What is Pay-Per-Click?

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is when an advertiser pays for each qualified click that sends a search engine user (i.e., visitor) to the advertiser's web page. PPC requires the advertiser to bid on key words or key word phrases chosen by the advertiser. There are many PPC advertising services available to choose from. Google AdWords and Overture are probably the two most popular in use today.

The PPC search engine allows you to buy a top position in the search engine results for the particular keyword or phrase you choose. The PPC search engines can deliver targeted and qualified visitors to your web page at an economical advertising cost if you manage the program carefully with a clear objective. PPC provides the advertiser with assurance that their ad is being delivered to the targeted audience.

PPC advertising uses a bidding process where the highest bidder or highest activity value, depending on the search engine, for a particular keyword or phrase will receive the top placement on the search engine results page. The PPC search engine will place your ad text in a special location on the results page when a user searches on your PPC keyword or phrase search term.

As an example, Google AdWords appear on the right side of the search results page while the organic (i.e., natural) search results appear on the left side of the page. In the case of Yahoo! Search, the sponsored ads appear on both the left and right side of the search results page. The top 2-3 sponsored ads appear in the top positions on the left side above the natural search results and the next 3 sponsored ads appear at the bottom of the left side and on the right side of the search results page along with other sponsored ads.

PPC advertising is a good way to obtain web page visitors when you don't have a top ranking web page to get you the necessary natural search engine placement. Statistics show that over 80% of search engine users prefer the natural search results as opposed to sponsored ads. Nevertheless, the search engines deliver a huge amount of visitor traffic to the sponsored advertisers especially in the competitive keyword markets.

The typical PPC advertising campaign is based on the bid per click. For example, you bid $0.10 for a particular keyword or phrase that is accepted by the search engine. Whenever a search engine user clicks on your sponsored ad then you are charged $0.10 by the search engine. This amount is deducted from your account funds. Your placement in the search engine results page depends on the search engine. For Google, the placement is determined by your bid price and the ad's click-through activity. For Yahoo, the placement is determined by your bid relative to other bids.

PPC can be an excellent method for getting visitor traffic to your web site but it can also cost you a lot of money. You need to be extremely careful and monitor your cost of using PPC versus the revenue generated. As the old saying goes, do the math. Calculate your return on investment (ROI) on a continuous basis to determine if you are making a profit on your PPC campaign.

As an example, assume your bid for a particular keyword is $0.10 and the product you sell has a profit margin of $15 after product costs (excluding PPC costs). If your conversion rate (the number of visitors that buy your product) is 1.0%, only 1 of your visitors will buy your product out of 100 visitors. Your net profit for every 100 visitors from your PPC campaign will be $5 ($15 profit margin less $10 for PPC).

It is a good idea to experiment with the different PPC search engines to find the one that works best for you. In addition, you need to spend the necessary time and effort to select the keyword or keyword phrase that has a profitable conversion rate for your specific web page. A higher conversion rate implies more profits to you.

Try to avoid the senseless bidding war with your competitors. Seriously evaluate whether having the number one placement position is worth the PPC price you pay. What about position numbers two, three and so on. Will you get enough clicks in one of those positions to make your PPC campaign a success? Do not automatically assume that you have to be in position number one to make a lot of money using PPC. It all comes down to experimenting and testing.

There is no such thing as the perfect PPC campaign. Evaluate the performance of your PPC campaigns on a continuous basis. Are you leaving money on the table by not adjusting your PPC bid to a lower level? Should you increase the bid price to get more traffic? Is your conversion rate changing? What are your competitors doing? Should you be considering different keywords in your campaign? PPC advertising is a great way to get traffic but at a definite price. PPC requires a thorough knowledge of the PPC search engines that you use and constant monitoring and evaluation of your campaigns.

--

Copyright (C) 2004 F. Terrence Markle ? All Rights Reserved

Get my F.R.E.E multi-part series on generating targeted and quality traffic to your web site. http://www.QuikSystems.com/WST/TrafficSeries.htm Get my F.R.E.E newsletter on building your own targeted mailing list: http://www.QuikSystems.com/EzineSub.htm

About The Author

Copyright (C) 2004 ? F. Terrence Markle has worked for over 20 years with public and private companies. He has an MBA in marketing and finance. He has been involved with Internet-related businesses for over 3 years. His primary focus is the marketing of affiliate programs.

tmarkle@quiksystems.com

---

Yahoo! Publisher Network - The Next AdSense?

Yahoo announced that their Publisher Network, formerly available in the... Read More

How to Beat Your Rivals on Google AdWords

Google AdWords is a great tool for driving traffic to... Read More

How To Use PopUps With Google Adwords

One of the common issues that marketers face when using... Read More

How to Make More Money with Google AdSense

Like any Google AdSense Publisher, you will want to increase... Read More

You Wont Make Dollars If You Dont use AdSense

As the dust settles and the excitement caused by Google's... Read More

Regarding the AdSense Update...

If you haven't yet got a Google AdSense account for... Read More

The Cost Of Click Fraud

One of the biggest threats to the continued growth of... Read More

The Truth About Pay-Per-Click Ads

Are pay-per-click ads the best method of getting customers to... Read More

The Future of PPC Advertising

For those of you who haven't used a Pay Per... Read More

10 Powerful Tips to Optimize your Google AdWords Campaigns

Google announced in January 2005 significant changes in their popular... Read More

Advertising And Generate New WebSite Traffic

Here's a simple way to use "No Results, No Pay"... Read More

Google Adwords Guide I

You probably have already heard about the new marketing tool... Read More

Stop Whining About Google!

Blame GameNearly anyone and everyone involved with search engine optimization... Read More

Pay Per Click Advertising For Home Business Owners

The biggest stumbling block for most home business owners is... Read More

How To Screen Your Visitors When Using Pay Per Click Advertising

If you are using pay per click advertising, I don't... Read More

3 Tips For Adwords PPC Management

Adwords PPC Management Tip No. 1Setting up an accountIf you... Read More

Pay Per Performance Web Traffic

Why should you pay to get web site traffic, isn't... Read More

Google Adwords ? Manipulating Keywords For Success

As you probably know, Google Adwords is a pay-per-click solution... Read More

Niche Market Pay Per Click Advertising Should Be Your Priority

There are many forms of advertising nowadays. There's popups and... Read More

Pay-Per-Click Search Engines ? The Basics

Search engine optimization can take a long time to show... Read More

Pay Per Click Search Engine Marketing - Starting A Campaign

Pay per click advertising is an on-going and growing arsenal... Read More

How to Waste Money and Annoy Potential Customers

Why do some companies bid on keywords for products they... Read More

Independent Search Engine & Directory Network (ISEDN) - Breaking News!

Watch out for a shift in the pay-per-click (PPC) industry,... Read More

Seven Strategies to Bolster Your AdWords Campaign

So, you've tried all the marketing techniques you have read... Read More

7 Secrets for Pay-Per-Click Success

"Pay-for-Performance" or "Pay-per-Click" Internet advertising is making big waves lately,... Read More

How To Increase Adsense Income

If you are already running Adsense on your site, you... Read More

How To Use Pay Per Click Ads Without Ruining Yourself

It may seem to be a very expensive way of... Read More

The Sensible Way To Earn Money With Google AdSense!

Dear friends,Google AdSense has rapidly gained a status of an... Read More

The One Simple Trick That Can Double Your Adsense Revenue

I've been working with Google's Adsense program for a while... Read More

5 Critical Pay-Per-Click Tips

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a good supplement to natural search... Read More

Google AdSense Fraud - Deep Insight

It's worthwhile to examine Google's definition of Google AdSense and... Read More

The Perils and Pitfalls of Pay-per-click Advertising

In this age of speed dialing, T1 lines and other... Read More

The AdSense Formula for Making Money

I often get asked what the secret is to making... Read More