Grow your business with Microsoft Advertising

Target relevant searchers looking for your goods & services

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Customers search

Customers see your ad

Customers contact you

Where will my ads appear?

Connect with customers searching and browsing online, regardless of what device they are using.

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ON MOBILE DEVICES

WHERE THEY BROWSE

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Join Microsoft Advertising for free and control your account at every step.

Only pay for clicks

Pay just when customers click on your ad. No click, no charge.

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Start advertising with a budget that works best for your business.

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FAQ

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Is Microsoft Advertising right for me?

Is Microsoft Advertising right for my business?
All types of businesses find value and success with Microsoft Advertising. Whether you're focused on local calls and foot traffic, or want to drive traffic to your website from across the country or around the world. Microsoft Advertising has solutions for you.
I already appear in search results for free. Why should I pay for advertising?
Your current customers may search for your business by name, aiming it easy to find you in search results. But customers you've yet to reach are more likely searching for general terms that wouldn't necessarily bring up your business in search results. Advertising next to relevant Microsoft Bing search results puts your business front and center with interested customers you otherwise might not reach.
What is the difference between SEO and SEM? Which one is right for me?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is adjusting your website to improve your natural ranking in search results. You cannot pay to improve your website ranking on Bing or Yahoo, thus we often refer to these results and unpaid or "organic" search results.

Clicks from SEO are free. But SEO also requires technical expertise and involves some factors over which you have only limited control.

Search engine marketing (SEM) is paid advertising that appears next to or above unpaid (or "organic") search results. These paid ads are purchased through Microsoft Advertising.

You pay for SEM clicks. But SEM gives you more control over when your website appears on results pages and you decide how much you want to pay. And you can measure which ads are working and quickly improve your results.

You don't have to choose between SEO and SEM. You can do both!
If my time is limited, should I still try Microsoft Advertising?
Yes! Call a Microsoft Advertising specialist at 877-635-3561and we’ll set up your first campaign for you for free. We’ll give you tips on getting the most out of your ads and set you up for success. We’re here to help.

About Microsoft Advertising

Where does my ad appear?
Your ads could appear on the top or to the right of Bing, Yahoo, and MSN search results. And you can choose to target your ads to different geographic regions, times or days of the week, and even demographics.
What determines my ad position?
Microsoft Advertising is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising system. You bid based on how much you are willing to pay per each click on your ad. Because webpages have a limited number of places to show ads, we auction those spaces. You are bidding against other advertisers to get your ads into the space you want. So if you bid on the keyword "shoe", you will have to beat the bids of the other advertisers who are also bidding on "shoe." You determine how much you are willing to bid.
Your ad position is based on several things, including:
- How closely your ad and website fit with the terms that are searched (relevance).
- How your bid compares to other bids in the Microsoft Advertising auction.
- How strongly your ad has performed in the past and how often it has been clicked (click-through rate).
The stronger you are in these areas, the better your chances of winning the top ad position.

How to use Microsoft Advertising

How can I use Microsoft Advertising to drive more people to my website?
Here are some tips to get better results:
- Review your budget and bid strategy. If your ad keeps pausing, your budget limit may be set too low. Competitive bids help your ad stay in a strong position to catch eyes and get more clicks to your website.
- Expand your targeting, both for location and for devices (computer, mobile and tablet).
- Make sure your ads and website are relevant to the keywords you bid on. Would someone searching your terms expect to see and ad for your business?
How can I keep my costs down?
While your first instinct may be to lower your budget, first try lowering your maximum bids. Yes, this could mean fewer customers visit your site. But if you increase your quality score and build ads with a strong performance history, you may be able to win a good ad position with a lower bid. That would lower your cost=per-click and help stretch your budget.
How do I know if Microsoft Advertising is working?
View a wide range of performance trends in your account to quickly see key stats: ad clicks, the number of times your ad appeared (impressions), spend, average cost-per-click, click-through rate, average ad position, cost per acquisition, and conversions. You can also run performance reports to get insights into how well your campaigns are doing.
Can I run more than one ad?
Yes! In fact, we encourage it. Only one ad will show at a time but running multiple ads lets you test different approaches to see what's working best with your target customers. Frequently, businesses try out different ads for specific products or pages.

Getting started with Microsoft Advertising

How do I get started?
Sign up for Microsoft Advertising
Which keywords should I choose?
You have a few options to help choose your keywords. First you'll want to think of the terms one of your customers might use to search for your products and offerings. Those search terms are a great starting point. Then you can use tools right in your account to find more keywords. Within Microsoft Advertising, click Campaigns on the top of the page. Click the Keywords tab, and then click Add Keywords. This will let you:
- Search for new keywords based on one you enter.
- Search a website for keywords.
- Search your destination URLs for keywords.
How can I write a good ad?
Here are a few tips that can help make your ad stand out.
- Keep your ads relevant. One way to improve relevance is to use your customer's most popular search terms in your ad titles and txt.
- Describe what sets your product apart.
- Use your customers' language. Use words and writing tone that are likely to attract your typical customer.
- Be specific. This clearer and more specific your offering, the better. For example, rather than "big discount," specify and exact percentage, such as "50 percent off."
- Give customers a reason to click your ad right now. Offer a specific call to action, such as encouraging customers to request a brochure or consultation, download a free e-book, subscribe to a newsletter, or take advantage of a limited-time discount.