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December 16, 2008
59% of Small Businesses Don't Do Paid Search Marketing
59% of small businesses with a web site don't do paid search, according to a survey conducted by Microsoft adCenter. 90% of that number haven't even tried. To which I say, "What is up with that people?" That is just leaving money - potentially gobs of it - on the table.
I can't say I'm surprised. Recently, on a trip to the beautiful North Carolina mountains, I was appalled at the lack of paid search listings for small businesses.
Not a single resort conducts a paid search campaign "ski North Carolina" on Live Search, Yahoo or Google. Even the ones from West Virginia could be snagging tourism dollars out of the state, but they're not. None of the resorts are great at optimizing organically either. The first ski resort appears at number 3 in the natural results for both Live Search and Google and #5 on Yahoo!
Perhaps it's because, according to the survey, 70% of small business owners would rather do their own taxes than do paid search.
Now, if you're a small business owner out there who maybe has heard that paid search is something you should do, but you'd rather become an accountant, let me give you some assurance.
I experimented with paid search for the first time this fall. That may sound crazy for someone who blogs on Search Engine Watch, but my background is copywriting, not paid search campaign conducting. I was nervous, but once I did it, I wondered what I had waited for. It was much easier than I anticipated and I can assure you that it's not even close to the awful experience of doing your own taxes.
Besides, like taxes, there are paid search marketing professionals who can do it for you. They know the tips and tricks to help keep costs low and maximize your marketing dollars.
So jump right in, the water's just fine. Or at least, it's frozen enough to ski on.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on December 16, 2008 10:04 AM
Comments
I believe many small business owners don't use paid search for a couple of reasons. One is they don't want to take the time to learn something so foreign to them, and second, they don't trust another company (Google, Yahoo, etc) to catch the click fraud.
Greg December 16, 2008 7:38 PM
...or maybe small businesses think like me and would rather click on an organic search result than a paid result.
I can't think the last time I clicked a sponsored result, other than a GoDaddy discount special.
Ari Herzog December 17, 2008 1:09 AM
Shhh! don't let the cat out of the bag. The less businesses involved in paid search, the easier it is for those of us taking advantage of it. Especially here in the mountains of NC:)
chris December 17, 2008 10:31 AM
Exactly! The fewer people who know the better. We've been selling Video Surveillance for a few years, but just recently started using SEO and Paid Search. Our traffic has already increased significantly in just a few weeks.
Byron December 17, 2008 12:07 PM
The feedback from smb is:
too complex
do I really need it
don't have enough money
It really boils down to:
Do they need it? or do they want it?
art December 17, 2008 1:31 PM
Another reason why small business owners don't use paid search - it doesn't produce a good result.
Jessica December 17, 2008 9:55 PM
Paid search campaigns mean someone has to monitor something, which requires thinking. The brain needs to be engaged. Which boils down to work, analysis, and more thinking.
In my experience as a website design company owner, dealing with a great many very small and brand new web based business owners, these basic requirements are far too taxing.
"Why work hard, when you can sit back and hope the money comes rolling in, instead" - is the attitude the MAJORITY of my clients seem to take.
As Greg said, Shhh! Theres plenty of cake on offer for the winners! :)
Robert Owen-Wahl December 18, 2008 7:33 PM
As a small business owner, I can say the ROI is just not there for us. We did PPC campaigns for a year. Saw sales, true, but the over all cost was significant. We dropped the unprofitable campaigns, refined and kept doing the ROI analysis. It just didn't pay. PPC is not the golden egg for everyone. Organic SEO, now that's another, highly profitable way to go!
Andrea December 20, 2008 7:56 AM
I have customers using geotargeted PPC to great effect and even put in a unique phone number in some of the ads that work well also... you need to get targeted to succeed and if you are at top of serps for local searchs like my town my industry then it helps even more!
AussieWebmaster January 2, 2009 10:01 PM
Organic SEO is great for everyone, and PPC ads can be very advantageous to most small businesses. I run campaigns for multiple clients, from small bed and breakfasts to medium sized security firms and large floral retailers -- with a properly managed campaign, everyone can benefit. Depending on your business, consider your strategy -- your maximum bid, your keywords (using phrases or broad match?) and whether geotargeting is right. Then closely monitor and adjust as needed. There is a combination that will provide great ROI for most businesses.
Amber Wallace January 12, 2009 12:38 PM
