Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Effective PPC Advertising

By Brian Basch

The most effective method of marketing your business is advertising your products and services using a PPC (pay per click) campaign. It is important to do this with a thorough planning model, paying attention to all the details of what you are advertising. This type of planning allows you to avoid pitfalls and won't cost you money that doesn't need to be spent. Here are great PPC tips to help you get started and you will get all the benefits of this advertising method without the downsides.

Step one is picking the right keywords. Most people think it's best to choose an extremely common keyword. This couldn't be further from the truth - a common keyword may get you a lot of clicks, but it's hard to get, requiring a higher bid. On top of that, people clicking on a more general keyword are less likely to buy, since they're probably just starting their search. The best way to get a wide, appropriate audience for the lowest cost is to use a targeted keyword phrase, also referred to as a long tail keyword.

Experiment with a few, more specific phrases by searching Google or another popular engine to find the one that gives you good results for your product. You can also use some of the available tools for finding good permutations of keywords, and which can offer hundreds of viable phrases for your business. Test these keywords to find the ones that are most effective.

Even the best key words will not save a poor advertising, though. You have to a have a catchy or enticing headline to interest a potential customer and that will also encourage him or her to click and find out more about your site. Avoid clicks that don't lead to sales by making sure your advertising has an accurate description of your product or services. When you are certain you already have the best keyword list you can start to design your advertising.

Good ad copy should include a real sense of urgency about the product. Also, don't forget the main benefits of the goods or services you offer. Empower the customer to realize the benefits they can obtain by clicking on your ad right now! Promotions and discounts in the third line often serve this purpose.

Try for a high ranking on a search page, but remember that many people click reflexively on the first-ranked ad. That could result in more sales, or more empty clicks, as visitors realize that wasn't where they meant to go. Being high on the page is good, but if it's a waste of resources, don't try to be the highest. Focus on a great ad that's well targeted to your audience, instead.

Be aware of what your competitors are doing, too. Adjusting your key words and advertising copy according to what works with them is a great idea, but you should avoid copying. Instead, find out what works best for them and try to go that step further.

PPC ads are a new and uncertain entity and careful thought needs to be put into any advertising campaign for it to succeed. The best way to do this is to make sure you know what you're doing. Here's to reaching your target audience, and lots of sales.

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