Pay-per-click
(PPC) search engines can be a powerful, instant source of
qualified traffic for your web site -- provided you do your
homework and invest a bit of time in managing your campaign.
In fact,
many web site owners who have mastered keyword targeting and
know the "insider" bidding strategies tell me that over 90%
of their traffic comes straight from the PPC search engines!
So in the
following article, I'm going to show you the strategies and
tools these folks are using -- so you can duplicate their
success.
Specifically,
I'm going to show you hot new targeting options and bid-management
tools being offered by the PPC search engines that you can
use to increase your web site traffic while keeping your bidding
costs low.
Seven PPC bidding strategies that will help you get the most "bang"
for your advertising buck!
A lot of
people think the only way to develop a successful pay-per-click
campaign is to get the highest ranking with a popular keyword
in the top two PPC search engines, Overture (www.overture.com) and Google
AdWords (www.google.com/ads).
Now, it's
true that a top-ranked ad with either of these two industry
giants will guarantee your site a lot of exposure (as long
as you're bidding on keywords that a substantial number of
people are searching for).
The problem
is that you often have to pay more for these #1 spots. And
in the case of the more competitive keywords, this can means
bids of $1.50 to $5.00 (or more!) per click.
If you want
to be successful with the PPC search engines, you need to
bid on keywords that attract clicks from "qualified" buyers
(as opposed to "tire kickers" who will drive your costs up)
while keeping your bids as low as possible.
Here are
some tips that will help you accomplish this:
1.
Figure out what you can afford to bid
This might
sound obvious, but it needs to be said: Don't bid more than
you can afford! A lot of businesses make this mistake.
Before you
pay for advertising of any sort, calculate the value of a
single visitor to your web site. Once you know what ONE visitor
is worth, you'll know the maximum amount you can afford to
pay per click.
In a previous
issue of this newsletter (Issue 54), I explained how to do
this in detail. To review it, click
here now.
2.
"Number One" isn't always best!
You don't
always need to be ranked #1 for keywords to attract visitors.
Sure, it helps if your ad appears in the top 10 results. But
people click on listings featured on the second and even third
page of results for competitive keywords.
So run some
tests! Vary your bids so that your listing appears higher
and lower on the page and see what effect the ranking has
on your profits. You may actually find that for more costly
keywords, a slightly lower ranking is more profitable.
3.
Bid on low-cost variations and common misspellings
Frequently,
you will see businesses bidding as much as $5.00 a click for
popular keywords -- while NOBODY is bidding on common misspellings
and similar keywords that cost just pennies per click!
Use Wordtracker
to locate keywords that relate to your business and are frequently
searched by your market, but that none of your competitors
are bidding on.
4.
Bid on highly targeted phrases with less traffic
Rather than
bid on a handful of "general" keywords, which tend to be more
expensive because they get the highest number of searches,
bid on dozens -- or even hundreds -- of highly "targeted"
keywords, which tend to be cheap.
For example,
instead of bidding on "pet supplies," you might bid on "red
dog leash," "oversize dog kennel," and "cat toys with bells."
You'll see
better sales conversions on the more targeted keywords because
they attract more qualified buyers. And since no one is bidding
on these keywords, your advertising costs associated with
this traffic are extremely low!
Another
benefit of this strategy is that you can direct these qualified
visitors to a page that gives them exactly what they're looking
for. In the above example, your listing for the keyword, "oversize
dog kennel" could link directly to your dog kennel catalog
page, rather than the home page of your pet supply store.
5.
Bid on keywords in the lesser-known PPC search engines
Overture
and Google are the PPC industry leaders, but some of the smaller
PPC search engines are worth checking out as well. The most
popular ones are:
These engines
won't get you the same exposure you might get with Overture
and Google AdWords, but you can still generate a respectable
amount of traffic with them. And best of all, they're much
cheaper!
6.
Create separate ads for each product or service you sell
This is
an extremely effective strategy, but very few businesses are
using it: Write ads specific to each keyword and phrase you
bid on.
For example,
instead of writing an ad for "sporting goods," write one for
"quality leather soccer balls," another for "discount ladies'
tennis shoes," and so on.
These customized
ads will attract more attention (and clicks!) from qualified
buyers. And of course, you'll be able to convert more of these
visitors to buyers if you direct them to a page on your site
with the exact product or service they're searching for.
7.
Get listed in relevant specialty PPC search engines
Did you
know that there are specialty PPC search engines that target
different markets -- like brides, pet owners, antique collectors,
car owners, etc.?
Check out
PayPerClickSearchEngines.com to see if there are any relevant
to YOUR business that might be worth getting listed in.
Seven new ways to target your PPC campaigns (to keep clicks HIGH
and costs LOW)!
PPC
search engines are constantly looking for new ways to improve
their services -- and your results. After all, they WANT you
to keep purchasing advertising from them (not their competitors).
Here's
an overview of some great tools they're offering to help you
better target your ads and keep your campaign costs down:
1.
Keyword Matching Options
(Offered by Overture and Google AdWords)
Overture
and Google AdWords both offer options that allow you to fine-tune
the way your keyword is matched to the phrases people type
into their engines.
Their options
differ slightly, but here's a rough breakdown:
- Exact
match: A listing is triggered by the exact keyword
phrase and nothing else. Example: "fishing rods" will match
"fishing rods" but not "fancy fishing rods."
- Phrase
match: A listing is triggered by the keyword phrase
as it is written, though it might be included with other
terms as well. Example: "fishing rods" will match "antique
fishing rods and reels" but not "rods fishing."
- Broad
match: A listing is triggered by the keyword phrase
or slight variations of it, even if the words are out of
order or separated by other words. Example: "fishing rods"
will match "Rod's Alaskan Fishing Adventure" and possibly
even "Rod's Fish & Chips."
WARNING: The Broad Match option can work well for highly
specific queries, such as brand names or serial numbers,
but can result in a lot of poorly targeted click-throughs
for general terms -- especially terms that have more than
one meaning, such as "dolly," "tackle," or "nails."
- Negative
match: When words identified
as "negatives" are typed into the search engine along with
the keyword phrase, the listing will not appear. Example:
"fishing rods –cheap" will match "fishing rods and
tackle" but not "cheap fishing rods."
2.
Contextual Targeting
(Offered by Overture, Google AdWords, Kanoodle, Enhance Interactive)
Contextual
targeting places your PPC listing on web sites where the content
somehow relates to your ad. Obviously, this can be a great
way to increase the exposure of your ad.
However,
if you decide to try contextual targeting, be sure to monitor
where your ads are being placed, because the effectiveness
of contextual targeting can vary widely. Your ads may end
up featured on web sites that have little to do with your
advertisement -- and therefore attract unqualified click-throughs.
For example,
a recent USnews.com article about starting a business had
a series of "Hermosa Beach Vacation" Google Ads listed beside
it -- because the first person interviewed in the story happened
to live in Hermosa Beach!
These wasted
clicks can quickly drain your bank account if you aren't careful!
3.
Geotargeting
(Offered by Overture and Google AdWords)
"Geotargeting"
allows you to choose which countries or geographic regions
your ads appear in. This feature is best suited for businesses
that offer local services or products that are useful only
in specific regions.
For example,
if you're a landscaper who lives in Washington state, you
probably don't want to pay for click-throughs from out-of-area
visitors. After all, Texas-area residents aren't likely to
request your services!
4.
Day Parting
(Offered by Kanoodle)
Right now,
Kanoodle is the only search engine we know that offers this
option. "Day parting" allows you to choose the time of day
your ads will appear in different regions, so they're only
available during "prime viewing times."
For example,
if your market testing shows that most people click on your
ads to make a purchase in the early evening, you can make
sure that your ads only appear at that time in the different
regions where your potential customers live.
5.
Keyword Research Tools
(Offered by Overture, Google AdWords, FindWhat,Kanoodle,
LookSmart, Enhance Interactive)
The most
popular keyword phrases are always the most expensive. Keyword
research tools help you find common variations and misspellings
of the more popular keywords so you can keep costs down while
still generating traffic.
More sophisticated
keyword research tools let you see how much you need to bid
to achieve a particular ranking (i.e. the #1 spot, the #7
spot, etc.) prior to finalizing your bid. They may also provide
you with traffic estimates for the different keywords and
phrases you bid on.
6.
Multiple Ads for the Same Keyword
(Offered by Google AdWords)
Google AdWords
allows you to "split-test" different ads for the same keyword
so you can see which ad attracts the most paying customers.
This can
save you a lot of time, and enables you to make sure your
ads will yield the highest possible return on your investment.
7.
"Autobid" Software
(Offered by Overture, Google AdWords, FindWhat,
Kanoodle, LookSmart, and Enhance Interactive)
"Autobid"
software is a bid management program that tracks the bidding
activity on your different keywords and automatically adjusts
your bidding amount so that you can maintain your ranking.
The more
sophisticated bid management programs allow you to "cap" your
bids so that you never spend more than you want.
They also
eliminate "bid gaps" that occur when the bidder below your
listing drops their bid -- your bid is automatically reduced
so that you maintain your position without spending more per
click than necessary.
Final
thoughts
If you haven't
tried a PPC search engine campaign yet, I'd recommend doing
it soon. There are still tons of cheap, targeted keywords
waiting for your bids -- but they may not be around much longer.
More and
more online businesses are realizing that -- done right --
a PPC campaign can be a fabulous source of cheap, instant,
highly qualified traffic.
The best
advice I can give you is this:
- Bid
on lots of cheap, targeted keywords and phrases,
including mispellings -- and avoid the expensive general
words that everyone is bidding on.
- Never
bid more per click than what a single visitor is worth to
your site
-- it's the best way to make sure your ads remain
profitable.
- Get
listed in the "other" PPC search engines -- you
may be able to bid on popular terms you can't afford in
Overture and Google AdWords.
- Whenever
possible, get ranked in the top 3 listings in Overture
and Google AdWords -- these ads appear on an extensive
network of sites (including Yahoo!, MSN, AltaVista, Excite,
and more!) and can reach up to 80% of all active Internet
users, so you get more bang for your buck!
- Target
your ads as much as possible. Write "custom" ads
for each keyword and use the various bid management
and targeting tools offered by the different PPC search
engines to reduce your costs and increase your clicks.
- Design
your landing pages so they convert qualified visitors to
buyers. If your ads promise "cat toys with bells," make
sure they actually direct visitors to a page where it's
easy for them to buy these items!
Finally,
I should probably mention that I'm giving away $85 worth of
FREE pay-per-click search engine traffic as a special bonus
with my "Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the
Internet" course right now.
So if you
don't already own a copy, this is a great opportunity to check
it out, get even MORE tips for your PPC search engine campaigns,
AND get $85 worth of free traffic for your web site.
Visit http://www.marketingtip.com/tipsltr.html if you want more information
about the free PPC traffic (it's mentioned toward the bottom
of the page).
Happy bidding!
