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You’ve got a hot new product and a user-friendly website. You’re excited because this new product could help your small business make ends meet, but not enough people are visiting your website to see why they should buy from you and not your big-business competitors. And since times are tough, you don’t have the money to launch a big ad campaign to drive people to your site. What do you do now?

Grab your customer’s attention – now – when they’re looking for your help!

What better time is there to pitch a sale than when your customers are actively searching for a product online? Paid search is growing at an astonishing rate, and since Google accounted for 63 percent of searches made on the top five search engines in 2008, you couldn’t ask for a larger customer base.

Don’t be dismayed by that four-letter word “paid.” Generic search terms, like ‘web hosting,’ might cost you several dollars per click, but long tail search keywords like ‘cheap business web hosting with e-mail’ could only cost you a few cents per click. And who do you think is more likely to buy from you right off the bat – someone overwhelmed by thousands of generic web hosting sites, or someone looking at your Business Hosting Plan landing page which includes all of your plan’s costs and benefits?

One of the great things about Google AdWords is how easy it is to get started. The sign-up process prompts you to enter things like where your customers are located and your monthly budget; then you can jump right in to making your first ad campaign. The best part? Google has a top-notch Learning Center that will teach you everything you’d ever want to know about advertising using AdWords, from developing your ad copy to choosing search keywords.

Still worried about your monthly budget? Answer this question: Will you really need to cut costs when you’re selling more of your product than ever before?

Points to remember:

• Paid search is a fast-growing advertising trend
• Customers who are ready to make a purchase tend to use long tail search keywords
• Paid search with Google AdWords can draw paying customers to your website
• Google AdWords has excellent tutorials and is easy to use

Have you tried using Google AdWords, or are you thinking about starting? Tell us about your experience in the comments!