"Learn how to flood your site with
qualified buyers using the hottest new
pay-per-click search engine strategies and tools...
without losing money on high-priced keywords!"
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.
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 $75 worth of FREE pay-per-click search engine
traffic as a special bonus for ChineseFoodDIY
affiliates. For details, please visit:
http://www.chinesefooddiy.com/free_traffic.htm
Happy bidding!
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