Pay Per Click Search Engine Tips

Why Use Pay Per Click?

There are many search engines in existence, and initially it may be hard to find your way around the maze. You may not want to spend the time to optimize all of your web pages, or you may want instantaneous exposure and ability to check customer conversion. These things make pay per click search engines appealing, but you should be aware of a few things before you go overboard.

Use Legitimate Pay Per Click Engines!

It does not matter how much you are willing to spend or how high you list if the pay per click search engine has no traffic (and most pay per click engines have no legitimate traffic).

It is important to check the relevancy of a pay per click search engine. Off the start I recommend using extremely targeted words and phrases on Google AdWords and Overture. Their traffic is going to be a bit more expensive but it will also have a higher quality and faster feedback loop than most other engines can provide.

How Junk Pay Per Click Search Engines Work

I was receiving poor conversion rates from the first pay per click search engine that I had until I realized how they were advertising my site.

They created a whole bunch of junk web sites that had no content and just listed the top general words for specific categories. Somehow a person has used a search engine or followed a link to find these junk sites and would then click through to my sites.

Part of my problem was in web site design; however, the entry of paid traffic from junk sites did nothing for my conversion rates and just wasted money. The day after I started using a legitimate PPC search engine I noticed that my conversion rate rocketed and created this anti junk site rule.

Bid for a Good Position

Now that you have selected the appropriate search engine you must decide where you want to list. If you are paying to list at #47 you must ask yourself what you can provide that #s 1 - 46 could not. Usually this is nothing and that is why there is little value to listing #47.

You need to bid enough to get exposure. Often times it is not worth it to list at #1 and the price is significantly cheaper slightly below it. If you can not find profitable traffic somewhere in the top 10 positions then likely you need to use better targeting.

Another good tip is to understand how the results display on various search engines and try to list within them, but not necessarily number one. If the top 4 search results for Overture list on other engines then maybe it is a good idea to list at #3 or #4. As people scroll down the list of ads they are more pre qualified when they click on yours. You will get less traffic, but it will likely convert at a much better rate.

It may not worth listing at #1 for major keywords. Top listings frequently get compulsive clickers clickers that do not convert. Listing #1 could also get you in a bidding war with an ego bidder. If you spend a little less and list # 2 instead you will see that your traffic is actually more targeted and your conversion rates may improve. The only way to know what will happen at various positions is to do testing.

Use Automated Bid Management Software

If you spend a large amount on pay per click search engines it might be a good idea to use an automated bidding and tracking tool. Tracking is a must if you are performing any type of direct marketing.

Chose Specific Keyword Phrases

You can lower cost and increase conversion rate is to choose multiple highly targeted words (or phrases) instead of trying to get tons of traffic with a single generic word like casino.

Split Test PPC Ads

Run A/B tests to continually improve your conversion rates and lower your cost per click. More info on PPC split testing.

More in Depth Pay Per Click Tips

I created a free PPC secrets ebook because I did not think there was an adequate good and free guide to PPC available on the web. There is no hard sales pitch, just good free info. It is a PDF so you need the Adobe Reader to view it. It is about 20 pages. Download your free copy today.