The Fastest Way to Get Traffic to Your Site

Lots of people would like to get their Web site to the top of Google's free listings. But that's precisely the problem: You're competing with lots of people. It's certainly possible to get to the top - after all, somebody has to be there! - but it takes a lot of time and effort. Alternatively, you could pay a search engine marketing company to do this for you.

But by far the better way to get to the top of Google is to pay for it. Google's "AdWords" program allows even a small business to buy advertising for selected key words and phrases. You might be surprised at how little you have to pay.

Here's how it works ...

Google (at www.google.com) has two types of listings: Free and paid. Google makes its money from the paid listings.

Google AdWords is the name of Google's paid advertising system. It is a pay-per-click advertising system, which means that you only pay when someone clicks on your advertisement.

AdWords is an auction-based system. You offer to pay a certain price for each click, and you compete with other bidders for higher placement.

You choose which words or phrases you would like to use for your ad. When somebody searches Google using those search terms, your ad will appear. If they then click on your ad, it takes them to a specific page on your Web site.

The biggest advantage is that it gives you CONTROL.

Another problem with trying to get into the free listings at Google is that you don't have much control over how your page will appear. You're not sure exactly which search phrases will display it; you're not sure what Google will say about it; and you're not sure which pages of your site will match Google's criteria for each search phrase.

With AdWords, all those problems disappear. You can control the exact wording of your ads, the exact page they link to, the exact search phrases they match, and exactly when they appear.

For example, when I went overseas for a month last year, I turned off all my Google advertising while I was away. (That was in the days before I had fine-tuned my advertising campaigns. Nowadays, I would just leave the ads running, knowing that they would make me money in my absence :-))

You can control where the ads appear in the world. For example, at the time of the Australian election last October, one of my clients had an election-related Web site, so we ran some Google ads - but only for Australian Internet users.

You can get even more specific with geography. For example, I can run ads for events that I'm conducting in Sydney, and only show those ads to people in and around Sydney.

You can run two ads side by side and find out which is more responsive. Then you delete the weaker ad and replace it with a third ad that you pit against the stronger ad. Keep doing this until you find the ad that gets the best results.

Google tells you exactly which words and phrases people used when searching. For example, when we did the advertising for the election campaign, we found that "Australian election" had 50% more searches than "federal election"; and "liberal party" had three times as many searches as "labor party"!

With all these benefits, why would you ever go for free listings?

I hope I've convinced you by now that Google AdWords is the best way to get traffic from search engines.

But what about the free listings?

Actually, I'm NOT suggesting that you give up the idea of getting a free listing in Google. There are definitely advantages to these listings.

What I am saying is that you should go for the paid listings first - to test your market, refine your ad copy and improve your marketing. Then put your efforts into the free listings if you choose.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gihan Perera is a co-author of "Get Traffic Fast", a fast-track program to get started with Google advertising, avoiding the common traps and pitfalls.

Sign up to his free mini-course "Google Kick Start" here:

http://GihanPerera.com/get-traffic-fast.html

---

Get Real-time Adsense Channel Stats And Find Out Which Ads Are Being Clicked

If you have multiple sites or multiple directories in your... Read More

Google Adsense, The Smart Way To Earn

Do you want to get paid for posting ads on... Read More

Pay Per Click 2005: Very Expensive Without Expert Help

Despite being online using email since 1995, at the start... Read More

PPC Search Engines Revealed - 5 Things You Need to Know

The pay per click (PPC) search engines have created a... Read More

Paying for Website Visitors: The Allure of PPC for Small Biz Owners

There are good reasons why many webmasters and website owners... Read More

How I Boosted My Monthly AdSense Profits from $673.07 to $21,398.85 in Just 6 Months

How I Boosted My Monthly AdSense Profits from... Read More

Optimize Your Pay Per Click Ads - 3 Quick Tips

Running a pay per click campaign can be a valuable,... Read More

Pay-Per-Click Search Engines ? The Basics

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

Price Your ClickBank Products for Maximum Profit

Choosing the right price for your digital products is one... Read More

Wimpy Google and Michael Jackson: Birds Of A Feather

Google Inc. is suing a Houston-based company for allegedly clicking... Read More

Five Steps to Profit from Google Adwords

Although I was marketing online since 1997 and was making... Read More

Pay Per Click Search Engine Marketing - Starting A Campaign

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

The New Google Ad Links

You know about Google Adsense, now it's Google Ad Links... Read More

Protect Your ClickBank Products from Online Theft

One of the biggest problems faced by ClickBank merchants is... Read More

The Sensible Way To Earn Money With Google AdSense!

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

How To Increase Adsense Income

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

$1 Million in Google AdSense Earnings

They are calling him the million dollar man. Jason Calacanis... Read More

5 Ways To Make Your Adwords Ads Outshine Your Competitors

Google Adwords is a very good place to promote your... Read More

The Fastest Way to Get Traffic to Your Site

Lots of people would like to get their Web site... Read More

Tips for Maximizing Your Google AdSense Revenues

Despite what you may hear, the Google AdSense program is... Read More

Plan Your Way to Pay-Per-Click Campaign Success!

Have you heard the saying, "planning is everything?" Perhaps there... Read More

How Much Should You Pay for a Click

You have a web site ready for action. Your product... Read More

PPC Advertising Explained

Advertising on the Internet has always been a bit of... Read More

Googles AdSense Soon To Have New Rival?

A large part of Google's multi-billion dollar annual turnover comes... Read More

The Truth About Overtures Pay-Per-Click Program

Before Google's AdWords, Overture was the preeminent pay-per- click program.... Read More

Six Golden Rules Of Pay Per Click Marketing Campaign

What are pay per click engines?Pay per click engines as... Read More

How to Boost Your Adsense Revenue?

By using this tutorial you will learn how to increase... Read More

How to Make More Money from the Google Adsense Ads on Your Blog

Numerous bloggers these days are looking to earn extra cash... Read More

When AdSense Goes AWOL

No matter how hard you work to optimize your page,... Read More

Top 5 Secrets to Making Money with Adsense

Did someone tell you you can make money easily with... Read More

Profit from Adsense with Adwords

Here's a feisty trick where you can profit from Adsense... Read More

Seven Strategies to Bolster Your AdWords Campaign

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

3 Strategies to Profit When Click Prices Increase (Part 3 of 3 Series)

What is Average Customer Lifetime Value?Traditional business philosophy is that... Read More