Go local – this has been the PPC mantra many online marketers adopted, especially for small businesses with a very geo-targeted market. However, what if your business is not really that limited? What if you actually have the potential to go global and reach a wider audience to generate results much faster?

Every search engine marketing company has talked about how to launch local PPC campaigns, but very few actually have the expertise for international pay per click management. If you could carry out a global campaign successfully, it’s a great tool to build brand equity in different countries and at the same time, penetrate previously untapped markets.

A Realistic Assessment of Your Capabilities

Before asking a search engine marketing company to come up with a global PPC strategy, have a realistic and honest assessment of your business’ current infrastructure and capacities. Here are a few things you should consider:

• Do your products hold an appeal to the residents of the country or region you are targeting? For example, it would be illogical, unethical and even offensive to sell revealing fashion items in extremely conservative countries.

• Can you actually ship your products to these new countries?

• Do you have a team that speaks the country’s native tongue so that customer service is seamless as possible?

• Do you know the tax laws and are you in place to implement these from a financial point of view?

Getting thousands of clicks without addressing the prerequisites above can be detrimental rather than beneficial for your brand.

Go Beyond Google

With a market share of approximately 84%, Google is considered an Internet god and every search engine marketing company is striving to get on its good side. There’s nothing wrong with this. However, a truly effective international pay per click management service is one that takes into consideration local context and search engine usage statistics.

In China for example where Google is not allowed, Baidu is the preeminent search site and there are certain requirements before you can register for a pay per click account. In Czech Republic, the search site Seznam is not too far behind Google and in Russia, Yandex trumps Google as the most widely utilized search engine.

It is important to be aware of these local search data to ensure that you are getting maximum exposure and the highest possible returns on your advertising investments.

Pay Attention to Your Keywords and Content

This is the juncture where globalization and localization meets. While the concept of international pay per click management services talks about having a PPC strategy that has an international appeal, in terms of content and keyword, you still need to inject local flavor to be truly successful.

• Most of the time, simply translating your present keywords won’t produce results. It’s best to hire someone who speaks the vernacular fluently and know how a particular nation searches for a particular product or services. Look at analytics data as well to know which local search terms are generating traffic.

• Your copy should have local appeal. Direct translation can produce awkward copy so again, it is important to get someone who speaks the native language to come up with your ads’ copy.