Do a search on Google or Yahoo, and you’ll notice a different type of listings ({Pay-Per-Click ads) set around the organic results. These “sponsored results” are paid ads that appear when people search using keywords in the ads.
There are also special search engines, like Miva, Enhance, and GoClick, where all the listings are paid for.
Pay-Per-Click advertisers look for keywords that they believe their target market uses to search for them online. Then they bid on those keywords with PPC programs, like Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing and MSN AdCenter.
How Pay-Per-Click Advertising Will Help You Grow Your Business Online
Pay-Per-Click advertising programs will help you grow your business online in 3 main areas:
1. PPC ads show up immediately, so you can drive traffic to your site right away, even if your website isn’t indexed by the search engines yet.
2. Test your keywords and use the best ones to boost your organic search results. PPC is a great testing tool because you can run several ads simultaneously. If you run identical ads for different keywords, you’ll see very quickly which keywords work best. You can then use them to beef up your website for the organic search engines!
3. You can use PPC to test everything from your product offerings and price points, to your ad headlines and salescopy… and find out exactly how to appeal to your target market.
Now that you know what pay-per-click advertising is and how it will help you grow online, the question is: how do you get started? Lets first take a look at what affects the position of your ad…
What Affects the Position of Your Pay-Per-Click Ad?
In free search engines like Google and Yahoo, the position of the ad in the sponsored listings depends on two factors:
- The amount bid for the keyword
- The ad’s relevance to the keyword searched. Pay-Per-Click ads with more click-throughs are considered more relevant and rise in the listings.
In the paid search engines, the bid price alone determines the ranking in the listings.
The pay structure is what makes PPC so effective for small businesses. With PPC you pay only for results. No matter how many times your ad is displayed, you pay only when someone clicks on it. And by watching your results carefully, you can determine how well each ad is converting and if it’s worth continuing.
However, keyword bids have been rising every year because competition for the top continues to heat up, especially as more large businesses and corporations get into the game.
That’s why it’s getting tougher every year to run an effective PPC campaign. But if you know the right strategies, you can still keep your costs down and your conversion rates UP!
How to Keep Pay-Per-Click Costs Low by Bidding Smart:
- Know how much a single visitor is worth to you and keep that in mind when you’re setting your bid
- Bid on lots of cheaper, highly targeted keywords and phrases, and don’t forget misspellings!
- Go for second or third place instead of first. First place is often much more expensive.
- Test ads on the smaller search engines where the cost per click is lower. Some good engines to try include: LookSmart.com, Kanoodle.com, Search123.com, and 7Search.com,
- Check the specialty PPC search engines that cater to specific markets at
PayPerClickSearchEngines.com
With a combination of PPC and SEO you can make sure your target market will find you.