension on their interests, wants, likes, and spending habits. This will help with content creation because the web content on an online ladies’ boutique will not be the same for an online software business. The web content will be different in tone, voice, and style as these three elements will influence your brands’ personality. Depending on your products, services, and target audience your web content may require technical writing or may benefit using fewer formal words and phrases. The fundamental aspect of content marketing is knowing who you are relaying your business message to, in order to deliver it in the most effective manner.

High-quality content
If you want your online business to be taken seriously then you need to have an aesthetically attractive website that is user-friendly and responsive in design, so the quality is the same when viewed on a desktop, smart phone, or tablet. In addition, your website content needs to be professional and high-quality, not filled with grammar and spelling errors. If you sell products having good quality product descriptions is essential. Providing information about your products or services without a buyer having to ask you questions speeds up the purchasing decision and decreases shopping cart abandonment on your website. Product photos and website photos should also be looked at with a keen eye as you don’t want to use blurry, low-quality, or irrelevant images. Only high-resolution photos should be used on your business website. Consumers want to know exactly what they are spending their money on and if photos and web content is mediocre they will feel indifferent about buying from you. The great thing about having an online business is that there are no physical barriers and aren’t limited to a specific area, but it also means you have to provide content that resonates and persuades a call to action, whether it is a purchase or a phone call.

Fresh content
Search engines do not like obsolete, outdated, stale, less engaging website content. While new content will not automatically guarantee your website to have front page search engine rankings, it will increase its chances. Search engines may scan, crawl, and index a website based upon several algorithmic factors. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should update every day resulting in low-quality blog articles or filling your website with too many keywords (keyword stuffing), because you will get the opposite result and may be penalized. Fresh content can be posting a new blog article every few days, adding a new landing page, or polishing your product descriptions. When you update your website with reliable and informative new content you will increase your chances of search engines updating your website ranking. Most importantly focusing on quality over quantity will benefit your online business in the long-run.

Metadata
Your business website’s metadata shouldn’t be overlooked as it plays an important role in your SEO and SERP (search engine results page). Metadata are HTML elements that communicate website information to search engines. Metadata includes page titles, meta descriptions, and meta tags. Having unique page titles and meta descriptions for each web page or product will have a significant impact in search engine ranking. When used effectively, well-crafted metadata can significantly boost your website traffic.

AdWords
If you want to get traffic to your online business faster, then you can sign up for an AdWords account and pay for PPC advertising. Your ad will be shown on a SERP to people looking for what you have to offer. You only pay per clicks; in other words, you only pay when your ad is clicked on by an online user. High-traffic keywords are important for a successful PPC campaign because as an advertiser you are bidding for keywords. Enabling enhanced CPC will slightly modify your budget in order to utilize and optimize your ad. This will increase your ad’s visibility and improve conversion rate.

Social Media
Nowadays most people search social media for answers before making their purchasing decisions. Social media is an affordable way to build an online community, build an online presence, build a following, and retain loyal customers. Many online entrepreneurs who decide to take on their own social media management role will find out early that it’s harder than it looks. A social media business page takes a lot of time, engagement, high traffic hash tags, and creating quality content that will attract. In today’s social media age, your social media pages are a reflection of your business brand. If you are posting irrelevant posts, unattractive photos, or over-posting throughout the day, this will turn people off and away. Social media allows users to repost, retweet, or share to their friends, family, and followers acting as an online form of word-of-mouth benefiting the business, which is why your social media business profiles should be taken seriously and treated as such.

Influencer
Trust is an important factor in buying decisions so working with a trusted influencer with a large social media following or blog following will greatly help with your business visibility and business growth. The more influence an influencer has in the online community the more he or she can influence followers or readers to purchase your product or services. Please note that not all influencers are the same and you should choose an influencer that works with your brand image. For instance, if you have an online ladies’ boutique choose an influencer that focuses on ladies’ fashion. If you have an online décor store then choose an influencer that focuses on interior design. Some influencers require a payment, some ask for products, and some want both, so it all depends on your budget and your goal. The key is collaborating with an influencer within your niche, who has a positive image, strong influence, and has followers that you want to attract to your website.

Why Your Website Needs SEO

 

Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, is something every business owner should implement into their website content or blog. Even businesses with small marketing budgets should invest in professional SEO due to it being one of the most cost еffесtіvе internet marketing strategies to organically drive traffic. The more search engine optimized your content is the more accessible your website is to your target audience. Your ranking is what determines whether your website is shown on the first couple search pages or lost in the very back. Considering you want your business website to be found before your competitors, especially if you have similar products and prices, it would be wise to polish up your content and get it optimized for search engines.

Visibility

Search engine optimization can help your business gеnеrаtе grеаtеr awareness through more traffic, brand visibility, and рublіс awareness. Let say a person is searching for a product or service that you offer, if your website is search engine optimized properly your website will appear ahead of the other businesses whose web content is lacking in optimization. The higher you rank, the higher you are placed in search pages – this is what you should aim for. The objective of search engine optimization is for customers to find you.

Compete More Effectively

The issue is not about spending роwеr with SEO, but it is about implementation and a ѕаvvу ѕtrаtеgу. Thе smaller businesses can compete with the larger businesses on a larger scale regardless of location, years in business, or lack thereof. That’s the beauty of search engine optimization, the physical size of your business doesn’t affect your online presence. Due to this grеаtеr awareness, you can effectively compete because оf thе presumed credibility. You will аlѕо get a higher retention rate of visitors because іt will be easier to find уоur website once you have reached a higher search ranking.

Excellent ROI

Search engine optimization can deliver an еxсеllеnt ROI if dоnе properly. Unlike expensive PPC, you are not limited by dаіlу budgеt in terms of the number of clicks to access your wеbѕіtе. SEO can be done in a way that the content comes together naturally rather than forced. Search engine optimization is a small investment that you will continuously get a return on as long as your website is up and running.

Increase Sales

Just like every business owner, your primary goal is to increase sales and with SEO you will have the ability to acquire a more captive audience. These are consumers that are searching the internet for your specific services or specific products. Whenever they do an internet search for something specific, the search engines are pulling up the best matches to provide the search results. The websites with the most optimized content will be the ones pulled to the front. The websites who have a higher ranking in search engines will have higher traffic resulting in higher conversions. Don’t let your business website get lost in the internet because you failed to implement SEO into your content marketing strategy. If you want customers to find you and stand out from your competitors, you need to get search engine optimized!

Interested in search engine optimization?

Send an email to: [email protected]

New Year’s Resolutions for Small Businesses

 

Shortly after the holidays many businesses will see a dip in their sales. The reason is that many consumers have overspent during the holidays and are now on a tight budget especially if budgeting is on the top of their New Year’s resolutions list. Small business owners shouldn’t get discouraged because with the right marketing strategy and with continuous effort your business will thrive. Here are four resolutions for your small business that will help get your business out of the after holidays slump and create a continuous momentum all year long:

  1. Promote your products/services

While humility is a virtue that should be practiced in your everyday life, being humble about your business is another story. Regardless of the size of your business, the amount of revenue it brings in, or how long you’ve been in business you should be your business’ biggest fan. Whether you sell ladies apparel, pet products, tech services, or consulting services, it is imperative to maintain your business image in a positive light always. You have to be excited about your products or services in order to get others excited about it too. Just remember the old saying, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” People will be more interested when you talk positively about your business. The more likeable your business sounds the more likely they will hire your services or make a purchase. Let everyone know about your business: friends, family, neighbors, acquaintances, strangers at the grocery store, social media, the internet – I mean everybody. If you have new products or a sale let the world know. You can promote your sale through Facebook Ads, Google AdWords, and word of mouth. The more people know about your business the more leads you will get resulting in more paying customers.

  1. Start or increase your email list

The new year is the perfect time to begin an email marketing campaign. The first step is to build an email list of those who are actually interested in your products or services. You can easily build your email list by offering a discount to new customers if they join your email list. Email marketing is a great way to market your business without spending too much money. The key to an effective email marketing campaign is that your emails are interesting, straight to the point, and visually appealing. The thing with emails is that people will often read the subject line first so if your subject line is uninteresting or appears spammy, guess where your email will go? It will go straight to the spam folder. If your email seems pushy then there is a high chance the receiver of the email will unsubscribe, so while email marketing seems easy enough it has to be done with professionalism and tact, otherwise your efforts will be wasted.

  1. New photos and web content

A new year calls for a new look, but not drastically unless you want to rebrand your business. Updating your web content and adding new photos won’t change your brand image, it will only polish it up. Adding a new landing page or adding a blog section to your business website will increase web traffic organically and internet traffic is what you want to aim for. You want to always maintain a sense of freshness regardless of how long you’ve been in business because consumers are attracted to businesses that are modern and keep up with the times.

  1. Up your social media presence

Social media is the most effective platform to introduce your products and services. More and more consumers search for products and services on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Their purchasing decision is often based on what they’ve seen online and their online experiences. For example, if someone sends a direct message to a couple salons offering the same services and only one responds within an hour and the other two responds days later, guess which salon gains a new client? The one that treats potential clients and existing clients like they matter. Social media allows you to build customer trust and customer loyalty as long as you provide exceptional services and products. Days of searching the Yellow Pages is long gone in today’s Digital Age. If you want to up your leads and your customer base, then you need to start upping your social media presence in 2018.

 

Need help maintaining your business resolutions? Send your emails to: [email protected]