PPC stands for Pay Per Click - a popular
advertising technique on the Internet.
Found on websites, advertising networks,
and especially on search engines, PPC
advertising involves sponsored links
that are typically in the form of text
ads. These are usually placed close
to search results, where an advertiser
pays a particular amount to visitors
who click on these links or banners
and land on the advertiser's web page.
In essence, PPC advertising is all
about bidding for the top or leading
position on search engine results
and listings. Advertisers do this
by buying or bidding on keyword phrases
that are relevant to their products
or services - the higher the bid,
the higher the spot on the search
results, the more the people will
find the ad (and click on it) to go
to their websites (this is why some
people call it "keyword auctioning").
Advertisers would then pay the bidding
price every time a visitor clicks
through the website.
PPC advertising is also known under
the following names/variations:
· Pay per placement
· Pay per performance
· Pay per ranking
· Pay per position
· Cost per click (CPC)
PPC advertising is usually done with
the following standard procedures:
1. Setting up an account and/or deposit
funds.
2. Creating a keyword list.
3. Choosing (and setting up) an account
with a PPC search engine.
4. Bidding on the ad placement, including
the search result words or phrases.
5. Writing out an ad copy.
6. Setting up the 'landing pages'
for your ads.
7. Placing the advertisement in the
search engine.
There are many benefits to Pay Per
Click advertising, making it an effective
way of promoting a business 'online'.
Some of them are listed below:
· Get launched immediately.
PPC advertisements are implemented
very quickly - they can go 'online'
within an hour after winning the bid
and paying for it.
· Obtain specific, pre-qualified,
and quality traffic. PPC provides
you with a quality or a well-targeted
traffic. Visitors are narrowed down
into 'qualified' people who are actually
looking for specific products and/or
services that you offer - those who
are more likely to become a 'lead'
(a convert) and complete a transaction
(either by buying your product or
subscribing to the service that you
are offering.
· Widen your reach. PPC advertising
provides additional traffic to your
site, aside from the natural or "organic"
search engines.
· Track your investment. PPC
advertising makes use of a tracking
system that will determine exactly
who comes to the website and what
they do once they arrive - the length
of their stay on the site and the
number of pages (including the actual
pages) that they view. These are valuable
tools in determining statistics such
as return on investment (ROI), acquisition
cost-per-visitor, and conversion rates
(the percentage of visitors who are
converted into customers or leads).
Below are some important things to
consider when planning on a pay per
click campaign:
1. Know your product. Take an inventory
of the product and/or services that
you have to offer (before anything
else).
2. Stay within the budget. Determine
your daily or monthly budget; and
stay with it. This means keeping your
budget in mind, avoiding bidding wars
if possible.
3. Bid just right. Know how to bid
right - a bid that is too high can
exhaust all of your money, while a
bid that is too low can make you lose
that spot.
4. Watch the bottom line. Measure
your profit margin against your spending
or expenses. Know when to stop and
terminate your PPC program - if you
spend more on advertising but have
little or no sales at all.
5. Find the right keywords. Decide
which keyword phrases to opt and bid
for. Do some keyword research, either
by actually looking at existing search
terms or with the use of online keyword
suggestion tools, to know which terms
are mostly used when searching for
items that are related to your business.
Focus on specific keywords, not on
general ones.
6. Write effective ads. A good PPC
ad is that which can persuade and
move a searcher. There are several
approaches to this:
· Discount offers
· Testimonials
· Celebrity/famous endorsers
· Money-back guarantees
· Free trials or sample offers
· Freebies
· Reverse psychology
· Major benefits ("Lose
weight")
· Direct instructions ("Click
here")
7. Maintain a professional-looking
site. Your web content should be regularly
updated and checked for spelling and
grammatical errors. There should be
no broken links or images. The website
should be simple - designed in such
a way that it will be easy for visitors
to navigate and load. Include contact
details to create a good impression
among potential customers.
Done properly, PPC advertising can
be an effective marketing tool that
will maximize the return on your investment.
