“Should I use PPC for my business marketing plan?”While it is faster to get an ad listed in the search engine results through PPC then it is to get a link listed in the same search engine results through SEO, not every business will benefit from a PPC campaign.

You must ask yourself seven important questions before investing in PPC:

1. Is there an online market searching for my products and/or services?

This question will help you determine the relevancy of your business to what people are searching for online. PPC marketing only allows you to reach people who are actively searching for information, products or services through the search engines. If you cannot find heavily-searched keywords that relate directly to your business, then there is a chance that the online market just isn’t there at this time.

2. Do you need to boost traffic to your site as quickly as possible?

If you are in no hurry to build traffic to your site, then you can stick with SEO and social media marketing while spending less money. If you do want to get your website or online store off the ground as quickly as possible, then PPC is the fastest way to get the clicks coming in.

3. Do you want to attract local customers?

PPC allows you to target consumers within a particular geographical location or consumers that fit a variety of other demographics. If you want to attract locals from a particular region or consumers of a particular gender, PPC may work for your business.

4. Once you start your PPC campaign, what do the analytical tools tell you?

There are simple tools available to help you determine how well searchers are responding to your advertisements. If you aren’t getting the clicks that you know you deserve and/or visitors are not staying on your site very long, then you know there is a problem with the ad, the keywords, or the campaign in general.

5. Are you nervous about investing in SEO without testing your keywords?

PPC is a great way to test keywords without waiting months for your SEO campaign to deliver results (or not). If you want to use SEO but don’t want to waste your time, test with PPC first.

6. Do you know enough about PPC to manage a campaign successfully?

If not, it doesn’t mean your business is not suitable for PPC. It simply means you may need to hire professionals to look after your PPC campaign to ensure the best results possible. The other alternative is to learn more about this form of marketing, but that is more time-consuming than most business owners can afford.

7. Will your marketing budget accommodate the expense of PPC marketing?

Some PPC campaigns are more affordable than others, but you will never know what your expenses may run until you do a bit of keyword research. If you find that there is heavy competition for the keywords you need to target, then you will need a more sizable marketing budget.

This question was placed last because you have to think about your budget in terms of the other six factors. Considering your answers to all of those other questions, think about your chances of getting a great ROI from a PPC campaign. If there are enough people searching for your keywords yet your niche is not overly competitive, then you may find that PPC is your fastest and most affordable strategy for marketing online.