Pay-Per-Click
Paid Search, its planning and management is a key
advertising channel in today's marketplace. The opportunity to advertise, not
only to people who are interested in your product or service at the exact
moment they are in the market, but also to only pay for advertising that works
is a marketer's dream.
PPC Campaigns have tremendous reach, however if required
can be targeted not only by keyword, but also by country and even city of
origin; providing you with targeted and relevant traffic to your site with
little or no wastage and increased conversion.
So, if you're not at least testing Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
advertising on Google Adwords, Yahoo Search or Microsoft Adcentre then you are probably missing out. PPC
campaigns are here to stay.
Successful Pay-Per-Click: The Five big 'PayPerClick Secrets'
that you really need to know...
1. You don't need to be number one!
Sure, you might think you want to see your ad at the top
of the Google Search Results Page. It might feel good looking at the Yahoo page
with your company sitting on top of the tree. But it
won't feel as good when you look at the red figures on your bank balance whilst
more experienced competitors are content sitting in lower positions. What they
know is that to be successful in pay per click you have to match your bid to
your conversion rate and to your site. How much is each visit really worth to
you? Remember, this game is about bringing customers to your site, not showing
off in search engines.
Anyone can buy the number one slot for a particular
keyword in Google, but unless it's making money for you, you don't need to be
there.
2. You need strategy
Not enough businesses devise a PPC strategy before they
submit their campaign. The strategy of some companies amounts to little more
than bidding more than their competitors and crossing their fingers. Before
entering the PPC arena, you need to work out how much you are prepared to pay
for each visit, set a budget and stick to it.
Don't go into the PPC jungle unprepared. Work out your
conversion rates, devise a strategy and budget accordingly. Maybe just target
your high margin or high turnover offering.
3. You don't have to swamp the market
If you're dipping your toes in the pay per click pool for
the first time, then it's OK to start small. Too many companies see the
different PPC networks available and decide they need to be in every one of
them; not just the big players such as Overture (Yahoo! Search Marketing) and
Google AdWords but the smaller fish such as Ask, MIVA, Mirago. Too many
different campaigns, each of which are run according to different rules, each
of which have different allowances and different funding, are too much to juggle
for most new advertisers.
Walk before you can run. Run your campaign on one network
first to get a feel for it, and when you feel more confident consider branching
out.
4. Without a good site, you'll never convert your traffic
into sales
There's only so much that pay per click campaigns can
accomplish. However good the promotional message, if your site doesn't deliver
on the promise then your visitors are likely to look elsewhere, and more
quickly than you would believe. Get key
products ‘on display’, not hidden at the back of the shop. Consumers are much
less patient online so it's important to use landing pages to their full
potential.
Buying traffic is a matter of finding the right keywords
and the right advert at the right price. But unless your site is ready, this
traffic isn't going to convert into sales.
5. Google is just the start
Google Adwords is a good place to start - Google can
comprise of over 50% of search traffic however don’t overlook Yahoo and MSN. Why not go after commonly misspelled words and phrases? They will
be cheaper and may be highly productive.
And finally...
As with any form of direct marketing activity: test, test
and test some more. And if all of this seems like a foreign language to you then be sure to get a good guide. This is Chemistry can deliver both your online and offline marketing, real joined up thinking for you and your brand.