Using PPC to Promote Online Stores

Not all Pay-Per-Click campaigns are created equal. Or at least they should not be. The basic elements of a campaign can be fine-tuned according to specific business models designed to achieve maximum return on investment from Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising efforts. For online storefront owners, these adjustments can come into play during the many facets of campaign creation, ranging from modifying keyword submission strategies to developing more effective landing pages.

Initially, online storefront owners can adjust main campaign elements including keywords and listings to best fit their business needs. The keywords submitted must be relevant to their industry and include terms that revolve around the business’ main product line. In addition to bidding on main product-focused keywords, submitting additional relevant keywords, depending on the selling cycle for a product, PPC can help align Internet advertising strategies with the offline world.

Take, for example, an online storefront selling stationery, business cards and other related printing products. The storefront’s main keyword list can include products such as “greeting cards” and “business cards”. In December, the storefront’s campaign can add terms like “holiday cards” and “corporate Christmas cards” to the list of keywords that have been bid on from many different PPC advertising networks such as Searchfeed, Miva, 7Search, Kanoodle and Enhance. This can ensure increased traffic from quality seasonal leads.

While compiling advertising listings, online storefront owners can capture a visitor’s attention by providing clean, targeted titles and descriptions. This includes a keyword within the title that helps highlight an ad among a set of search results. Descriptions should include phrases directed at assisting online consumers to act quickly, simplifying the buying process. To further differentiate ads from their competitors, the inclusion of more sales-focused phrases like “free shipping” or “free gift with every purchase” could also motivate online consumers to click on an ad over their competitors, thereby boosting online sales.

Landing pages are often overlooked as a main campaign component but they can be the centerpiece of an effective campaign if properly developed. Since a potential customer has already expressed interest by clicking on a PPC ad, this page must be used to convert that lead time into a sale by including information regarding the exact product or service mentioned in the PPC ad. For instance, if an Internet user clicked on an ad for roller skates and was then directed to a general page on children’s toys, it would be less likely for that lead to be converted into a sale because the link did not provide the user access to the specific information that was queried in their original search.

“Having a landing page that includes specific product information and a means to purchase that product such as a dedicated product page with the information and online shopping card can help online storefront owners convert more efficiently PPC sales leads,” said Elena Krivoruchko, Searchfeed.com's Advertiser Relations Director.

Overall, there are many tactics that can be utilized by online storefront owners to help receive the best possible results from PPC campaigns. This includes adjusting each part of the campaign to meet specific sales models and incorporating retail trends to reflect business goals in hopes of achieving maximum results from online advertising efforts.

Tiffany M. Guarnaccia, Searchfeed.com Corporate Communications
Tiffany is the Public Relations Manager for the Pay-Per-Click search advertising firm, Searchfeed.com. In her position, she helps promote Pay-Per-Click (PPC) technology and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to the general public and media on subjects relating mainly to small-to-medium-size industry specific websites and portals. Tiffany has authored many articles and spoke at online educational seminars on web PPC advertising methods, highlighting Searchfeed.com’s mission to enlighten the Internet community on topics related to searches.

Tiffany Guarnaccia can be reached by phone at: 908-722-9951, ext. 205; by fax at : 908-722-9953 or by email at: [email protected]