How to use PPC
How to use PPC.
Rule #0: 3-4 word keywords attract buyers, 1-2 word keywords attract browsers.
As much as possible, you want to target and bid on specific phrases. The more specific the phrase, the more likely it is that a click will convert into a sale. As I love to say, "It isn't the number of clicks you get, but the number of sales you make!", and this is particularly true when you're paying by the click. I should give credit where credit is due: I came across this insight during my regular perusal of WebMasterWorld. It's a must-read if you're serious about web promotion.
Rule #1: don't be obsessed with getting the number 1 position on the search returns.
It often isn't worth it. My rule of thumb is that the more specific the keyword, the higher I want to rank. For very specific keywords I want to be in the top 3, because then I'll appear in the Searches partner sites. But for general, nonspecific keywords, I believe that positions 8-10 are more cost effective, because the first few listings will tend to "filter" the clickthroughs you get. After all, the more other listings the visitor passes up before getting to yours and then clicking on it, the more likely he is going to be interested in what your site is about. See rules #3 and #4 for amplifications on this.
Rule #2: monitor the effectiveness of your clickthroughs.
You can have each of your search terms click through to a different URL if you want, and you can use this to track what search terms are actually generating income for you. Some search terms are worth only a few pennies, others might generate a dollar or more in income per click. Bid accordingly. Overture has a basic tutorial that demonstrates a couple of ways of making it easier to track the results of your search terms.
Under the new pricing systems, it is imperative that you only bid on search terms that are specifically focused on your product or service. The more specific the keyword, the better it is likely to convert into a sale. Since you now have to pay at least .05 - 0.10 for a click, it is usually no longer worthwhile sponsoring general keywords. Do the research to figure out what specific search terms apply to you (read my preparing your pages for the search engines article for tips on how to do this; in particular, use the WordTracker service). If you're a current Overture user who is grandfathered, plan now on what search terms you'll cancel when those terms start costing you 5 cents. Typically, you'll be getting rid of the low-cost, low-position, high-volume bids, but the only way to know for sure which bids are cost effective for you is to track your conversion results for each search term you're bidding on. If you're not doing this now, you should be.Rule #3: If you are bidding on a keyword that isn't the prime focus of your site, my advice is, at first, simply bid enough to get on the first page of search returns.
Later, once you know how much those clickthroughs are worth, you can raise your bid to get more clickthroughs, but note that often, the higher up on the page your link appears, the less valuable it becomes (because of the filter effect). Now that you have to pay at least 10 cents, you have to be much more picky about even thinking of sponsoring a general keyword!
For example, if you search for "yahoo" on Overture, you'll find that I have a link to my Yahoo tips page. I used to be bidding enough to get position 3, but found that dropping my bid to a mere 2 cents (position 6 at the time, now often not appearing since Overture's stopped showing the low bids) only slightly reduced the number of clickthroughs but increased the number of visitors who ended up being contributors - the filter effect in action. Even so, before the first round of price rises, I was considering dropping my bid to 1 cent, because the keyword isn't closely focused on what my site does, so my conversion rate from visitors to paying customers is much lower on this keyword than, for example, "register website." When Overture forces me to pay a nickel for this term, I'll not be bidding on it and Overture will be kissing $20 a month good-bye.Rule #4: Consider bidding for one of the first 3 positions, but only on very specific, very focused search terms that are directly relevant to your site, but only if they are cheap.
Overture is now owned and providing paid search listings for Yahoo!, America Online, Netscape Search, Lycos, Hotbot and Altavista - but only the top listings will appear. Overture search results also appear on many of the major metasearch sites. This promises to generate a large amount of traffic, but because each of these sites differs in how many Overture listings they display on their first page of results, the "let the top positions act as a filter" advice may not be the best approach because it means you won't appear on the other search engines, many of which get a LOT more traffic than the main Overture site. My gut feeling here is that if you're currently in the #4-6 position for a very specific search term on Overture, and you can bump yourself to position 3 for less than a 25-30% jump in your bid, it's probably worth doing. But here's an important caveat; if you get outbid and drop to position 4, then you probably should reduce your bid to put yourself back into the position 6-8 range. Similarly, if you can get a #2 position cheaply, go for it. Obviously, you should only do this on search terms that will only be searched for by people who are clearly interested in what you're offering, and like any other search term, you need to monitor how cost effective it is. You can't lose a penny on every click and hope to make it up on the volume! Because the new search engines have much more traffic than Overture, less popular variants (and misspellings) of your keywords will become more important. Consider increasing the number of keywords you sponsor to cover the misspellings.
This article written by Robert Woodhead of SelfPromotion.com Robert's service is Free but he does ask for a $10 donation to help him keep doing what he is doing. Please donate the $10 this is the most valuable site promotion tool we have found to date.
Author: GunMuse Date: Wednesday Sep 22 2004 19:28:01 pm
