Internet Marketing Business Strategies

Pay-Per-Click marketing is a way to bid for keywords people type into search engines. As the bidder, you can decide how much to pay for a keyword and the more you pay the higher ranked your advertisement will be in the search results. The highest bidder’s ppc ad gets the top spot.

However, whether or not you can rely on Pay-Per-Click marketing as a viable way to drive traffic to your website will depend upon the products or services you have to offer and how, how well they are presented on your website, and how skilfully you can harness PPC to promote your website.

Cost Per Click

The cost per click starts from as little as US$0.01 and rises to several dollars a click depending on the popularity of the keyword or search terms and the popularity of the PPC company. Anything over a dollar a click and your advertising costs begin to soar. The good news, however, is that you only pay when someone clicks on your advertisement.

Also, with some Pay-Per-Click advertising companies, you can set the amount you wish to spend, which is obviously good for small businesses on limited advertising budgets.

Pay Per Click Marketing Sites

To begin marketing with Pay-Per-Click you will need to open an account and deposit some money with a PPC advertising company. The biggest PPC companies in the market are:

• Google AdWords
• Yahoo! Search Marketing
• MSN adCenter

Other popular PPC marketing companies include:

• Ask
• Kanoodle
• LookSmart
• Yandex

Facebook PPC Ads

In the last couple of years Facebook has entered the market with their own PPC brand, which emphasizes the demographic profile of the target market to a highly sophisticated degree as compared to traditional PPC models which rely more heavily on search terms.

Choosing Your PPC Partner

In order for Pay-Per-Click advertising to work, you need to make sure that the search engine or PPC company you choose to use are visible enough in your market for the advertising to be worthwhile; in other words you need to choose the right sites where people may be looking for the type of products and services that you are selling.

For example, if you sell women’s shoes, it is not likely to be beneficial for you to post your PPC links on a site that emphasizes sales of electronic equipment. On the other hand, it might be effective to post your ads on a site that sells fashion items, fragrances, or even men’s wear since many people are looking for a quick way to find clothing for all members of the family.

Make sure you fully understand the advertising policies of the PPC company you choose. If you choose a company that allows you to set your own price for each click, you will probably find that your ad will appear on more sites if you are willing to pay more for the service. You want to make sure that you have control over the types of sites where your Pay-Per-Click advertisement will appear. You want to be choosy so that you don’t allow your ad to show on sites where people might just click through to see what you have to offer and then not buy anything. Remember, every click costs you money so it’s important to target those who are interested and ready to buy, even if it may not be the same day.

Keyword-Search or Demographics?

With the emergence of Facebook ads it is also important to consider whether your priority is to attract customers on the strength of the keyword terms they enter into search engines, or whether you want to appeal to a specific, tightly defined, demographic segment. If demographics is your priority you might want to think about testing your ads on Facebook first; if keyword search is your priority, then the older PPC companies may be better for you.

Whatever you do, before you choose Pay-Per-Click advertising, talk to other people you know who have used it to get a feel for the right company to use. Do your own research as well. Read the content on websites where you are thinking about placing your ads.

Like any other type of advertising, you must keep in mind that PPC advertising works better in some industries than others. Before investing your money in a long-term commitment to Pay-Per-Click marketing, you may want to try a couple of small PPC test campaigns to give you an idea of how well it is likely to work for you.

David Hurley
Free Business Websites