Pay-per-click
search engines
How they work
pay-per-click engines allow you to bid on keywords that relate to your site.
If you're the highest bidder, your site will be ranked highest for that keyword.
Top pay-per-click engines
The only pay-per-click engine that has achieved Top 10 status is GoTo.com.
Other pay-per-click engines are less popular but are trying to gain more
recognition. The following table lists the top pay-per-click search engines and
the locations of their help pages.
To bid or not to bid?
If you're thinking about using a pay-per-click search engine to promote your
site, there are a few factors to consider.
- Your marketing
budget
Do you have enough money to make pay-per-click engines a part of your
advertising campaign, or should you stick with free search engines?
- Your industry
Consider the uniqueness of your product. Do you sell something that lots of
other sites also sell, or is your product hard to find? You may already have
an advantage.
- Your competition
What tactics does your competition use? If your top competitor is a big
advertiser on GoTo.com,
you may want to consider bidding for a top position there as well.
How do you sign up for pay-per-click advertising?
Signing up for pay-per-click search engines is easy. Choose an engine based
on how much money you want to spend and how much traffic you want. GoTo.com
is probably the best option if your company has a marketing budget large enough
to accommodate all click-throughs. Choose smaller engines if you want less of a
traffic boost.
To register with a pay-per-click engine, simply visit its sign-up page. The
above table lists the sign-up pages for many pay-per-click engines.
You'll need to provide the following information when signing up:
- Contact information
(Name, address, phone number, e-mail, company name)
- Site URL
- Keywords you want to
bid on
- Amount of money you're
bidding for every keyword
- Site description
- Credit card information
Your request will probably be reviewed in up to five business days. If
approved, your bids will appear immediately.
Choose the right keywords
The most important factor in pay-per-click positioning is choosing the right
keywords to bid on. First, irrelevant keywords will be rejected, so choose only
those keywords that relate to your site's content. Second, relevant keywords
mean targeted traffic. Since you're paying every time a searcher clicks on
your site, it's crucial to make sure that every click is worth the money.
The cost of a top position for a given keyword is also a factor. Ask each
engine to provide you with the rate of click-throughs for the top 10 positions
on every keyword you're considering. Try to find inexpensive keywords that
relate to your site. If you can't afford the number-one position for a given
keyword, being fifth can still pay off.
Analyze results
If you don't have your own traffic monitoring service or software,
pay-per-click engines will provide you with reports that show how many people
clicked on your site's link and what they searched for. The pay-per-clicks swear
on the integrity of these reports, so pay careful attention to them. Analyze the
following elements:
- Projected vs. actual
click-throughs
Did your advertising perform as well as you expected? Did you get too
much or too little traffic? Consider this when deciding on future keyword
purchases.
- Your revenue
The purpose of advertising is to attract more visitors and sell more
products or services. If your traffic increased but your revenue didn't,
evaluate your keywords. Can you think of better keywords that will attract
users who are looking for your products or services?
- Web stats
If you have a software package or a service that tracks your usage
statistics, note which pages your pay-per-click visitors use most (usually
in the "path summary" report). See if you can find any patterns.
This will help you understand those users' interests and choose future
keywords.
Analyzing your pay-per-click marketing efforts will help you decide how this
form of advertising can benefit your business.
An Overview
Using pay-per-click search engines
- Consider your industry,
budget and competition
- Choose relevant
keywords
- Analyze both traffic
and sales to measure effectiveness
|
