Pay Per Click Accounts – What is Available?

Believe it or not, while one or two may have a monopoly on the market, there are actually several different pay per click companies available on the Internet. While some are more popular than others, or boast different features, each are effective in their own way.

If you are just starting out with pay per click marketing, I highly recommend setting up small accounts with a handful of different pay per click providers in order to test them and determine which ones are going to bring the best results. I personally started out with Google AdWords, Microsoft adCenter, and Yahoo! Search Marketing.

Google Adwords is by far the most popular pay per click provider on the web today. Google’s search engine is widely used by web surfers around the world, which means your ads are likely to be seen by millions of people. Google can help you to set up an ad campaign using either text or banner advertisements, though I don’t recommend the use of banner ads on a regular basis as they haven’t proven to be as successful as text. Your ads could possibly be distributed around the world, as well as on Google’s partner networks, including AOL and Netscape. Your ads will appear on Google search results as well as on web pages that have opted to show Google advertisements.

Microsoft adCenter is a division of MSN and is also considered to be amongst the three largest ad networks. In my opinion, the larger the ad network, the better the chances of your ad being seen because the network is likely to have better technology and exposure. Advertisements placed on this network are shown to users who search the web with MSN Search. Microsoft adCenter uses technology that limits your advertisement to a particular set of demographics, making it easier for them to control your costs and visibility.

Yahoo! Search Marketing is the last of the top three pay per click providers and I’ve had great success with them as well. Yahoo! purchased Overture Services, one of the very first search services that allowed advertisers to pay for placement, back in 2003. Overture was originally used by search engines like MSN and Yahoo to monetise their search results. Each later created their own pay per click services, phasing out the need for Overture itself.

There are plenty of other pay per click providers on the Internet. I encourage you to take a little bit of time to research some of the smaller networks as they may suit your needs as well. I can’t tell you which to use, but I can tell you that pay per click advertising is something you should seriously consider as you set up your marketing campaign. You won’t be disappointed.

Happy Marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant - Internet Marketing Consultant - Sales Expert

Best Practices for Google AdWord Users

Google Adwords is by far the most popular pay per click advertising company on the Internet. Let me begin by helping you to understand that there are many facets to Google’s pay per click advertising world. If you are a webmaster, it is likely that you have heard of both AdWords and AdSense. Each is different in the way they approach marketing.

AdSense is a program designed to allow website owners to place advertisements on their websites – if one of their visitors clicks on a link the website owner will be paid a portion of the total AdWords was paid for the placement of the ad. AdWords, on the other hand, is the actual advertisement company. A webmaster who wants to advertise his own website will create an online AdWords account which will then be customized with the keywords and ad copy the account holder wants to use in his campaign.

There are a number of things you can do to ensure that your AdWords campaign is optimized for the highest level of success possible.

1. Bid on as many keywords as possible. There is no way for you to know what keyword a user is going to input into their search engine browser box at any given time. You may search for cotton swabs while I may search for q-tips, but they’re the same thing. In another post I mentioned keyword tracking tools. Use these programs to create a list of words or phrases that may be used to search for your product or service. The more exposure you can gain the better.

2. Learn to effectively use your keywords in your ads. Your advertisements should not only be targeted towards your keyword, but should include it as well. Your keyword should appear in your headline and somewhere within your brief ad.

3. Create a separate landing page for each advertisement. Don’t have your advertisement send your visitors directly to your home page. Send them to a special landing page designed to give them more information, the opportunity to sign up for a newsletter, or the option to click through to your homepage later on. Having a separate landing page for each advertisement, and then tracking the success of each, will allow you to determine which ads are working best and which need to be redesigned.

4. Always test at least two ads at a time.  Testing more than one advertisement gives you the opportunity to compare results. I like to think of it as a competition. I’ll tweak one ad until it is outperforming the other. Then I’ll focus on the second ad until it is outperforming the first again. In the process, my ads improve and my sales increase!

Never put all of your eggs in one basket when working with pay per click advertising. I’ve seen too many Internet marketers rely on one campaign and then walk away discouraged when their advertising revenue runs out before they’ve made a sale. Most ad networks, especially Google, will allow you to set up multiple ads and groups for more effective tracking and testing. Take advantage of all of the tools and features Google has to offer. They’re in business to make money, too – and the only way they can do that is by helping you to succeed.

Happy Googling!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant - Internet Marketing Consultant - Sales Expert