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Rob MacDonald had a problem. His Vancouver based
bicycle company, jorg&olif, had become the talk of town, but his website traffic
wasn't reflecting the buzz. Frustrated, he 'Googled' his company, but his website
was nowhere to be found….
Sound
familiar? Ready to give pay-per-click advertising a try, but not sure where to
begin? Here's our starter guide to paying for clicks, drawing traffic and doing
it on your own terms.
By
now, most of us are aware that simply having a website is not enough to ensure
that people can find you online, especially when 80% of web surfers use keyword-driven
search engines to find what they're looking for. Therefore, in order to grow your
business online, it is critical that your website be listed in search engines.
The problem arises when so-called organic or natural search engine indexing (the
anticipated payoff of optimizing your website) doesn't provide the desired results.
Let's go back to Mr. MacDonald and his burgeoning bicycle business for a minute,
and we'll show you why. Jorg&olif
is an interesting case on a number of levels. To begin, the company's website
was so new that it had not yet been optimized for search engines. Not that that
really mattered, since the site was built in Macromedia Flash, a coding language
that helps to create edgy, visually impactful websites. Since search engine spiders
tend to index text only, Flash, a graphic based design solution, is not search
engine friendly, and as a result, Flash websites require clever optimization techniques
to get the spiders to notice them. In addition, the name jorg&olif is not
easy to pronounce, much less spell. As such, many people simply began calling
the company 'Dutch City Bikes' and searched for it online using keyword variations
of that label. Few web surfers however were able to find the company without the
direct website address. Since natural search listings weren't working for him,
MacDonald needed to find a quick solution to bolster the company's online presence
during keyword searches.
Enter
pay-per-click advertising. Within minutes MacDonald set up an account on Google's
pay-per-click advertising system called AdWords. He chose keywords that his customers
were using to look for the company online, he decided how much he wanted to pay
each time someone clicked on his ad, and boom! There it was in the Google Sponsored
Search Results for the world to see: www.jorg&olif.com. In
this case, search engine optimization couldn't have done a better job of ensuring
the website was front and centre in search engines. Go
to Google and type in "Dutch bikes, Vancouver" and jorg&olif comes
up in the results across the top. Type in "Dutch city bikes" and you'll
find them first along the right side. And it goes on. Essentially, pay-per-click
advertising gave jorg&olif the potential for instant traffic. And, best of
all, the company didn't have to give up their Flash website. Does
this mean natural search engine optimization could be overrated? Maybe, when pay-per-click
advertising can ensure your site ranks highly in search engines, even at the top
of search results. And, with self-serve solutions offered by Google and Yahoo,
pay-per-click advertising is fast, easy and doesn't have to cost a bundle. In
fact, sometimes it's just pennies a click. What
is Pay-per-click Advertising? Pay-per-click
advertising (PPC), or keyword bidding, is simply a form of Internet advertising
in which you pay each time someone clicks on your ad and lands on your website.
Google AdWords and Yahoo Sponsored Search are the two most popular PPC solutions
for small and medium-sized business owners, so we'll focus on them here. Google
and Yahoo offer integrated listings in their search engines/directories on a for-pay
basis. This is in addition to their natural listings that are powered by constantly
evolving formulae that relate to a website's level of search engine optimization.
If you visit Yahoo or Google and type in a keyword phrase, say, "dog daycare",
you'll see the pay-per-click listings first, across the top or down the right
side of the page. You can tell these listings are actually ads by the subtle grey
text nearby that says "Sponsored Results/Listings". To
buy these spaces, an advertiser bids against other advertisers on specific keywords
that relate to their products or services (the highest bidder usually gets the
top listing). Each time a user clicks on the ad associated with a keyword and
connects to the website, the advertiser pays Google or Yahoo a pre-determined
amount. As an advertiser, you get to decide what keywords you want to bid on,
how much you are willing to pay per click back to your website, and you get to
set a limit as to how much you are willing to pay in total per day: $1? $100?
More? It's completely up to you. Why
use Pay-per-click on Google or Yahoo? For
many business owners, this flexibility makes Google and Yahoo PPC a cost-effective
way to advertise online. In fact, some Internet marketers will tell you that since
web surfers are increasingly inclined to click on sponsored links, keyword bidding
is a must in order to compete in search engines and directories today. Here
are some reasons why you might want to consider PPC: - You
are new to the online space. Most Search Engine Marketers will tell you to give
the search engine crawlers a few months to find and rank your website naturally.
By comparison, PPC can generate nearly-instant traffic.
- Your
website is built primarily in Flash. Some coding languages such as Flash (though
ideal for building creative, interactive websites) are unfortunately not search
engine friendly. Sponsored listings overcome this issue.
-
Your keywords are competitive and you are not ranking well in natural listings.
Though you may pay dearly for the same keywords in a sponsored spot (remember,
the more competitive a keyword, the more it'll cost you), if ranking on the first
page is critical to your business, PPC is a way to get there.
- Your
customers use highly specific key phrases to find you, say, "Dutch city bikes".
These niche terms are usually offered at bargain basement rates (sometimes pennies
per click) making PPC a cost-effective way to drive traffic to your site.
- You
have a short-term campaign where you need to generate instant buzz or you simply
want to test the online market for your product or service. PPC is flexible, allowing
you to quickly adjust your strategies to adapt to changing market behavior.
Here's
How it Works Simply
provide an initial deposit/activation fee to Google or Yahoo using your credit
card, and then bid on the specific keywords and keyword phrases that you want.
When a web surfer enters that keyword/phrase and clicks on the link to your web
site, you are automatically charged whatever you bid for the word(s) -- from a
minimum of five cents up to tens of dollars per click or more. Keep
in mind, you pay only when someone clicks on your ad, regardless of how many times
it shows up in the listings. Further, if you hit your daily spending limit (that
you set in advance), your ad comes off the listings entirely so you'll never be
charged more than you expect. Set
up procedures are different for each solution. But here's an overview to get you
started: 1.
Choose your keywords wisely. These are words and phrases your customers would
use to find your business online. Actively use the tools available for each solution,
such as Google's Adwords Keyword Tool. 2.
Write a short description (which will accompany your link) with your target market
in mind. 3.
Open a Yahoo Sponsored Search Account by depositing a minimum of $30 US using
your credit card. Open a Google AdWords account by providing a credit card and
paying an activation fee of $5 US. Set your daily spending limit. 4.
Wait minutes (Google) to a few days (Yahoo) for keyword approval. 5.
Watch and adjust your bids. This is critical to ensure you're not overspending
or paying more for a keyword than you should be. To keep costs down, you may want
to start near the minimum bid of pennies, and work up from there. Keep in mind,
Yahoo does have a minimum $20 US per month spending requirement. There are no
minimums with Google. Each
solution also offers an introductory tutorial. You can find them here: - Yahoo
Sponsored Search (http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com).
-
Google Adwords (http://adwords.google.com).
Which
Solution is Right for You?
Whether
you choose to advertise in Google or Yahoo (or both) is really a matter of your
particular business needs and budget, and your target market's online habits.
On
the face of it, advertising on Yahoo would appear to be more expensive. But, in
the long run, when you consider your conversion rates per click, you may find
Google will actually cost you more simply because there are more users searching
on Google for general information or researching and comparing particular products.
In
fact, Pauline Pageau of SearchWerx search engine marketing tells us that some
of her clients get better conversion rates with Yahoo ads than they do with Google,
simply because Yahoo seems to draw more serious researchers and shoppers than
it's more popular counterpart. To
increase the likelihood of success, Pageau suggests you look closely at what you're
getting for your money, and where your customers are. Determine your budget and
split it between both solutions to ensure you're not putting all your eggs in
one basket. Then, you can always adjust to fit. Tips
to Help Save Time and Money As
with any advertising strategy, you'd like to get it right the first time. Though
modifications will always be necessary, there are some things you can do at the
outset which will minimize your financial risk and increase the efficiency of
your campaign. - Research,
research, research. Analyze your competitors and their keyword choices. Choose
keywords that are relevant to your products and services, and adjust as you monitor
your listing(s) and changes in market behavior.
- Experiment
with keyword niches (underutilized keyword phrases), where per keyword costs are
low and traffic generated will be very targeted. This will allow you to drive
traffic to your site for a fraction of the cost of other online advertising and
will lessen the risk of having your keywords disabled for lack of clicks
-
Consider forgoing a number one spot in place of a number three spot in listings.
It may be cheaper, and your ad will still get noticed. Besides, Google and Yahoo
only require a top three ranking to ensure you'll be seen over their distribution
networks.
-
Be careful with features that automatically increase your bid amount to maintain
a particular rank. This can get expensive fast, particularly if you're not watching
it closely.
- Track
your results. Be sure to watch your click-through activity and analyze and adjust
your keywords accordingly. Use the conversion measurement tools that come with
your Google or Yahoo service or use your log files to help you to track your return
on investment.
- Don't
neglect your ad copy. Remember, you'll be required to write a short phrase to
accompany your link. Just because you've managed to secure the top spot for "herbal
medicine" doesn't mean people will click through to your site. Without the
right message, your link is virtually useless.
- Consider
consulting with an Internet Marketer who specializes in pay-per-click campaigns,
understands trends and can help you determine your goals, monitor and adjust your
strategies, and measure your success.
With
all the hype surrounding search engine optimization, the increased competition
for keywords and the sometimes prohibitive cost of achieving and maintaining high,
natural search engine rankings, it's no wonder Google's ad revenue broke $1 billion
in the last quarter of 2004. Numbers like these clearly indicate that online merchants
are beginning to see pay-per-click advertising as a necessary part of their marketing
strategy and a sales driver for their business.
Makes sense, doesn't
it? If you're going to pay someone to get your site seen online, why wouldn't
you want to guarantee your position at the top?
__________________________________________________
About Sheena Daniels Sheena
Daniels is a Vancouver based small business consultant, website content developer,
project manager and freelance writer specializing in e-business and the technology
industry. Sheena has written for Business Services West Magazine, Small Business
Canada Magazine and many online publications including Webnames.ca's The Server
Room. Sheena is also the co-author SmallBizBlog.ca.
www.sheenadaniels.ca
www.theserverroom.ca |
