Pay Per Click (PPC)

What is Pay Per Click?

Pay Per Click, or PPC,
is an advertising technique used on websites, advertising networks, and search engines.

With search engines, pay per click advertisements are usually text ads placed near search results; when a site visitor clicks on the advertisement, the advertiser is charged a small amount. Variants include pay for placement and pay for ranking. Pay per click is also sometimes known as Cost Per Click (CPC). While many companies exist in this space, Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing, which was formerly Overture, are the largest network operators as of 2006. MSN has started beta testing with their own PPC services MSN adCenter. Depending on the search engine, minimum prices per click start at US$0.01 (up to US$0.50). Very popular search terms can cost much more on popular engines. Abuse of the pay per click model can result in click fraud.*
*Courtesy of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pay-Per-Click is one of the options you can choose from,
along with developing an SEO, or search engine optimization campaign. Both pay-per-click and SEO are targeted to get your website placed as close to the top of search engine results as possible. One of the differences is that it takes minutes to set up a pay-per-click campaign versus months for a good SEO campaign.  The downside is that pay-per-click is essentially a bidding war. A higher bid than yours will lower your position on search engine results. This means that you will have to raise your bid to regain your position – which can obviously become quite expensive, especially if you are bidding on a popular keyword. Needless to say this will quickly gobble up your advertising budget.

In order to determine if pay-per-click is a cost effective form of marketing for your business, you must do some computing to figure out how much each visitor to your site is worth. You can compute this value by dividing the profit your website made over a given period of time by the total number of visitors during that period. The basic formula is profits divided by visitors. For example, if your business made $5,000 in profits and there were 2,5000 hits, in theory each visitor would be worth 50cents. However at fifty cents per visitor your business will just break even. Of course you need to show a profit, not just cover costs. To that end you need to aim at a figure less than 50 cents per click.

Be aware that the most popular keywords often cost considerably more than 50 cents a click.
Popular keywords can cost as much as $20 to $30 dollars per click. So 2,500 hits at $20.00 per click would cost $50,000 not a good deal if your only realizing a profit of $5.000. The only way around this is to bid less for these key words or you will be paying more than your budget can afford for each individual hit. Another element of pay-per-click advertising is that you constantly monitor your bid.  It is very important that you bear in mind that the results of the top search engines providing pay-per-click advertising, which are Overture and Adwords Select, usually appear on other popular search engines. Because the competition for top ranking is intense very often you will find that the bidding price balloons too high for pay-per-click to yield a profit.

When this happens, you should withdraw your bid on that particular keyword and try another one. When you pay too much per click to make a profit, you are in actually losing the bidding war.

Losing is not acceptable, so you need to have a plan in place to closely track the effectiveness of your keyword. You should monitor your keywords at the very least on a monthly basis.

In addition to careful monitoring, the analysis of visitor behavior is equally as important. Such analysis can yield invaluable knowledge about consumer trends and habits. Expert monitoring and consumer analysis is an essential tool to insure that your pay-per-click campaign is a success.  

More on Pay-Per-Click
While Pay-per-click programs offer many advantages they also have their unique disadvantages including but not limited to the following  Because machines surf more than people you might be charged for their clicks. In addition,
daily management monitoring time is required, while it’s fairly easy it can be time consuming. Also statistics indicate users have a tendency to skip over sponsor links/ads as artificial search results. As mentioned before, bidding wars drive up cost making Per-click costs on popular terms very expensive. You may find popular terms to be so expensive they are cost prohibitive.

In general Pay-per-click programs pay less than affiliate programs because you are trading higher commission rates for a higher probability of earning income since your visitors don’t have to purchase they only need to click. However, because of it’s general nature, if you have a website with a narrow focus/narrow targeted audience pay-per click may not be your best choice. You should also know, certain pay per click programs cap the click-through ratio, claiming this is an anti-fraud protection measure, other pay-per-click programs cap the payout amount you can receive based on the ratio of the amount of ads displayed by you against the number of users clicking through those ads. When you have a highly relevant, targeted site this practice can negatively impact your potential income.

Before signing up for any Pay-per click program or adding banners to your website consider the following factors:

1) How do they count click-through?
2) What do they pay-what is their payment history?
3) What are their payment terms?
4) What are their terms and conditions?
5) What other tools or features do they give you?
6) What is the quality of their advertisers?

Before you commit to any agreement carefully read the entire document. You can bet if there are restrictions, they will be discreetly hidden among some elaborate legal terms. Caveat emptor!

 

GET STARTED TODAY WITH OUR SEO ONLINE  MARKETING FIRM.  OPTIMIZATION ADVERTISING, LLC  8440 Rea Road, Suite L  CHARLOTTE, NC 28277.  CALL 704-905-8275, visit http://www.optimizationadvertising.com,  or e-mail admin@optimizationadvertising.com.

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Search Engine Optimization
SEO is an acronym for "search engine optimization" or "search engine optimizer." Deciding to hire an SEO is a big decision that can potentially improve your site and save time, but you can also risk damage to your site and reputation. Make sure to research the potential advantages as well as the damage that an irresponsible SEO can do to your site. Many SEOs and other agencies and consultants provide useful services for website owners, including Search Engine Search Engine Positioning, Search Engine Marketing, Local SEO, Organic SEO, Link building and many more.

Search Engine Positioning
Is your website appearing at the top of the Google results? Can there be a higher qualified lead than someone who just searched for YOUR specific product or service? Dominating the major search engines for your related keywords should be your #1 priority. Our staff has been generating incredible results for just about every industry imaginable by moving their websites to the top of the major search engines such as Google. This is done through the sponsored listings, the "local" Google map listings and the much coveted, non-sponsored, free listings. Services include internal search engine optimization, inbound link building, SEO copywriting and press releases, social networking and other forms of search engine advertising services that will make your website a magnet to highly qualified prospects. Out of literally hundreds of thousands of websites claiming to offer search engine positioning services, we consistently rank as one of the top ten companies in the United States according to numerous third-party sources such as TopSEO's, PromotionWorld, Website Magazine and Visibility Magazine.

We provide something for everyone; from small, local businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Our services include proven and successful organic optimization, inbound link building, seo friendly copywriting, social media marketing, monthly analtyics, conversion tracking and more. All working together to generate a positive ROI.

Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing, or SEM, is a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs) through the use of paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion. The New York Times defines SEM as 'the practice of buying paid search listings'

Local SEO Services
(dominate your local online market and appear within Google's local map listings) Localized keywords, such as Colorado Springs real estate, are far less competitive than generic terms (such as real estate). Because of this, small businesses who are targeting niche, local advertising can benefit from our very affordable local marketing plans which include keyword research, optimization, link building, Pay Per Click setup in Google, and getting listed in Google's local "map" listings. Affordable SEO and local internet marketing services do not require 12-month terms and can be purchased as a one-time fee service. Purchase a local marketing package for the best results - or purchase services a la carte. Learn more about our affordable search engine optimization services.

Mobile SEO
So really we can revise the definition to say that mobile SEO is about making sure that a business is as visible as possible on the mobile web. Whether that involves people seeing your phone number, finding your shop on a map or actually visiting the website is irrelevant.

On page SEO
refers to the text and content on your web site pages. It acts as the foundation for your ongoing SEO process. Work on your website and content, so that the search engine can find your webpage when searching for your web sites for a particular keyword. This has a significant impact on search engine results you should make your site as search engine friendly as possible.

Some of the on page factors include:

Search engine friendly web page urls in your site.The inner pages of your site have the urls followed by the domain and then describing your content.

Optimization of all your meta tags which mainly includes (title,keywords and description)

Internal linking between the pages in the site. Internal linking must be done wherever required such that google does not spam it.The major pages of your site must be linked to your homepage.

Creation of sitemap is important so that all your web pages are indexed by search engines

Good quality content is liked by most of the search engines. Content should be information rich which is relevant and inspiring-yet do not forget the spiders.

Make sure that your html code is free of errors and warnings

Some of the on page factors to be avoided:

Hidden link or text: use of hidden or invisible text for getting listed on search engines by using a font color similar to the background color must be avoided which will affect your rankings.

Cloaking mechanisms: never show up two different versions of your site, one for the search engines and a completely different page to real users. This will risk your site on being penalized

Duplicate content to be avoided.There is no substitute for unique, original and useful content.

Off page SEO factors
As the name indicates off page optimization is the work that needs to be done off the pages of your website. Compared to off page factors,on page optimization is relatively easy to achieve.

Some of the off page factors include:

Use of anchor text in the links wherever required according to relevancy. Also the text surrounding the links should not be ignored.

Building quality links for link building purposes which include relevance,page rank and authority sites.

Link popularity can be attained by using social networking sites, log commenting, forum postings, article/press release promotions, directory submissions, link baiting, posting classified ads, link exchange with relevant sites and so on

On page and off page factors are two different aspects of your SEO efforts which work towards getting qualified traffic which provides the path that leads towards conversion

Domain Selection
If you think the selection process and the name you have chosen for that shiny new domain name won't make any difference in the search rankings of your new or existing website, think again.Today more than ever, all search engines do carry a lot of weight to the keywords or key phrases that are present in your domain name. Ask any SEO professional firm that has been in this business for at least three or four years and they will tell you that the careful research and the final selection of the domain name you will use can have a tremendous positive impact in the search results pages from Google, AltaVista, Fast-all-the-Web, Yahoo, MSN, Inktomi, DMOZ and just any other search engine in existence today.

Keyword Research
Keyword research is the process of finding out the words and phrases that your potential customers use online. We're all creatures of habit and what we type into the search boxes isn't random, it's influenced subconsciously by our language and culture. Our searches follow certain patterns, we share the same types of words, we're influenced by news stories and the latest buzz or fashion.

Many online marketers make the mistake of only doing keyword research at the start of a project. That's a mistake because people's search behavior changes over time. New products and new fashions emerge and with them, different keywords. These are opportunities you can capitalize on.Keyword research is an ongoing process that you should build into your weekly schedule. You'll gain a deeper understanding of your markets, you'll spot emerging trends and new profitable niches before your competitors

CPA (Click-Per-Action) Marketing - The "New" Wave?
Have you heard about all the buzz going around about CPA marketing and networks? Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past 8 months, CPA (click per action or cost per action) is undoubtedly the *new* way to really make money online. The concept behind CPA marketing is real simple, you get money for generating leads for CPA networks.

PPC for Today, SEO for Tomorrow
Pay Per Click Services (get on the first page of Google & Yahoo FAST through their sponsored listings)Sponsored listings can place your website at the top of Google's first page within days! Our full service setup and Pay Per Click services, also known as search engine marketing, is an affordable and scaleable way to receive quick, relevant traffic to your website. Our full-service Pay Per Click (ppc) plans include options such as key phrase research, setup & maintenance, conversion tracking, geo targeting, scheduling, detailed monthly reports, and on-going phone support for highly effective campaigns.

Social media marketing
is initiated on social media web sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, blogs, and relies on the premise that a marketing message, packaged in exceptionally good, outrageous or unique content, in the form of video, text, audio or widgets, can be virally distributed throughout the social web to invite people to interact and to share it with other people.

Unlike Word of Mouth Marketing, where the primary goal is to target "influencers" to spread the message online and offline, social media marketing is a marketing strategy that is based on connecting directly with the target communities, engaging them and generating content or discussion online. The latter can range from submitting a How-To article or Tip sheet to Digg or bookmarking it at Delicious, putting images up on Flickr, having conversations on Twitter, uploading videos to YouTube and establishing a Fan Page at Facebook or just passing a web page on to a friend via email.

Google Analytics
Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you're more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites.