One of the most common website marketing methods available on the Internet is pay per click advertising, otherwise known as PPC. If you are an avid Internet user, you have seen Google advertisements on almost every website you have visited. These advertisements are pay per click ads, meaning the advertiser pays only when the ad is clicked on by a web user.
The effectiveness of a pay per click advertising campaign depends on your website niche and the keywords you choose to use for marketing. While PPC is very easy to implement, care must be used in developing a campaign that will not only generate interest in your website but will also stay within your budget limitations.
So how does PPC work? Start by visiting Google’s website. Once there, start a search for the first thing you can think of. The page will refresh with a list of search results and on the right hand side of the screen you will see a list of sponsored links.
Sponsored links are paid advertisements. Website owners and Internet markers pay advertisers to post links to their website on pages with related keywords.
Consider this example. Image you have found yourself in the market for a new digital camera. You decide to do some research and compare a handful of camera models. You start by visiting Google and instigate a search for “digital cameras.” Along with the regular search results, you will also see a list of related sponsored ads.
Most of the sponsored ad links you see will be from merchants or stores selling digital cameras and their necessary accessories. Each advertiser paid to be on the list by bidding on the keyword “digital cameras.” Those who bid the most earned the spots closest to the top of the sponsored ads list. In short, they paid to be on the results page of a person looking for exactly what they had to offer.
What is your target niche? Think about the keywords a person searching for information in your niche would plug into a search engine. Targeting the most popular key words will guarantee the success of your pay per click marketing plan.
Google is not the only PPC ad network available for your use. New advertising networks form regularly. Aside from Google, some of the most popular are Yahoo Search Marketing, MSN Ad Center, Chitika, and Miva.
After you choose an ad network and a targeted keyword, you will have to decide on a specific advertising plan. The search engines will allow you to choose whether or not your ad will appear on the search engine’s main results page, on other websites with content similar to your keyword, or both. Some people believe that your PPC results will be better if you advertise on search engine results pages, but there is not enough research available to confirm this claim.
Remember, choosing a successful niche keyword is of the utmost importance when starting a PPC campaign. After that you will have the freedom to test your options and then focus on the best choice for your website!