If you've started a blog for your small business, you know the worst thing that can happen is that no one reads it. After all, that kinda defeats the purpose, am I right?

Done properly, a business blog can have a multi-faceted benefit to your business. It can not just bring you new customers, it can help shape and define your brand, establish authority, amplify search rankings, enable social sharing and so much more.

Yet if this is taken up haphazardly, or worse yet, indifferently, you're going to be preaching to the choir, and wondering why you started this dumb blog in the first place.

One the best ways we know of to start building a blog audience is with the use of paid ads. This doesn't need to cost you an arm and a leg, and it can bring about great results if you give it a little time. Here are 5 recommendations for buying that traffic.

5 best paid advertising services for your blog

#1 – Outbrain

These text ads run on major websites like CNN.com, ESPN, FOXNews and others, and can get a far different set of eyeballs than what you might be seeing. Not to mention that these sites get massive traffic in the first place! Check Outbrain here.

#2 – Facebook Ads

Maybe the best paid traffic opportunity available today, mainly for the capability to precisely target your audience while not spending a fortune. Their audience insights tool alone is worth the price of admission!

#3 – Google Adwords

The granddaddy of paid ads is still kicking, and can be useful mainly for their vast reach in online advertising. Care should be taken here not to get taken to the cleaners, however.

#4 – LinkedIn Sponsored Updates

This can be especially suitable for your blog post if you cater to professionals in any sense. These ads are taken more seriously than most, and are a bit more expensive, even so the nice thing is that there's an eager audience awaiting your great content. Check it out here.

#5 – Pinterest Promoted Pins

While still asking you to get on a waiting list, once you're in you will discover a lot of engaged people who love to interact. The demographic of Pinterest is primarily female, so if your product or service is visual and applies to women, go for it! Know more about Promoted Pins here.

#6 – BWM Local

Last but not the least, our very own BWM Local. It's a local display advertising offered by Best Web Marketer. Our online media platform places rich digital advertisements on the world’s most recognized networks like ESPN, Facebook, Food Network, CNN, Forbes, People, and Rolling Stone. Check out our own video below.

It may seem to you, as it does to many, that whenever we turn our heads around there's a brand-new local initiative from Google. Now it's called Google My Business, and prior before I get snarkier, allow me to say that it looks as though this one is very helpful.

Google My Business appears like it's extremely beneficial and an authentic help to your local company. The mission to bring everything under one roofing is a very long time coming, however seems to be worth the wait.

Basically Google+ is now the platform, and all else focuses on this.

5 Ways Google My Business Will Work for Your Local Business

1. GMB enables you to easily update your info from one location – Once you assert your listing on Google My Business, you'll be able to update anything you want concerning your company or online presence. You likewise have the ability to include pictures as well as virtual tours if you want, thus making it easy for individuals to get a real understanding of your location.

2. Get in touch with your customers through Google+ – You can speak with fans and consumers straight through your company's Google+ page, sharing content, and information. You can even begin and perform a Hangout on air.

3. Handle customer reviews – This one is the most discussed function: the capability to see, respond and handle evaluations on Google from one centralized location. Be certain you have a plan for managing your client's evaluations, excellent or bad, and be certain any individual who will be publishing to this page understands exactly what you want to do.

4. Run your company on the go – Using the Android and iOS apps, you can access any part of the Google My Business platform anywhere you are as long as you have your internet connection.

5. Client Insights – Another cool feature. GMB reveals you a number of beneficial statistics, such as where your customers are driving from. This will certainly work when preparing brand-new campaigns. Another plus is that you can quickly integrate your Google Analytics account into GMB. This is likewise true for Google AdWords.

Photo Credit: IBoomMedia/Flickr

One great thing about Facebook advertising is that it’s so easy, anybody can do it. Unfortunately, not everybody who uses Facebook advertising gain the same huge benefits. And if you’re wondering what is it that makes others win big at Facebook advertising and why others don’t, here are some of the important things you should know.

Facebook Advertising Strategy

1. Test your ads.

As in any type of advertising, testing your ad is important in order to see what really works. An ad may acquire plenty of impressions but no click throughs, while another ad may obtain many click throughs but no conversions. By testing your ads you’ll discover the right message, the right image, and the right price that will maximize the efficiency of your ads. When testing your ads, it is important to slow down. Change one element at a time on your ad up until you feel it has already reached its maximum level of performance. If you go and try to change everything all at the same time, you might not be able to find out what’s actually working.

2. Use Cost per Impression (CPM) first.

While it’s quite tempting to use cost per click ads (in which you’ll only pay when someone clicks on your ad), this is not always the best place to start. With CPM, you‘ll be able to test your ad more effectively over a wider range of users. If you start with CPM campaign first, you can test your ads and find out which ads perform well and which give you the lowest return. Although some people might tell you that CPC is the way to go as this is the model we’re familiar with in Google Adwords, you shouldn’t believe them. When you’ve already tested your ads and know which works, that’s the only time you should switch to CPC as you already know how much budget to put in your advertising campaign.

3. Test at various times.

Different ads perform differently at different times of the day, and even on different days of the week. For this reason experts advise that you test your ads at various times of the day and during various days of the week to find out what ad performs best and when.

4. Refresh your ads on a regular basis.

When you’ve already discovered your best performing ad, there’s a tendency to keep it forever. You shouldn’t. Studies show that a Facebook ad has an average lifespan (the time when users start snubbing it) of around one week. Have a good supply of ads (that you’ve tested and proven) which you can interchange to keep your ads always fresh.

5. Keep your followers on Facebook.

Many advertisers commit one grave mistake with Facebook advertising, and that is driving people directly to their website or blog. The problem is that most Facebook users feel much safer on this site and want to stay in their comfort zone. If you’re wise, you wouldn’t want to interfere with this loyalty factor. So instead of directly driving them away from Facebook, just drive them to a tab on your business page, where you can motivate them to like your page or get their information to add to a mailing list. Only when they’re at ease with you should you send them away from Facebook.

6. Measure your results.

As in any advertising strategy, it is important to measure the results of your Facebook ads. Good thing Facebook has its own tools that you can use for this purpose. In addition, you can also use Google Analytics to evaluate what Facebook users actually do after they visit your website. Only then will you know whether your Facebook advertising is working or not.

So these are the elements of the winners’ game plan with their ads at Facebook. Are you ready to be a winner as well? If you're not sure, please contact us if you need help in Facebook marketing.