SMBs find Bing converts more for less

 Guest post from Cedric Chambaz, Marketing Manager, Search & SMB, Microsoft Advertising

Pay-per-click advertising (PPC) is an affordable marketing technique which allow brands to promote their products to prospects that are proactively looking for them. Affordable, scalable and trackable... PPC is the preferred solutions for small and medium businesses who have an online presence. And yet, not all search engines are equal. If Google clearly dominates the market with large volumes, advertisers with a tighter budget may prefer to look at the quality of the traffic rather than only the sheer number of people landing on their sites. After all, what really matters is not the number of passer-by that visit your shop, but the number of buyers, isn't it?

Independent research company Nielsen Net Ratings regularly monitor traffic coming from search engines and their conversion rate. The UK figures for June-August 2009 have just been published and their results are quite eloquent: Microsoft search engine leads the way with the best converting traffic. This has been validated for three years, but this time around the results have strengthened: with 7.1% of its click-throughs driving to a secured page like a checkout, Bing searchers are 49% more likely to convert than the average UK searcher, and 56% more likely to convert than Google searchers.

 This means that by advertising on Bing, using Microsoft search advertising platform adCenter, you make the most of your budget. An article in Director Magazine September edition confirms this. Fatsac director Alan Toller revealed to the journalist that his trial on Bing delivered beyond expectations for his small business established in Cornwall.

"Bing has outperformed Google in cost-per-click, at about 25 per cent lower, and on click-through ratio, at about one per cent higher," he says. "When compared with Google, Bing is great value and an excellent competitor."

No matter what your business is, from niche car insurance to bean bags, from travel agencies to nutrition supplements.... You will find on Bing a complementary source of traffic. Traffic that does convert.

But don't take my word for granted, experience it for yourself. We have set up a site, tryadcenternow.co.uk, where you will receive a free £30 credit to get started on us.