Being the first entry for my new site I thought I would go with something that may seem quite controversial to a number of you. I am talking with business owners who are very frustrated with Pay per click advertising every day. Concerned at the cost, unsure of the result it delivers and having no idea as to what to do next with their online presence.
The answer in my opinion is easy but let me cover a few points first:
I have been doing a great deal of research into Pay per Click advertising over the course of the last few weeks and whether we should continue using it in a number of our businesses. The results from our Pay per Click advertising has been declining for some time however the cost to run our campaigns has almost doubled. Now I am not against pay per click as such rather focusing on what will deliver us the best return for our investment.
In addition to researching Pay per Click we have been actively focusing on Search Engine Optimisation, using our own internet marketing techniques to drive and improve the positioning of our own websites. The results have been quite exciting in that we have see our sites improve their front page positions by over 3 spots. Now this may not seem much but when you review the impact this has on website activity and click throughs you will be surprised.
It is well known that a First position in the main search engines for your most searched keyword or keyword phrases will generally capture around 50% of the people searching.
* Position 1, approx 50% * Position 2, is less somewhere between 12% and 19%, * Position 3, between 11% and 18%, * Position 4, between 7% and 15% * Position 5-9, between 2% and 4% * Position 10, approx 3%
So let’s compare that with the clicks or traffic that Pay per Click advertisements attract:
* Sponsored ads at the top of the search page attract between 2% and 4% of Clicks * Sponsored ads on the right hand side of the search page attract between 1% and 2% of Clicks
The numbers tell an interesting story. A number one ranked website will attract over 25 times the amount of traffic or viewings or clicks that a Pay per Click advertisement will. So if you are spending $1000 a month on PPC and that generates 100 click throughs to your site, a website that ranks number 1 will get over 2500 viewings. It is pretty clear where you should be investing your money – Organic Search Engine Optimisation!
No some of you may disagree with me and that is fine. However if you are a business owner who is spending large amounts of money on Pay per Click advertising, and some of you are then it may be a good time to re-evaluate. Look at investing some of your funds into Optimising your website more effectively.
If you are using Pay per Click advertising and want better results, take advantage of Heatley Gilmore’s FREE Website Evaluation and SEO Report . Just enter your details to see how you can be improving your Internet Marketing instantly.