When it comes to generating more traffic to an e-commerce website, there are multiple options to choose from: SEO, e-mail, content, webinars, forums, social media and many other. However, when you have implemented and optimized an ad, there are no traffic sources that can offer results like pay per click (PPC).
How pay per click works?
Pay per click is an advertising model that has to be paid for and it allows people who use this model to get measurable direct traffic to their websites. This method also increases the site’s visibility, as pay per click ads are usually displayed at the top of the searches.
The advertiser is obliged to pay when an ad is actually clicked by someone. Every time a certain user is presented with the ad, this counts as one impression.
When a person who searched for a certain answer finds what they are looking for, the next step is to click on the link that leads them to a certain site. This could be viewed as organic listing or paid listing. The best paid listing category sites are the ones that use pay per click advertising. Simply put, a business invests money into becoming more visible in online searches.
How does PPC affect the value of an e-commerce site
The result of the whole deal is that there will be more people looking at the products you offer. This doesn’t mean that every person who visits your website will buy something, but this gives you the opportunity to optimize your conversions by experimenting and testing with various designs, offers, copies, keywords, colors and many other things. Converting your current traffic into sales is one of the hardest parts of the process. However, the bright side is that targeting content is now easier than ever. This is why search ads might be a game changing factor.
If you want to know how pay per click can increase your e-commerce’s website value over time, then consider the following things.
Multiple revenue and traffic sources
When your online e-commerce store is being evaluated, potential buyers are going to take a close look at all of the factors and sources that affect the revenue of your website. The less revenue channels your website has, the more it’s dependent on one traffic model only – meaning that your site is at risk. If you only have one source of revenue, it means that you don’t have an alternative, and when that source dries out, your revenue will practically be 0.
Let’s say that your biggest traffic source is from search results. If a sudden search engine algorithm update happens, your e-commerce site can quickly get deranked in all search results. It can become practically invisible. This is not something that hasn’t happened before, and search engines often like to stir things up and change the game. It’s clear that relying solely on searches is a catastrophic strategy, as you will have to build your traffic over and over again, and who has the time for that?
If your website has multiple revenue sources, potential buyers will be more certain of its stability and, hence, its value will drastically increase. Even if you happen to lose one source of revenue, you can focus more on other sources to make up for what was lost. This means that your site has more longevity and it will be valued more. If you still haven’t included PPC to your strategy, you may start considering the ways it can help your business.
Conversion and sales stats
One of the best things of pay per click ads is that they have automatic tracking. When you launch an ad campaign, you simply have to log into your account to check all of the important stats that can give you insight into how your ad campaign is performing. This option gives you the ability to nail down conversion rates and cost per acquisition expenses. Potential buyers are usually very interested in seeing these numbers, as they like to know the amount of expenses needed to drive revenue from your site.
In general, the lower the costs, the higher the revenue. This is why conversion rate optimization is important, and you can use it to test and experiment in order to find ways to increase the number of your sales. Since targeting is becoming better and better each day, this is something that could help make or break your online retail stores in the future. We will get to that later.
The bottom line is that all interested buyers that mean business will want to see these numbers, including conversion and acquisition, so that they can determine if there is value in investing. Nobody will buy a site that has no results and this is why you need to collect this data, so that you can sell your e-commerce website.
The opportunity for better targeting
When someone looks at it for the first time, a pay per click strategy may seem like a shotgun measure compared to advertising. This is why it’s no surprise that conversion rates are usually quite low.
However, if you use Google AdWords, you will have the option of uploading customer e-mail lists. As you increase sales and collect more valuable customer data, it becomes easier to enhance and tweak your targeting by implementing this valuable data in your entire campaign. You can import this information into the pay per click platform you use.
This gives you the ability to target people who already purchased something from you, and you can also focus on similar audiences. This method of re-marketing is a very effective strategy that helps you generate lifetime customers who have trust in your store, and this is something any potential investor would be happy to see.
Furthermore, in the past couple of years, dynamic search ads have increased in value and are becoming very distinct. They give you the option of showcasing ads that are based on your website’s content, and not only based on the specific words you’ve chosen. Some visionaries even claim that this method will likely eliminate the need for landing pages and keyword lists, while at the same time boosting ROI.
In the end, the better you define your audience, the clearer picture you will have on how to market your items so that they can drive sales. Targeting an audience with pay per click strategies is only expected to improve in the future, and this is why you should look to follow the trend and take advantage of it.
Integrating multiple channels
We have already explained how it’s possible to use customer lists and e-mail lists for remarketing and targeting purposes. This is just a single example of how different platforms and channels can be integrated to improve results.
One of the best examples for this is social media. The most popular social networks such as Twitter or Facebook are only going to continue to grow in relevance when it comes to audience targeting and building. By ignoring social networks, you will miss out on a lot.
It is expected that an even further integration of customer relationship management tools will occur. On pay per click platforms, you won’t lose customization. The value and importance of sending potential customers personalized messages and offering individual customer experience tailored to each individual have been successfully implemented into various marketing strategies. This is because marketers can now appeal more deeply to customers using their ads. Dynamic search ads are only one of the many examples of these techniques being implemented in marketing strategies.
I can freely say, without holding back, that pay per click ads are going to stick around in the future, and that the techniques and technologies used are only going to continue improving. A professional, experienced investor who keeps up with the current trends is definitively going to look at your website’s pay per click advertising positively.
Businessmen who are looking to acquire an online business like to look at the bigger picture, and they consider all of the factors and areas of that business. Some have a specific goal in mind and they will look at a business through that goal. For one investor, some aspect of your business might be favorable, for another, not so much. Still, all experienced e-commerce business owners will make sure to look at your pay per click strategy and will value the results. If you want to sell your business for a higher price, make sure that you have your PPC planned out.
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