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In recent years, one of the most highly touted features of the Internet has been how it can let the online store owner reach customers all over the country, even the world.
"So what?” you think. "All my customers are gonna be located within a couple of miles of my store.” And so you turn your attention back to more important matters, such as how to get your latest door hanger in front of every living, breathing potential customer within that two-mile radius…for free if possible.
But, typical of the Internet, things have changed. The Internet now lets you market within a very small geographical area. Both of the two major search engines, Yahoo! and Google, can search by specific cities or towns. Let’s use Jersey City for our example. A web surfer would go to Google or Yahoo! and enter a search term such as "pizza Jersey City.” This will return every listing of all web pages that contain both the words "pizza” and "Jersey City” including your pizza shop’s web page if you happen to own a pizza shop in Jersey City and have a website and remembered to put your address on the website.
"Great!” you are thinking to yourself. "Now, all I need to do is get a website and it will show up every time someone searches for pizza in Jersey City. Can it be that simple?
It’s Not That Simple
There are a few problems with the delightful scenario above. One problem is making the search engines aware of your website. A bigger problem is getting listed on the first page of the search results for that one specific search term "Pizza Jersey City.” Better yet, getting listed in the first position on the first page.
Just to see what happens, let’s try a search on Google for "Pizza Jersey City.” It comes back with about 750,000 results. Of these, Google displays the top 10 results. None of these was actually a pizzeria. The top result was for a Jersey City address directory, the next was for an online yellow pages service, the next was for a Jersey City bar and dining guide and so on. If you actually do have a pizzeria in Jersey City, it was probably buried among the remaining 749,990 results that Google found, but did not display. Very few people look beyond the first page of the search results. Now, before you fling up your arms in despair, take heart. There is a happy ending to this tale.
Enter the PPC!
PPC stands for Pay Per Click, and for the pizza operator, it is very good news indeed. Earlier, I suggested how nice it would be if someone would see an Internet ad for your Jersey City pizzeria when they entered a Google search for "Pizza Jersey City.” With Pay Per Click services you can make it happen. Here is how it works.
 When you subscribe to a PPC service, you select the search terms that make your ad appear. That is, you can specify that when someone types in "Pizza Jersey City” your ad will appear. This is an awesome concept. Think about it; someone using a computer is actively looking for pizza in Jersey City. They go to Yahoo! or Google, type in "Pizza Jersey City” and your ad pops into existence on their screen. Someone searching on the Internet for pizza in Jersey City is unlikely to be doing so from West Palm Beach, Florida.
It is far more likely that this person is right there in Jersey City. Maybe they just moved into the area. Maybe their old pizzeria went out of business. Or maybe it served them a toadstool pizza. Who knows? Who cares? The important thing is that they are looking for pizza in Jersey City and they found YOU.
Don’t waste the Opportunity
So your ad has popped up on their computer screen. Wonderful! What does it say? Your Internet ad should say something like "Best Pizza in Jersey City - Order Online now - Fast Free Delivery.” It should make them want to click on your ad. Your ad only has a few brief words available to convey a message. That message should be "Pizza In Jersey City. Great Pizza. Now.”
They Click On Your Ad
They click on your ad. Hallelujah! They are in! Your ad will take them straight to your web site. Now your website should get to work. It should tell your visitor how wonderful your pizza tastes. It should give them reasons for ordering. It should let them order online. It should have them register with their name, address, phone and email. It should greet them warmly and make them want to come back again and again.
Admittedly, this is a tall order, but if your website can do it, it is well worth the effort because it will have converted a casual visitor into a paying customer. And all because they searched for pizza on a search engine and your ad appeared.
But How Much Does It Cost?
"All well and good," you think, "But how much does it cost?" At this point, about a nickel or maybe a dime. As of this writing, the top bid for a click through for "Pizza New York City" was 11 cents. For Jersey City it was either 5 cents or a dime depending on the PPC service.
The nice thing about PPC is that someone must actually click on the ad before it costs you anything. The simple appearance of the ad on the viewers screen is called an impression. With the major PPC services you won’t be charged for impressions, only for someone actually clicking on the ad. This is called a click through.
And remember, the clicker is someone in Jersey City who is looking for pizza. Right away this weeds out the less likely prospects. Someone looking for pizza in Gary, Indiana, is unlikely to enter your search term, "Pizza Jersey City." And that search term is the only search term that will cause your ad to appear. How much more targeted can you get?
How to Get Started
 Let’s assume you already have a website. A fairly good assumption if you have read this far. At this point all you need to do is launch your PPC campaign. Google makes it easy. Google has its own PPC service called AdWords. Visit www.google.com and click on Advertising Programs. Next, click on Google AdWords. You will be taken to a page which teaches you everything you need to know about AdWords, and lets you open your AdWords account and create your first campaign. Yahoo! purchased a PPC service called Overture. It is located at www.overture.com. Click on the Advertiser Center button to get started.
Both Google AdWords and Overture use a bidding system to charge for their click-throughs. This simply means that if there are five different pizzerias who want their ads to appear when someone searches for "pizza Jersey City," the highest bidder gets the top position, the next highest gets the second and so on. In general, the top three positions get the most clicks.
Both services let you specify a daily budget. Once you reach the daily limit, your ad is no longer displayed that day, and you incur no further charges. Still not convinced?
As of this writing, Overture has one bid for "Pizza New York City" and two bids for "Pizza New York." The top bid was 11 cents. There were no bids at all for "Pizza Jersey City." Many large towns have little or no competition for these top advertising spots. It is a new market wide open to local pizza operators. You can probably bid for a pay per click campaign on "Pizza Your Town" very cheaply. This is a fast, powerful and still inexpensive way to bring new customers to your pizza shop.
Many pizza operators are either so busy running the shop or afraid of the Internet that this power marketing tool is often overlooked. It is really rather simple and something you can learn in a relatively short amount of time. It is one of the most targeted marketing tools out there. If you have invested in a web site and not looked into PPC, you have skipped the final stage of your strategy. If you have any questions about PPC, feel free to give me a call, but at the very least, take a look at AdWords and Overture…it only takes a few minutes and could dramatically increase your web presence.
About the Author:
Rudy Vener is owner and founder of Pizza Galaxy. He has helped many
independent
pizzerias and restaurants reach new customers and increase their
sales with Internet marketing and online ordering. If you would
like to learn more about how he can help your restaurant, call toll
free at (800) 260-0588, visit his website at
www.pizzagalaxy.com, or email rudy@pizzagalaxy.com.
– PMQ –
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