Pay Per Click search engines have drastically changed the way businesses advertise on the web.

How Do Pay Per Click Search Engines Work?
1. Advertisers "Bid" on keywords relevant to their business.
2. The "search results" are delivered in the order of highest to lowest bid.
3. Advertisers are charged the "bided amount" when a user clicks through.


PPC advertising is an excellent method of drawing targeted traffic to your website. There are several Pay Per Click strategies that will increase performance and deliver a cost-justified ROI.

1. Creative :: Advertisers submit individual Titles and Descriptions for each keyword. It is important to include the "keyword" in the Title and in the Description- your listings will receive a better click-through-rate. Even if you are the number one listing within the pay-per-click results, you will only receive a 2% - 5% click through rate. The quality of your creative will determine your click through rate!

2. ROI :: Pay Per Click Engines become more competitive everyday- especially Google Ad Words and Overture. It is important to consider the return on your investment when advertising on pay-per-clicks engines. Formulate a cost structure that makes sense for your business model. If you are paying $10.00 to Pay Per Click Engines for every sale, and you profit $9.00 on every sale, you need to restructure your PPC bidding model. Every business has a unique cost matrix. Run financials to formulate your PPC bidding strategy and closely track sales derived from your advertising.

3. Tracking URL's :: Tracking URL's will maximize your PPC ROI. For each keyword URL, place the following code at the end of your URL?source=yourkeyword_PPCSearchEngine so you can track results in your statistics program. Example, if Monster Web Site Promotion is using Google Ad Words as a pay per click engine and wishes to create a tracking URL for the keyword "Web Promotion", it would be constructed as follows:

URL = http://www.inetready.com?source=webpromotion_GoogleAdWords

By creating a tracking URL, we are able to track which search terms and which search engines are generating sales. If you are a MonsterCommerce client, also use the discount code editor so you can run reports to gauge ROI. Most of the time 25% of your keywords will deliver 85% of your sales. By tracking URL's you can reduce keywords or PPC engines that are not cost effective. The result? A better return on your investment!

4. Targeted Keywords :: Choosing proper keywords is the most important aspect of PPC advertising. Use the Overture.com Search Term suggestion tool to learn which keywords are driving the most traffic to your industry. Make sure you choose keywords that will direct targeted traffic to your website. If you choose keywords that are extremely popular (but not target specific to your business), you will be disappointed as your advertising dollars are eaten up- without converting sales.

Choosing the right keywords is crucial to PPC success. If you choose keywords that are too broad you will have difficulty converting visitors into buyers. For a customer wishing to sell a particular movie title on DVD online it is better to target the keyword "Movie Title DVD" as opposed to bidding on the keyword "DVD". Aside from single keywords being too broad, they are also usually very expensive.

5. URL Pathing :: When you spend money PPC advertising you want to get the most bang for your buck. When choosing the URL path for each keyword, keep in mind that it is best to direct the user directly to the product they seek.

For example, if you sell "billiard supplies", and the keyword you are bidding is "billiard balls"... you should direct all users clicking on your "billiard ball" listing to the "billiard ball" portion of your website. Don't lead users to your homepage- take them directly to the relevant portion of your site! This is important! You will sell more products and get a better return on your investment by following this advice.

6. Short Term Strategy :: PPC Engines are an excellent short term strategy for business entering the e-commerce arena because traffic is delivered immediately. The shortcoming is PPC engines are increasingly more competitive and expensive. Search Engine Optimization is a more cost effective means for a long-term SE placement strategy. SEO will drive targeted traffic for pennies on the dollar compared to PPC.

PPC SUMMARY ::
- PPC advertising is an excellent resource for qualified traffic.
- When executed properly, PPC will deliver a solid ROI.
- Avoid the common mistakes and pitfalls of PPC advertising.
- Use tracking URL's to cost justify the capital outlay.
- Choose targeted keywords that will convert browsers into buyers.
- You must constantly tweak and monitor your PPC campaigns.
- The quality of your creative is mission critical to PPC success.
- Drive the user directly to the keyword... not to your homepage.
- PPC is an excellent short-term strategy.
- SEO is more cost effective and secure for the long-term.


Are PPC rankings relevant?
PPC engines are highly relevant for several reasons.

1. Human Editors > Most PPC engines use human editors to accept or decline keywords to ensure only relevant content.

2. Cost Justification > By paying per click, irrelevant advertisers are forced to abandon irrelevant keywords because of cost justification. It is a profit losing scenario for a company to bid on irrelevant keywords.

Should you use pay-per-click engines?
This decision should be influenced by your industries keywords and prices. Your budget, economies of scale, profitability and many other factors should be considered before entering the PPC arena. How much are you willing to spend to make a sale? If PC engines can meet the figure you derive, it is a rewarding investment.

Links to the leading PPC Engines
Overture.com :: Sign-up now with Overture!
Google's AdWords :: Sign-up now with Google Ad Words

2nd Tier PPC Engines
Lycos Ad Buyer
Ah-Ha
Findwhat
E-Pilot


Search Engines: Search Engines Explained.
Keywords: choosing the right keywords is mission critical.
Link Popularity: the more links pointing your site from "relevant" sites the better.
Click Popularity: the more traffic your site receives, the higher you score.
Web Themes: Create text heavy pages broken down into "themes".