Why choose paid traffic? We weigh up the pros and cons
Paid traffic includes sponsored advertisements that appear in Google search results (Google Ads), on websites (through display advertisements in banners or images) and through social media (like those on Facebook or LinkedIn).
Paid traffic is highly effective in driving fresh new eyes to your website – but there can be downsides too. In this article, we weigh up the pros and cons of paid traffic to help you decide whether it’s the right marketing activity for your business.
Instant results
The basic premise of paid traffic ensures instant results for your business – something organic search can’t promise. If you pay enough, and your advertisements are well-written, you will see an increase in traffic to your website from the moment your ads go live.
Track your conversions
Google Ads allows you to set up Conversion Tracking. What this means is you can track how many people are clicking on your ads and moving through to a sale on your website, or a download of information from your website, or some other specific activity. This lets you see which ads are working and which aren’t, and further improve your paid traffic activity based on this.
Target your advertising
One of the biggest benefits of paid traffic is the fact it is targeted. You select which keywords your advertisements appear on, ensuring your ads appear before people who are likely interested in your product and service. Further, you can target your ad to a particular location or city – a powerful tool for specific locality-based campaigns or where your business operates out of a particular city.
Set your own budget
Paid traffic lets you pre-determine how much you want to spend and stick to your budget. In Google adss, you can set a daily budget – and won’t be able to spend over this amount. This also allows you to scale your campaign up or down based on the success of your advertisements over time.
But there are other factors to be conscious of when considering investment in paid traffic marketing.
Your customers have to search your keyword
To see your advertisement, people have to search the right keywords. If you’re in a niche area where searches around your product or service are uncommon, it is worthwhile starting an PPC campaign to give your business more visibility.
Each click costs
Every time someone clicks your advertisement, it will cost. You need to make sure customers are converting once they click on your ads, or else it will be money wasted.
Getting caught in a bidding war
Sometimes, businesses get caught up in a bidding war over appearing at the top of a particular keyword. It’s important to keep effective paid search strategy as the goal of your marketing – rather than placing importance on appearing at the top (which isn’t always best for your business).
So who is paid traffic for?
Paid traffic is a marketing strategy that can yield results for all businesses – big and small. It provides instantaneous traffic results and can be geographically targeted to suit your needs. Even start-ups with little visibility can benefit from an Google ads or display advertising campaign.
