What is Pay Per Click Marketing?
Pay per click marketing, commonly referred to as PPC, is an online marketing method used by webmasters who want to drive traffic back to their websites without relying solely on SEO and other marketing strategies. In short, you will place an ad within an advertising network but you will only pay for the ad if a web user clicks on it in order to be referred directly to your website.
Most ads appear on search engine result pages or on other websites. Search engine result pages are the ones that appear after a website user has input a keyword or phrase into the search box. When a list of websites appears, you will usually see a highlighted box of links at the top of the page and a list of sponsored ads or links down the side of the page. These ads and links are highlighted and segregated because website users have paid to have them appear.
The concept of pay per click marketing is relatively simple but the actual placement of ads can be a little more complex. In order to get started, you need to have a list of keyword phrases that you will use in your campaign. The better or more popular your keyword, the more you are going to have to pay each time a web user clicks on your link.
For example, let’s assume that I am marketing a website that relates to time management. Time management is an incredibly popular keyword. I will have to tell the advertising network what the maximum amount is that I am willing to pay if someone clicks on the ad I place using that term. When the list of advertisements comes up on someone’s search, my placement on that list will be determined by the amount I am willing to pay for a click. The more I am willing to pay, the higher up my ad will appear on the results page.
It’s sometimes difficult to determine what keywords are most popular for any given niche. There are dozens of keyword tracking tools available online to help you find just the right words or phrases to use within your pay per click campaign. Most can be found by doing a simple Google search. I would venture to guess that if you search for “keyword tracking tools” you’ll notice a few pay per click ads for various programs on the page.
The key to any successful campaign is carefully tracking each keyword to determine whether or not it is effective. If the advertisement is bringing clicks to your site, but those clicks aren’t resulting in sales or some other form of action, you may need to consider changing your campaign strategy to something that will draw in a better or different crowd of visitors.
Pay per click may seem overwhelming at first, but it is very easy to use once you’re used to the system. If you want to drive high levels of targeted traffic to your website quickly, pay per click campaigns are the way to go.
Happy Marketing!
Sean
Sean McPheat
Marketing Consultant - Internet Marketing Consultant - Sales Expert