The Learning Center

As someone that manages pay per click accounts for a number of clients I know there is an extreme focus on Google’s Adwords program. Of course that focus is totally justified because of the results that are possible. With a stranglehold on about 70% of the search market you know that if you run a good pay per click campaign you’re guaranteed to see more traffic to your website and make more sales. But Google Adwords is not the only game in town.

Microsoft’s AdCenter Program is a an Opportunity Most Advertisers are Missing Out On.

For my clients I manage both Google Adwords and Microsoft AdCenter accounts so I get to see the data being provided by both programs covering a number of different industries. Amongst all the different data your account provides you there are two numbers that matter most when comparing programs. The first is the number of impressions you receive from the program and the second and most important is the cost per click. It’s the cost per click that is the reason I believe the program is being seriously neglected.

By Using Microsoft AdCenter You Get Pay Per Click Ads on Both Bing and Yahoo

For a little while now Microsoft has been supplying the search results for both its own search engine Bing and Yahoo’s search engine. It actually started with the pay per click program when Yahoo shut down its Yahoo Search Marketing program and since then the alliance has been expanded to include Yahoo’s organic search results as well. The advantage of this relationship for advertisers is that one Microsoft AdCenter account will allow you to show ads on both search engines. Both search engines combined still don’t come even close to getting the number of searches that Google does but combined the two search engines still provide millions of people worldwide with search results every day. And they do this for the simple reason that not everyone likes to use Google to search for things.

Not as Many Searches but it’s a Much Cheaper Pay Per Click Alternative to Google

So yes the two search engines combined don’t get as many searches as Google does but they still handle millions of searches everyday. It’s a significant number but there is a bigger reason to give the Microsoft AdCenter program a try. It’s Cheaper than Google’s Adwords Program. How much cheaper is it? Even for the most competitive keywords you can expect to pay at least 50% less than you do through Google Adwords and for most keywords you’ll save even more. For example I have a client in the real estate industry that on Google would pay at least $5 and usually much more per click received but on Microsoft AdCenter they are paying around $1 per click for the same keywords. A significant difference.

Consider Splitting Your Budget and Advertising through Both Google Adwords and Microsoft AdCenter

Most small businesses cannot afford to just throw money at an advertising program and hope it works. You need to get the most bang for your buck. Of course if you are going to invest in Pay Per Click you should be using Google’s Adwords. But if your budget is large enough you should at least consider putting some of that budget into a Microsoft AdCenter account. That’s exactly what I’ve been recommending to my own pay per click clients. Of course if your budget is small then it will be hard to split those dollars. So the question you have to answer is how big is your market? If you want to advertise your products or services nationwide then the  Microsoft AdCenter program can be a smart way to go. This is because you’ll easily spend your budget due to a still high number of searches and you will get more clicks for your money. But if you are limited geographically then you will probably need to go with Google Adwords to make sure your ads get shown to as many people as possible. This is where impressions matter as they can give you a good indication of how big your market is.

We know Google Adwords works but I really suggest looking into Microsoft AdCenter. Depending on your situation it can either help you reach more of the search market or it can give you a cheaper alternative to using Google Adwords.

If you’re interested in learning how your business can benefit from Google’s Adwords or Microsoft’s AdCenter pay per click marketing programs or you’re already using them and want professional help to get better results then call 615-890-3600.