Google AdWords is an excellent way to advertise your business online. But the fact is that it’s not for everyone and there are some good alternatives out there that could produce better results at lower cost.

Bing has a similar advertising platform and some keywords cost less on Bing as compared on Google. Depending on your business type and your market niche, you may find Bing a better alternative than Google in terms of what you’d be paying per click.

Facebook, as we all know, is a great social media platform for local businesses. But many local businesses still shy away from using Facebook for online advertising. Facebook also has a similar platform, just like Google AdWords, and produces really good results for many local business market niches. Besides targeting certain “keywords”, you can also target certain “people and personas”, which you can’t with Google.

Last, but not the least, is Yelp. If you are a local business in United States, you probably have a love hate relationship with Yelp. It’s great to get you visibility. But it also opens you up for “bad reviews”, which local businesses are really scared about. That said, we all know, you can’t make “everyone” happy. Yelp, just like Google Adwords, also has a great advertising platform. It too has certain capabilities that are very different from Google, Bing and Facebook. For example the ability to show your Ad on your competitor’s Yelp page! Now who wouldn’t want that?

These are only some of the well known alternatives to Google AdWords. There are many more and your choice should depend on your business type, your location, your need and budget. Online paid Ads work great, but require a lot of time and effort.