Header Graphic
Home ::: Business Ideas ::: Starting A Business ::: Business Guides ::: Business Articles ::: Search ::: Tools ::: Videos

An Introduction to Pay Per Click Advertising and what it can do for your business

Share |

Small Business Tools Banner Image

PPC Advertising Guide: Search Engine Marketing Introduction

Pay Per Click Advertising

Pay per click advertising is a marketing tool used by website owners to generate traffic to a website faster than the more traditional methods of online marketing.  The service is provided by search engine marketing giants like Google and Yahoo and provides instant traffic to a website, product, or service.

Pay per click advertising generates immediate traffic and is used in conjunction with other advertising strategies like search engine marketing which is powered by keywords that are embedded into the website.  The immediate traffic is generated by placing a small ad on the search engine results page (serp).

You Only Pay for Results

The website owner does not pay for the ad that is placed on the search engine page but rather for the agreed upon bid amount when someone clicks on the ad and arrives on the website landing page.  This is the reason for calling this advertising strategy pay per click because the advertiser only pays for the number of clicks that lead to the web page.

Major PPC Engines

The most frequently used pay per click search engine is Google which offers a pay per click advertising program known as Adwords.  You can access Google Adwords by clicking the “Advertising Programs” link below the search box on Google’s home page.  From there you are walked through the process of setting up a pay per click advertising campaign.

Other major pay per click search engines include Yahoo, and Microsoft Network Live, as well as a large number of smaller search engines that focus on a specific niche or category of subject matter.

Keywords the Heart of Pay Per Click

Pay per click advertising is heavily reliant on keywords which drive visitors to your website. Keywords that people type into the search engine will also help them to find your ad in the search engine.  

Before setting up a pay per click marketing campaign, do your pay per click keyword research through a tool such as Wordtracker.  A tool like Wordtracker will give you the information you need to discover why a certain keyword works and how many people are using that keyword in a twenty-four hour period.

The popularity of a keyword will be an essential element of determining your pay per click advertising budget.  The more popular the keyword is, the higher you have to bid on the keyword to obtain an adequate ranking for your ad listing in the search engine.

For instance, “work from home” is an immensely popular keyword and could end up costing you a fortune in pay per click advertising costs with nothing to show for it.  However, “work from home widget” makes the term more targeted and the bid price less expensive.

Targeting Increases Your Success

Targeting your ad to your keywords is also important when establishing a pay per click marketing campaign.  The number of alphanumeric characters that are used for the ad are limited, so word the ad in a manner that prompts a response to click.  The ads can be adjusted anytime during the marketing campaign.

You’re in control of your Advertising Campaign

The pay per click advertising campaign can be started or paused at the advertiser’s discretion and will cost anywhere from $20 to $35 depending upon your bid amount and number of click-throughs to the website.  Bidding on keywords can be as little as $.01 depending upon the popularity of the keyword with the chosen pay per click search engine.

Pay Per Click is Easy to Understand

Pay per click advertising programs are relatively easy to understand and use.  The marketing campaigns allow a lot of flexibility to the advertiser and can accommodate literally thousands of keywords and combinations.  Most of the programs also include a tool for analyzing the pay per click marketing campaign for optimum results.

PPC is Quick

You can have customers in a few hours if your campaigns are set up correctly. This is one of the fastest  ways in history to get customers to what you’re offering. Before this speed was only available be creating setting up campaigns like infomercials or something similar.

Those types of campaigns cost a lot of money and out of reach for small entrepreneur. Today you can start your campaign for less than $50

PPC is a great testing tool.

Did you know you could save thousands of dollars and months or even years of lost work by testing out your idea using pay per click before investing in your idea, product or service?

All you need to do is test your idea, product or service and see if you get any response.

If you get a response you go ahead with your idea, if you get little response you can either adjust your strategy or move on without wasting a lot time and money. In as little as a few hours to a few days you’ll have your answer, and know if you should move ahead with our idea or not.

Pay per click advertising is fairly simple to use and if you are new to online advertising, it is a great way to experiment with advertising your product or service.

Here are some intresting articles on Pay Per Click Advertising

Pay Per Click Compared To Other Forms Of Advertising

The Pros and Cons of Pay Per Click Advertising

Pay Per Click Fraud, what you should know and do about it

Five Popular Pay Per Click Search Engines

Pay Per Click Management And What It Can Do For Your Business

PPC Mistakes: What You Must Avoid In Pay Per Click Advertising

Pay Per Click Keyword Research

How To Create Pay Per Click Ads

12 Pay Per Click Tools And Services

Pay Per Click Advertising Action Plan

8 Tips For Successful Pay Per Click Advertising

How To Get Started In Pay Per Click Advertising - Table of Contents

Click Here Now For Advanced Pay Per Click (PPC) Strategies