Clicking With Online Adverts

If your business is small and operating in a niche market, you need an alternative to the free search engines that are becoming even more competitive and complex. Pay-Per-Click ("PPC") advertising can be that solution.

Study the workings of the PPC search engines and you'll bo on a fast-track to success. Conversely, poor knowledge can put your business on the slippery slope to ruin. Listen to me carefully now! Learn how to operate PPC search engines and you will have a great advantage over your competition.

Advertising on the PPC search engines can be a bit like attending an auction where you can bid for the top ranked positions on the keywords of your choosing. Every time a visitor reaches your website by clicking on your advert at that search engine you pay the value of your bid. Bid values typically start at five cents but can be several dollars for certain highly-competitive keywords.

Let's consider the advantages and disadvantages of PPC advertising. First some advantages -

1. You don't pay unless someone clicks on your advert.

2. Can be an inexpensive method of attracting targeted traffic to your site.

3. Anyone can get the top advertising spot if they outbid the competition.

4. Some PPC search engines enable a campaign to be up and away in minutes. Not very long after you could be taking orders.

5. Adverts can be cancelled immediately if they are not successful.

6. Adverts can be tested and amended very quickly and very simply.

Unfortunately there are some disadvantages we have to discuss too -

1. You could be paying for junk clicks. i.e. people who click on your advert for the sheer hell of it. Probably your competition.

2. Competition over that top spot can result in a bidding war, driving up the cost per click.

3. Some of the PPC search engines have rigorous approval processes for adverts. You don't always end up with an advert to your liking, or it could take a long time to get the advert agreed.

4. A misleading or poorly crafted ad can result in traffic that doesn't convert to sales. If you haven't restricted the advertising budget to something you can afford - then in these circumstances you could be on that fast track to bankruptcy.

Having considered both the upsides and the downsides, how do you get started with PPC advertising? First and foremost you should carry out some research into the keywords that your target customers are using to search for your type of product or service. Techniques for conducting this research are numerous, but lack of time and space here prevent me elaborating further. I will cover this topic further in a future article.

Another essential piece of knowledge you require before entering the bidding fray, is the monetary worth of a visitor to your website. By this I mean the average revenue generated by each visitor. This will be your guide to how far you can push it in the bidding process.

If you want to use PPC advertising to test your sales copy on a new site with no visitor knowledge, then monitor your costs versus sales closely. A daily budget is advisable at the outset. Limit your spending to something you can afford to lose if the worst occurs and you don't make any sales. Raise this as appropriate once you can see the sales conversion rate.

You're just about ready to dip your toe in the water. I've simply given you an outline here and this is only my interpretation of PPC advertising, which I suggest you use as a stepping stone to finding out more for yourself.

Mark Vandorone