Pay Per Click:

Pay per click (PPC) is an advertising technique used on websites, advertising networks, and search engines.

Advertisers bid on “keywords” that they believe their target market would type in the search bar when they are looking for their type of product or service. These ads are called “sponsored links” or “sponsored ads” and appear next to and sometimes above the natural or organic results on the page. The advertiser pays only when the user clicks on the ad.

While many companies exist in this space, Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing, which was formerly Overture, are the largest network operators as of 2006. In the spring of 2006, MSN started beta testing their own in-house service, MSN adCenter. Very popular search terms can cost much more on popular engines. Arguably this advertising model may be open to abuse through click fraud, although recently Google and other search engines have implemented automated systems to guard against this.

How does PPC work?

Pay per Click Advertising generates instant search engine listings. These small text adverts are normally displayed at the top or the right side of a search results page.

You pay to appear on the results page for any particular keyword. Search engines use a bidding system to price keywords - the more popular your keywords with other potential advertisers, the more you will have to pay to get up the page. You then pay each time a user clicks on the advert.

PPC campaign planning:

• Research your target markets and produce a definitive list of the best keywords to use for your Pay per Click campaigns.
• Develop the advert text to make sure that we attract qualified traffic to your site. There’s no point in paying for visitors who are looking for products and services you don’t offer.
• Each keyword group and related advert will point to a relevant landing page on your website that can be tailored to match Pay per Click marketing campaign.

Bid management and maintenance:

Once your campaigns are active manage your bids daily. By using specific software you can keep track of your positions and bids, making sure that you never over pay for your preferred position or get into bidding wars.

By monitoring the performance of keywords for their conversion rate and fining tune every word individually, you get the best ROI possible.

Benefits of Pay Per Click

• Small initial investment. The search engines don’t charge a fee to place or run your ad. You only pay for the users that click on the ad.
• Budget size is up to you. Depending on how much you want to invest and what kind of sales or leads you want to generate, you can set your budget as large or small as you like.
• Realistic for all businesses, regardless of size. PPC can create a level playing field for small businesses, especially if you are smart about picking the right keywords. Your ad might be right above or below a large business or national chain, depending on how much you bid for keywords or phrases and the kind of words you target.
• Immediate results. Research, set up and implementation of pay-per-click campaigns can happen in just a few days time, as opposed to natural rankings which can take weeks or months to gain a ranking. With PPC, you can start seeing results – and generating sales – the day your ad goes up.
• Real-time trackability. “Trackability” is our favorite word around here despite the fact that it’s not a real word. We track the effectiveness of various keywords and phrases, which ads generate the most traffic, conversion rates, and much more. And unlike a printed piece or mailer, there’s no lag time to know if your ad is working. Plus, we can make changes on the fly.
• Gain a national audience. Put an add on Google or Yahoo!. Chances are, your potential customers are on one of these two search engines. Along with their network partners, they each claim to reach over 80% of Internet users.
• Focus on a targeted audience. Maybe you have a local customer base and want to stay within 50 or 100 miles of your business. If so, then we have the ability to target users in the exact area you designate. Another way to target your audience is by the specific keywords and phrases you choose. In essence, you are pre-qualifying your customers before they ever land on your site.