10 Best Places to Advertise Online

Online digital marketing can be overwhelming if you’re just starting out. There’s a lot to learn about what makes ads effective if you’re on a digital platform. Along with this, you also need to learn about the best place to advertise online depending on your budget, location, and target market.

This can be especially overwhelming if you’re doing it on your own because you’re starting your own business. As you’re starting out, a team dedicated to digital marketing might not feasible right now. If you’re tackling this head-on by yourself, let’s make it a little easier for you.

Here are the top 10 best places to advertise online. Let’s discuss them further down below.

Search Engines

Search Engine Marketing is a cost-efficient way of marketing your products and services at the right time. It’s because you advertise to users when they’re searching for the keywords that are connected to you. By the time they’re searching, they’re either thinking about buying or they’re ready to buy. 

Compared to other traditional forms of advertising, SEM is a lot easier to measure. You’ll know if your campaign ads reach the right people and how much value you are getting from them. With the results, you’ll be able to make much more educated decisions moving forward.

1. Google

We all know and love Google. Chances are when you first get your laptop or PC, you download Google Chrome instantly. It’s that much of a staple in any device.

Google has around 4 billion users. To give you an idea of how many people that is, the world currently has 7.674 billion people.

Because of the vast expanse of users that it caters to, Google is currently the reigning king of search engines. These users are all around the globe with different ages, genders, industries, and so on.

This makes Google the best place to advertise online if you’re looking to advertise on a global scale. Being able to rank higher on Google opens up so many possibilities for your company.

Factors that Influence the Cost to Advertise:

• Targeting criteria
• Keywords
• Text of the ad
• Landing page
• Maximum bid
• Competition

Statistics:

• As of January 2021, Google accounted for almost 93.2% of the market, making it the leading mobile search provider in the U.S. (source)
• In February 2021, Google led the market with a market share of 86.6%. (source)
• In April 2021, Google was able to process 13.46 billion search queries in the United States. (source)

2. Bing

Admittedly, Google has a bigger reach since it dominates the market. But Bing has a different charm compared to Google.

Bing is used mostly by an older demographic, ranging from 35 years old and above. According to statistics, they also tend to earn more. This makes Bing a good option if your target audience is a bit older and has the money to spend.

In terms of how Bing ads work, it’s similar to Google’s. What’s great is since it has a small, more targeted audience, it’s more cost-efficient to advertise here.

Factors that Influence the Cost to Advertise:

• Keywords
• Maximum bid
• Competition

Statistics:

• In February 2021, Bing has accounted for 6.7% of the global search market. (source)
• In October 2019, Bing had 963.5 million unique visits. (source)
• 38% of Bing’s users have a household income of more than $100,000. (source)

3. Yahoo

Yahoo works hand in hand with Bing. For Yahoo, their advertising service is Yahoo Advertising solutions. If you’re willing to spend a little, Yahoo also offers Yahoo Pay Per Click ads. It’s a cheaper alternative to Google PPC ads without compromising quality leads.

Yahoo offers free advertising for small businesses. It’s a great way to start your digital marketing online if you’re on a budget.

Factors that Influence the Cost to Advertise:

• Maximum bid
• Quality score
• Competition

Statistics:

• In January 2020, Yahoo generated 3.73 percent of single-word search queries worldwide. (source)
• In February 2021, Yahoo accounted for 2.76% of the global search market. (source)
• As of the fourth quarter of 2019, Yahoo’s U.S. organic search traffic originated from mobile devices. (source)

4. Baidu

Out of all the search engines mentioned in this article, Baidu has the smallest global market share. This is because this search engine is mostly used in China.

It may not seem much if you’re looking at it on a global scale. But it becomes more significant if you zoom in on China. This is because Baidu controls over 90% of the market share. 

And if you haven’t considered marketing here, then you’re missing out on a lot. The Chinese market is a whole different world to discover. This is why Baidu is the best place to advertise online if your target market is the Chinese community.

Factors that Influence the Cost to Advertise:

• Maximum bid
• Trust score
• Quality score
• Competition

Statistics:

• In February 2021, Baidu has accounted for 0.54% of the global market. (source)
• As of September 2019, Baidu App has 189 million daily active users.
• Baidu is the largest search engine in China.

Social Media

Social Media Marketing is one of the fastest-growing marketing trends and one of the best places to advertise online. This is because of how cost-efficient, accurate, and measurable it is. 

It’s also because of the billions of people on these platforms. This community is always interacting and engaging, constantly sharing their thoughts and opinions. Being part of that conversation is a big opportunity for marketing.

As different social media platforms specialize in different kinds of content, so does the effective kind of advertising. 

Let’s dive more into each one.

5. Facebook

In terms of the number of users, Facebook is the current reigning king of social media. Almost anyone who uses the internet has heard of Facebook.

Facebook is able to amass such a large audience because they offer a lot of features in a centralized platform. You have a Marketplace, streaming services, My Day, and you can even find a job here. There’s a lot to do with a lot of people.

A lot of people use Facebook as their main social media because all of their family and friends are there, to begin with. It makes connecting and sharing easier because everyone is already here.

It’s important to note though that the younger generation is starting to move out of Facebook. For them, the wide plethora of features tend to be overwhelming. They are also becoming annoyed with the wide array of fake news and hate culture.

This makes Facebook the best place to advertise online if you’re aiming to market on a large scale.

Factors that Influence the Cost to Advertise:

• Cost per the desired action
• Ad quality
• Maximum bid
• Estimated action rates

Statistics:

• As of the first quarter of 2021, Facebook has about 2.85 billion monthly active users. (source)
• During the first quarter of 2021, the company reported that its core products were being used by 3.45 billion people each month. This includes Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. (source)
• In the first quarter of 2012, Facebook has surpassed 1 billion users, making it the first social media platform to do so. (source)

6. Instagram

Facebook owns Instagram so naturally, the way ads work is similar between the 2 platforms. You can even set your ads to be posted on both platforms at the same time. Be that as it may, it’s better to curate ads separately for each platform as they focus on different audiences.

In comparison to Facebook, Instagram focuses more on pictures and the occasional short videos. 

An Instagram feed looks different from a Facebook page. In taking care of your feed, you need to keep in mind the color palettes of your individual pictures. A common color palette of your pictures will make your feed look cleaner and more organized.

Factors that Influence the Cost to Advertise:

• Cost per desired action
• Ad quality
• Maximum bid
• Estimated action rates

Statistics:

• In 2019, 815 million users accessed Instagram on a monthly basis. (source)
• During a survey in fall 2020, 25% of teens reported that Instagram is the most important social media platform to them. (source)
• As of January 2021, 14.5% of Instagram’s global active users were women. These users were between the ages of 18 and 24 years. (source)

7. LinkedIn

LinkedIn focuses on a more professional audience. With this in mind, this makes LinkedIn the best place to advertise online for businesses that offer services and B2B transactions.

LinkedIn takes into account the position and industry of its users. This helps immensely in making sure that you target the right people to advertise to. With enough research, you’ll be able to find the right industry, company, position, person, and even the person’s contact details.

Factors that Influence the Cost to Advertise:

• Ad relevance
• Cost per send
• Cost per impression

Statistics:

• As of Global 2021, there are 170 million users of LinkedIn in the United States, making them the number 1 country that uses LinkedIn. (source)
• As of Global 2021, India follows the United States with the most LinkedIn users with an audience of 71 million. (source)
• As of January 2021, a survey showed that 60.1% of global LinkedIn audiences were between 25 and 34 years old. (source)

8. Twitter

Twitter can be a tricky social media platform to master. This is because everything feels to move so rapidly. Events can be trending in one minute and forgotten the next day.

This platform specializes in small quick updates and short content. Back then, the number of characters you can use for a tweet was only 140 characters. Thankfully, back in 2017, Twitter increased the character limit to 280.

Advertising can either be a big hit here or a big miss. If you’re able to catch the drift of the relatively young audience on this platform, you’ll go viral in a few hours.

It’s also worth noting that compared to other platforms, Twitter is king when it comes to engagement. People are just buzzing all the time, so ads get more engagement and traffic here.

What makes Twitter the best place to advertise online is the number of engagement ads get.

Factors that Influence the Cost to Advertise:

• CPC

Statistics:

• As of the fourth quarter of 2020, there are 192 million daily active users worldwide who are using Twitter. (source)
• As of the third quarter of 2020, a survey showed that teens reported that Twitter is one of their most important social networks. It was even more important than Facebook. The average age of these teens was 16. (source)
• As of the third quarter of 2020, 52% of Twitter users in the United States report that they access Twitter on a daily basis. 96% of Twitter users reported that they accessed the social platform on a monthly basis. (source)

9. YouTube

A lot of people wonder if YouTube is even a social media platform. Yes, it’s considered as one. What’s even more surprising is that YouTube is considered as the 2nd biggest search engine, just next to Google. This is because of the wide array of video content and its user-friendliness.

As we all know, YouTube specializes in videos. These include reviews, tutorials, DIYs, and others. If it’s something that can be explained in a video, then YouTube is the platform for you.

With a large portion of the population being visual learners, delivering your ads in a video format can be effective. It’s easier to let them know who you are and what you can do for them if you explain it in a video. It’s both informational and entertaining.

This is why YouTube is the best place to advertise online if you specialize in video ads. It’s important to know that YouTube ads cost can vary depending on the ad you’re running. It’s good to get to know these types of ads so you know which one fits your budget and your strategy.

Factors that Influence the Cost to Advertise:

• Cost per view
• Cost per impression

Statistics:

• In the third quarter of 2020, 77% of 15 – 25 – year – old internet users from the U.S. accessed YouTube. (source)
• As of the third quarter of 2020, YouTube was accessed by 62% of its users in the U.S. on a daily basis. 92% of these users access it weekly. (source)
• In January 2021, Google Sites accumulated over 204.8 million unique viewers in the U.S. Among these sites is YouTube. This makes them the most popular online video property. (source)

10. TikTok

TikTok is a rising star in the social media world. It’s currently one of the fastest-growing social media platforms because it offers a new way of sharing content. It features short videos and there are tons of tools that can help users create the said videos. 

This platform targets a younger demographic. Therefore, it’s important to note that the attention span of this demographic is relatively short. Make sure that your ads deliver the right amount of information in a small amount of time. 

It’s also a great option to hop on trends to increase brand awareness and engagement. Short and easy-to-do dances are a craze on TikTok, so you just might go viral if you create one with your brand.

What makes TikTok the best place to advertise online is how fast the platform is growing and how young the target market is. If you start advertising to the younger generation, they’ll grow up knowing your brand. The time will come when they’ll be able to afford not just your promos but your full-priced products as well.

Factors that Influence the Cost to Advertise:

• Ad objective
• Maximum bid
• Audiences
• Ad format

Statistics:

• In 2019, TikTok became one of the most downloaded non-gaming apps in the world. This is just behind Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. (source)
• In the fourth quarter of 2019, there were approximately 219 million first-time installations of TikTok. (source)
• As of February 2021, there have been 11.4 million monthly downloads of TikTok on iOS. (source)

11. eBay

The first sales of eBay with a broken laser printer in 1995 came a long way to 2022. With a market value of more than $23.63 B in 2022, eBay is still one of the best places to advertise online. With an average of 250 million searches, eBay is one of the largest online marketplaces.

eBay helps your products get the right audience. Setting up an eBay page is easy, and with the right advertising strategy, eBay can help your products reach the top search results. eBay increases the visibility of your product by putting your product at the top of the selling list. Sellers pay for the target listings to be on top of the search results.

The requirement for advertising on eBay depends on majorly the following factors:

• Present current listing trend
• Products
• Customer feedback
• Pricing of the product.

The main difference between eBay and other advertising platforms is sellers only have to pay for successful ads. Unlike other Ad platforms like Google Ads, where you have to pay-per-click, on eBay, you only pay if they click any sale within 30 days of the ad being clicked.

The Best Place to Free Online Advertisement

Facebook

Creating a page on Facebook is a free way to advertise your business online. It’s a great way to establish your brand and introduce it to people who have not yet heard about it. They’ll get to know you more without you spending too much.

You can also join groups with people who would find your product or service useful. This is especially helpful if you focus on B2B kind of transaction. For example, if you’re a company that offers customized packaging then joining a group of small business owners is a great target.

It’s also great if your business focuses on services offered during events. For example, if your business focuses on photography and videography, then joining groups about weddings and grand birthdays will be great for you.

Instagram

Instagram is a highly visual platform. The way you present your brand through your photos and videos will matter a lot here. So how do you advertise for free here?

Posting content that is helpful to people is always a surefire way to advertise your business. The first phase is to always help them find solutions to their problems. Then introducing your brand and how you can help is the next step.

Again, make sure the photos or images are of high quality. Also, make sure that the photos have a similar color palette. This is because when people visit your Instagram feed, it’s going to look clean and organized.

Twitter

Creating an account on Twitter is free. Introducing your brand to people through Tweets that have photos and images are also free. Being funny, witty, and relatable in your tweets gives you a chance to go viral. Again, this is free. 

Overall, most actions on Twitter are free. What makes it hard to advertise here for free is penetrating the thick volume of tweets of other companies. 

SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s connected to Search Engine Marketing but compared to PPC, SEO is free.

SEO is the process of optimizing your website and content to contain keywords that people search for online. To make a very long story short, SEO aims to make it easier for users to find your website and your content.

There are different types of SEO. Each of them excels in their own niche. Some of these types of SEO will be more effective for your business than others. This is why it’s worth getting to know all of them

This is all done for free. You can optimize your website with the use of apps that are free. You can even think of keywords for free just by putting yourself in the shoes of your customers. Aside from that, there are free tools online to help you find the right keywords.

The best part is, with SEO, everyone has a fighting chance. It doesn’t matter if you’re a small business that’s just starting out, or you’re a multi-million dollar company. As long as Google’s algorithm sees your website as optimized, you’re going to land on the first page when people search for you. Find the best SEO companies that meet your budget.

It is therefore part of your optimization to check your content from time to time. It’s always a good idea to check your ranking on Google to see how you’re performing. You can then take appropriate actions based on the results.

Local Digital Advertising

Google My Business

This is a tool that helps you manage your business profile on Google. A Business Profile is how people find your business locally. Think of it as the yellow pages back then. It’s a list of businesses that surround your designated geographical location.

When people search for “laundry shops near me” Google can direct the user to your business if you’re registered.

Local SEO

This kind of SEO focuses on including specific locations as part of your keyword. A keyword for example will look like “Wedding Photographer in Seattle” and it will direct users to websites that fit the bill. The difference in Google’s Algorithm for local SEO is that it considers the proximity of the business to the user.

Facebook Marketplace

Like the 2 previous examples, this platform takes into account the location of the business and the user. It’s important to advertise your business here and include your location because there are tons of people on Facebook. You’ll be missing out on a big market that is geographically close to your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

There’s no single best place to advertise online because the internet is too vast for that concept. There is, however, the best place to advertise online depending on your target market, your budget, and your location.

As we’ve discussed the following platforms and avenues to advertise online, it might be tempting to try and advertise in all of them. This is actually counterintuitive. You’ll be stretching yourself too thin if you try to conquer all of these.

Instead, it’s better to choose one that will fit your needs and focus on them. The best place to advertise will always depend on you and your capabilities.

Good luck!

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• One Way Link Building: All You Need to Know
• The Importance of Link Building in SEO
• How Social Media Link Building Can Boost & Manage Business Reputation