The internet is a rabbit hole of information. With over one billion websites in the ether, and over half of those active, the process of getting found online is much more complex than launching a website and hoping people will come across it.

A solid search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is one way to rank well on the search engine results pages (SERPs), but this is a time consuming and ongoing process, and in competitive markets, it does not always yield first-page results.

For those looking to land on the first page of Google, appear where prospective leads are hanging out online, and increase brand awareness, pay-per-click advertising with Google Adwords is the best way to do it.

Here are three ways to use Google AdWords to generate leads for your business.

Search advertising is what most people think of when they hear the term pay-per-click.

Advertisers are able to bid on certain keywords (such as “real estate Boston” or “Los Angeles real estate agent”) and appear at the top of the SERPs when these queries are performed.

The best thing about this form of advertising is you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad and lands on your website.

The amount you pay per click depends on how many other advertisers are bidding on the same word or search term, and your bid can be adjusted so you’re certain to appear on that coveted first page.

Academic research shows that 91 percent of searchers do not go past the first page of Google, so if you can’t do it organically, pay-per-click is the next best option.

Display ads are image ads placed on websites throughout the internet. Using Display advertising on Google AdWords is essential for brand awareness and is one of the most cost-effective ways to get your name and brand out to a targeted audience.

With display advertising, you can choose the websites your ads appear on and target your ads by interest, location, demographics, in-market and affinity audiences, and you can choose whether you pay per click, impression or acquisition (conversion).

Although display advertising has a lower conversion rate than search advertising, when the two campaign types are leveraged together, they produce maximum results.

You are most likely familiar with remarketing ads by now.

Although they seem creepy to begin with, these laser targeted ads, which “follow” you after visiting certain websites, are highly effective as they serve as reminders of products or services that you have already shown interest in.

Remarketing ads are essential for staying front of mind with potential leads.

After a visitor has landed on your website (either through a Google AdWords campaign, social media, organically or from a referral site), a cookie is stored on their computer.

This allows you to create a specific display ad with a strong call to action targeting this audience as they browse online.

Click-thru-rates and conversions with remarketing campaigns are often higher, and return on ad spend (ROAS) is greater with this hyper-targeted form of online advertising.

For those who haven’t tried Google AdWords yet, now is a great time to start. Activate a simple AdWords Express Account, spend some time getting to know the AdWords interface or hire someone to do it for you.

Google AdWords is one of the most effective ways to send highly targeted leads to your website, and the best part is, you only pay per click.

Meghan Zuvelek is the owner of Realmm and a Realtor in Squamish, British Columbia. Connect with her on Instagram or LinkedIn. 

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