I saw a statistic the other day that blew me away. According to Jupiter Research, 61% of online consumers use search engines on a daily basis. For anyone with a Web site – whether you’re selling products or offering services – that’s got to be a pretty compelling reason to advertise on search sites.
Now, I know some of you think search marketing is a bit mysterious. And if you’re new to keywords and bidding and all that pay-per-click stuff, I agree it can be a bit puzzling. But really, it’s pretty simple. You create an ad and choose keywords related to your business. When someone searches using one of your keywords, your ad may appear next to search results. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad. If they don’t click on it, you pay nothing. Pretty cool, huh?
Search marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to advertise online because you pay only for clicks and have complete control over your budget.
Office Live Small Business has a search advertising tool that makes placing your ads on Microsoft Live Search and Ask Sponsored Listings quick and easy. It’s called adManager.
I like to tell people that using adManager is like having your own personal search advertising agency working for you. The tool guides you through the whole process – from writing your ad, to setting and managing your budget, to selecting and bidding on keywords, and finally, tracking the success of your ad campaign.
If you want to learn more about using cost-effective search ads to drive traffic to your Web site, check out the following resources:
If you’re ready to get started with adManager, just log into your account and click Promote Your Business, and then adManager to get started.
And I’m curious: How many times a week do you use a search engine? And does that 61% figure surprise you at all?
Loriann Ikeda