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A PPC (pay-per-click) marketing strategy can be just as effective for a small
business as it can be for a larger company. The problem is often that the smaller
businesses fail to execute a proper strategy, or lack the basic "Internet
fundamentals" on how to properly advertise online. In this article I will
outline some key points that are essential to execute a proper PPC campaign
(whether it be on Overture, Google, or others). My name is Kevin Rader, and
I have run many successful pay-per-click advertising campaigns for a variety
of small businesses, both for my own company as well as for others. I am the
managing director and founder of Data Hosting Center (www.datahostingcenter.com),
a leading provider of web hosting and related Internet services.
Step 1) Develop a solid keyword list by thinking as a customer, not as a seller.
Use layman terms.
This is one of the most common mistakes we all have a tendency to make. We are
so busy thinking about how we can sell our concept, we fail to think from the
customer’s perspective. Ask people less knowledgeable about your product
than you are about what words they would enter to search for such a product.
Do not use terms to develop your keyword list that are only known inside your
own industry, unless you are targeting such individuals. When developing your
keyword list, you should set aside a fair amount of time aside to type it out
and ponder it, before actually going onto the search engine sites to begin entering
the words. Think of every possible combination and phrase that your customers
might use.
Step 2) Develop a pre-rating system for each keyword and research the cost.
Unless you have a large advertising budget, then you will not be able to figure
out your most effective keywords at first. Using a "best guess" methodology,
go down your list of keywords and give each one a rating before you look up
how much they cost. Base the rating on how many customers or sales you think
the word is likely to achieve in comparison with the other words on your list.
After you have your keyword list setup, you should start using the bidding tools
(available at most search engines) to figure out the cost-per-click of each
keyword. To balance the costs of not yet knowing your best selling words, try
to find the keywords that are in the middle-range of cost, but where you can
still occupy one of the top 2-5 slots (top 3 if possible). Do not try to be
the #1 spot right away for every word at any cost, unless you are in a business
that has a low web presence ratio on the Internet. Some research has shown that
for some companies being the #2 or #3 spot can be just as effective as being
#1, as far as the number of sales or conversions. Even though the #1 spot receives
more clicks, sometimes customers are not ready to make a purchase until having
reviewed a few different sites or ads. This is not always true and it does vary
widely by industry.
Step 3) Look at your competitors’ sites that have ads running near your
ad or keyword.
I am sure we have all heard the phrase "know your competition". This
applies just as much in pay-per-click advertising as it does anywhere else.
You should visit all your of competitors’ sites on a regular basis and
see just what they are offering in comparison to your same product or service.
If you can help it, try not to directly click on their ads when visiting their
sites, as this practice could be looked upon as unethical and this often hurts
no-one but yourself (higher click rates make their ad show up more on some PPC
engines such as Google). Make sure that every PPC ad you are running has a product
or service that is competitive with the same products on your competitors’
sites that are running ads in the same location as your ads. If this is not
possible, try to at least find a unique way to present your ad or product that
will still give a customer a reason to buy from your site instead of your competitors’
sites.
Step 4) Start with Overture(Yahoo/MSN), then try Google, and last the other
smaller PPC engines.
In my opinion (and this is only from my own experience), it is much easier to
start out running ads on Overture than on Google, especially for small businesses.
This is because it is easier to bid on Overture and know exactly what you will
be spending than Google. The Google bidding system is quite complex because
if you put up too many keywords and do not get good click-throughs (number of
clicks), then Google will penalize your ads by running them less and in some
cases even charging you a fee to restore them. Therefore I personally recommend
to first learn the success of your keywords on Overture. After you have a general
idea of what works, you can then begin to place your highest clicked and most
successful keywords on the other PPC engines such as Google. As you learn more
about how to run your campaign, you can start implementing more keywords and
trying other PPC services. It is also advised to not be too spread out in too
many PPC engines at first, because you need to have a tight focus for your initial
PPC analysis.
Step 5) Get software to help you analyze the effectiveness of your campaign.
Although the search engines have built-in software that will assist you in many
areas, it can be very helpful to buy a third-party product that can further
aid in analyzing the effectiveness of your ads. Be careful about buying just
any product, as many of these types of products available on the Internet are
nothing more then just scams. Host your website with a company that has marketing
tools and statistical tracking if possible. A couple statistical packages that
web hosting companies often offer include Web Analyzer and Smarter Stats. Also
try to find a product that will not only give you stats, but that will also
track your clicks for added analysis. One such product that is easy to use is
called Click Tracks (www.clicktracks.com). I am not endorsing or affiliated
with this or any other products listed above, but I have seen them around and
used some of them for my own needs. If you cannot budget for such software,
then try to keep your own totals in Excel or another program and list your top
10 or 20 keywords and what they have produced so far.
Step 6) Get help if you need it, but be wary of hiring so-called "Internet
marketing experts".
Although there are many reputable companies that offer Internet marketing, there
are also many services that are not reputable. Make sure if you do hire someone
to help you, that you research the background and success of the company or
individual. Some of this research can be done in forums or by looking on the
search engines for reviews and information about their company or service.
About the author:
I hope some of this information provided has been useful for you. This is by
no means a full guide to pay-per-click advertising, but is only to give you
a general idea of what you need to get started. If you have any questions or
comments about this article, then you can email me at kevin@datahostingcenter.com. |
