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Published: Mar 11, 2025
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11 min. read
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Celeste YatesContent Writer
- Celeste has worked in the online marketing space for twenty years. She has written for sectors including tourism, sustainability, education, lifestyle, food, and marketing. You can find her work featured by Green Building Media South Africa, Stodels Gardening, and The Post House Hotel. In magazines, you may have seen her in The Cape Times, Oprah South Africa, and The Property Magazine. While you can find her writing up on the latest SEO trends and exploring digital techniques during the day, her love of story-telling carries on in enriched games and books after hours.
Looking for the best places to advertise online? Getting your ads in front of as many eyes as possible is a challenge perfectly suited to the Internet, but with a variety of platforms, it’s difficult to pick the most effective one. While showcasing your services and products, you need to use the right websites for a profitable pay-per-click (PPC) campaign.
Looking for a specific platform? Jump to the best places to advertise your business:
- Advertise with Google Ads
- Advertise with Microsoft Ads
- Advertise with Meta
- Advertise with YouTube
- Advertise with Amazon
- Advertise with Pinterest
- Advertise with LinkedIn
- Advertise with X
That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the nine best places to advertise online so that you can attract and convert your target audience — plus give your company the return on investment (ROI) it wants.
Audience size | Best for | |
Google ads | 93% of search engine searches | High traffic and sales. Can reach a broad audience. |
Microsoft ads | +1 billion users | Business-focused companies. More niche, personalized campaigns. |
Instagram ads | 1.4 billion users | Campaigns with good visuals, like ecommerce sites. |
Facebook ads | 3 billion users | Consumer products and services, especially local ads. |
YouTube ads | 2.7 billion users | Brands that want to focus on content or awareness with educational/tutorial videos. |
X ads | 535 million users | B2B companies and time-sensitive promotions. |
1. Advertise with Google Ads
Given that Google has 82% of the search engine market share, it should come as no surprise that Google Ads is the leading paid advertising platform. As one of the best places to advertise your business, it can help you meet your marketing goals through both the search network and the display network.
But what are those networks? Well, the search network is where you can bid on keywords for ads in Google search results.
Keywords and long-tail keywords have specific values, depending on their level of popularity (or search volume) and desirability (or competition) among companies. Many keywords have considerable competition, but you can find the appropriate terms for your business and budget.
After people type in their questions and scroll through results, the search results page features ads around the organic results. The ads appear at the top and bottom, and each paid ad gets labeled to tip off searchers.
The display network, meanwhile, expands your reach to Google-owned websites (like Google Maps and Gmail) and partner websites. The auction process for the display network lands you space on these pages rather than in search results.
Google Ads develops better conversion rates and drives website traffic, and it uses smart technology to adapt to your needs. The setup is simple for first-timers, so you can get started quickly without wasting time.
2. Advertise on Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing)
Microsoft Advertising, formerly known as Bing Ads, operates similarly to Google, although their user base is smaller. Not all searchers stick with Google, which is why Microsoft claims the third-largest share of the search market. Your company can take advantage of this share in your advertising campaign.
Microsoft Advertising also offers another perk. Their audience spends 36% more when shopping online from their desktop than typical Internet searchers, so not only can Microsoft Advertising bring more conversions, but it can also bring higher-value ones.
That’s why, with a sizeable crowd and potentially fewer businesses competing for keywords, Microsoft Advertising is considered one of the best places to advertise a business online.
You can create custom bids for relevant keywords, and your search-specific ads can line the side, top, and bottom of organic searches. They have also added their AI assistant to the platform, Copilot. Copilot enables users to create AI-generated images, and it gives suggestions on tone and calls-to-action (CTAs).
Microsoft Advertising covers all of Microsoft ecosystems including:
- Yahoo
- AOL
- Microsoft Games
- Xbox
- And more!
With this additional coverage, your promotions can earn extra exposure across the web.
3. Advertise on Meta Business
Some of the best places to advertise online are prominent social media outlets, especially Facebook and Instagram, which have honed their advertisement venues to appeal to specific audiences. That’s why Meta serves as one of the best places to advertise your business.
You can advertise on Facebook and Instagram using the Meta Ads platform. It offers unmatched access into niche interests and broad markets, and can also target demographics like age and region with precision. Focusing on audience targeting means your ads go beyond keywords.
You can spruce up your promotions on these social sites with visual aids, which can maximize engagement. Videos and images attached to the text in your ad can earn more people’s attention.
Within the platform, you can also branch out further into carousel ads (where viewers can swipe through corresponding products) and collection ads (where viewers can click on products within a picture). These can benefit your business if you’re an image-heavy company.
The range of places where ads can show up is another plus. Ads can feature in the newsfeed, the side panel, and the messenger area. You can also choose to boost an existing post or create a new ad.
4. Advertise on Amazon
Amazon is another of the best places to advertise online.
It’s the third most popular advertising platform (behind Google and Facebook) and attracts a massive amount of consumers — it features more than 300 million active user accounts, plus more than 100 million Amazon Prime members.
Whether you sell your products on Amazon or not, you can still advertise on the ecommerce platform.
Amazon ads for Amazon sellers include:
- Sponsored Products
- Sponsored Brands
- Sponsored Display
- Amazon Stores
If you don’t sell on Amazon, you can still take advantage of the following ad types:
- Video ads
- Display ads
- Custom ads
These ads can appear on Amazon.com, as well as Amazon-owned sites and Amazon devices.
Take advantage of Amazon’s huge audience and growing advertising options by launching a campaign. If you need help getting started with Amazon ads, WebFX can help. We’re a trusted Amazon advertising agency for companies that sell on and off Amazon.com.
5. Advertise on YouTube
Visitors on YouTube watch a combined one billion hours of video every day.
With such a high consumption of videos, investing in video ads is a lucrative choice. Video ads perform differently than picture or text ads — payment is dependent on someone choosing to view or click on your ad.
YouTube falls under the umbrella of Google Ads, but given how distinct video ads are from other types, we’re listing it as its own category on this page.
YouTube’s advertising services can help you curate a video even if you’re starting from scratch. They highlight a range of creative platforms to set your video advertising in motion. You can create ads that appear at the beginning, middle, or end of videos, and you can choose between different length options as well.
Part of the reason that YouTube video ads work so well is that video is such an engaging format. 72% of users say they’d prefer to learn about a business through a video rather than a text format.
The bottom line is that YouTube Ads are captivating, and they can capitalize on the existing habits of technology users.
6. Advertise on LinkedIn
LinkedIn, a social network site for business professionals, can get the word out about your company through sponsored or dynamic ads. Their ad system caters to the niche of business-to-business (B2B) companies, so you can connect to decision makers.
Even for business-to-consumer (B2C) organizations, LinkedIn is an excellent place to advertise online. For example, you can use it to launch a recruiting ad campaign, which is useful when you’re looking to attract experienced or passive candidates in your industry. The ads can appear in the right column and the newsfeed, or they can show up as sponsored InMail messages or posts. These inbox interactions make advertising direct and give the sense of a personal request.
You can target your ads based on industry or location, but you can also make them customized to specific traits like business size, position, seniority, and more. Like Facebook, LinkedIn ad auctions operate based on audiences.
7. Advertise on Pinterest
Pinterest users are always actively seeking out ideas, so they’re apt to click on links. On the digital pinboard, your ads appear as promoted pins, blending into the other image and text combinations.
Traffic, awareness, and engagement are the top marketing goals of Pinterest ads so that you can coordinate them with your overall business objective. For example, maybe you want to increase awareness for a brand-new product to drive sales. There are various types of Pinterest ads that can help you reach your target audience, including promoted pin, carousel, and video ads. The social website has a PPC framework and adequate analytics to guide your campaign. Pinterest Ads have an impressive impact on their users, and they achieve profitable sales results.
8. Advertise on X (Twitter)
Although X (formerly known as Twitter) has a broad array of users, there are a significant number of professionals on this social media platform. This can benefit B2B companies, but there are also other uses for X Ads. Younger individuals also make up a critical part of the audience. X is a primarily text-based social media network, although pictures and videos circulate, too. You can use hashtags, tweets, and trends as ads. X is also one of the best places to advertise online because of its vast targeting options.
Keywords are available for bidding, but that’s not the only option. You can also target audiences and remarket to website visitors, past followers, and more. That makes X a valuable engagement tool for bumping up your ROI.
Learn more about Twitter advertising costs to get started.
Best Practices for Online Advertising
There are a few pointers that apply to online advertising, regardless of what platform or channel you decide to use. Here are some top tips to keep in mind when you run your campaigns on any of the best places to advertise online:
- Clearly define your objective: Remember to set specific goals that ensure your campaigns are aligned with your business strategy. If you need a place to start, look into creating goals based around the SMART strategy.
- Understand your audience: Do thorough research into your audience to identify their demographics, interests, and online behavior. This will also help you understand the best tone and pain points to use with your campaigns.
- Do multiple ad formats: Don’t limit yourself to simple images. Use video, sound, carousels, and even infographics to reach a broader audience.
- Personalize: You have the ability to personalize your message and campaign for specific audience types with online advertising. You don’t have to spend a large budget on a broad group. Rather, segment your audience and personalize ad campaigns for each group.
Get the best ROI from advertising online
When it comes to paid social vs. paid search ads, taking advantage of the best places to advertise online can amplify your marketing efforts. Additional help from WebFX, however, can maximize the results, impact, and ROI of your ad campaign.
See how WebFX can boost your profits by browsing our PPC management services today!
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Celeste has worked in the online marketing space for twenty years. She has written for sectors including tourism, sustainability, education, lifestyle, food, and marketing. You can find her work featured by Green Building Media South Africa, Stodels Gardening, and The Post House Hotel. In magazines, you may have seen her in The Cape Times, Oprah South Africa, and The Property Magazine. While you can find her writing up on the latest SEO trends and exploring digital techniques during the day, her love of story-telling carries on in enriched games and books after hours.
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Table of Contents
- 1. Advertise with Google Ads
- 2. Advertise on Microsoft Ads (formerly Bing)
- 3. Advertise on Meta Business
- 4. Advertise on Amazon
- 5. Advertise on YouTube
- 6. Advertise on LinkedIn
- 7. Advertise on Pinterest
- 8. Advertise on X (Twitter)
- Best Practices for Online Advertising
- Get the Best ROI from Advertising Online

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