PPC Advertising: 10 Things you should know

[NewsDesk]

By Brice Mattson

PPC advertising is a very tricky thing. If you haven't tried a PPC campaign before then here are 10 things you should know before venturing forth. I had spent a fortune on Google ad words before I knew what I was doing and to say the least I wish I knew then what I know now because I would have saved myself alot of money.

Here's 10 things to keep in mind when you start a PPC campaign:

• Create a landing page for each of your pay per click campaigns is a must. Each of these different landing pages should phrase the offer in the specific language the searcher is using. For instance, if you have a searcher looking for 'hockey equipment' ? and you sell both ice hockey and field hockey equipment ? you should design a landing page that clearly communicates this. You should also create one specifically for field hockey and one for ice hockey, too.
  
  
• Constantly tweak the wording of your pay per click campaigns to determine the best arrangement of words. For instance, try switching the first line with the third or the second line with the third. Try all different permutations that make sense and then take note of your click-thru rates. Additionally, take note of whether your conversion rates remain the same or change.
  
  
• Always use a call to action in your pay per click campaigns. Some calls to action include ?click here,? ?start now,? ?join now,? ?learn more,? and ?don't miss out.? These calls to action will provoke those who read the advertisement to click, rather than wandering off to the next advertisement to see if it might offer something better.
  
  
• Pay careful attention to your pay per click campaigns. In many cases the network through which you advertised with freeze your ads for different reasons. Google Ad words, for instance, will stop ads that are 'underperforming,' which means they either are drawing a small amount of impressions or have a low click-thru rate. To make sure all of your ads stay active, watch them carefully and make changes when required.
  
  
• Avoid using any trademarked phrases or names when using Google Ad words. For instance, using 'EBay' or 'Amazon.com' or 'Wal-Mart' could get you into trouble with Google Ad words ? and possibly result in an account suspension. Additionally, it could get you into legal trouble for using their trademarks without consent.
  
  
• Balance convertibility with traffic levels on pay per click campaigns. For instance, if you write ?100% free course? or ?100% free to download,? you will more than likely have a high conversion rate, but a good percentage of them will be tire-kickers. In contrast, if you don't write that the product is free, your click-through rate will suffer, but more visitors will be serious buyers.
  
  
• Take advantage of contextual advertising programs that allow you to select where your advertisements will be published. Google Ad words now offers this. If you notice that your click thru rate is unusually high with the 'Content Network,' even though the conversion rates are disturbingly low, you should consider weeding out some of the potential problem sites.
  
  
• When using Google Ad words for pay per click advertising, attempt to bid your advertisements above the fold. Simply having advertisements on the results page when it loads has been shown to radically increase impression-to-click conversion rates. With Ad words, this has a compound effect, since positioning is determined by your bid multiplied by your click-thru rate.
  
  
• When using pay per click advertising, avoid the top three slots. Top three sites receive a lot of accident clicks and 'test' clicks. You definitely do not want these most of the time, as these searchers wont be as interested in your site as someone who actually read your advertisement and decided to check out your website.
  
  
• Always test your landing pages when using pay per click to generate traffic. If one setup has a woefully bad conversion rate, you will want to switch to something else. Even if it doesn't, you will want to continually tweak your landing pages until you achieve an optimal conversion rate ? until changes only decrease your conversion rate.

Knowing PPC advertising is a good thing and I hope I have shed some light before someone else spends a fortune...LOL

About the Author
Brice Mattson Is The Owner/Webmaster Of The Best Internet Business Website.

[ckenney3382]

Bryce -

Great article. This can serve as a beginners' guide to setting up ppc campaigns. I do have a problem with your article telling users not to position themselves in the top 3. I know that might get more 'test clicks' or unwanted clicks but the fact remains that if you are in the top 3 then you will get many many many more imrpessions and clicks than you would in positions 4-10. Google syndicates between 2-3 ads on their network so the exposure could be enormous if you are in those top 3. Also, according to the Google Heatmaps, users are most likely to click on one of the top 3 ppc ads before they get to the organic side of things. If you test enough and can optimize your ads/landing pages/conversion funnel then you are able to take on more and more traffic. Everything else is great. Keep up the informative posts!