Thursday, October 16, 2008

Making PPC Advertising Effective

By Brian Basch

The most effective method of marketing your business is advertising your products and services using a PPC (pay per click) campaign. It is important to do this with a thorough planning model, paying attention to all the details of what you are advertising. This type of planning allows you to avoid pitfalls and won't cost you money that doesn't need to be spent. Here are great PPC tips to help you get started and you will get all the benefits of this advertising method without the downsides.

Picking the right keywords is the first step. Saying a common keyword will best serve couldn't be farther from the ideal truth, but it may get you several clicks. Visitors who are clicking on a general key word are less likely to buy. Using a targeted key word phrase might not get the clicks of a more expensive common keyword, but is the best way to get a wide and suitable audience for the lowest cost.

You can experiment by typing specific phrases into Google (or even some of the competing search engines) to find phrases that give you good results. Check out some of the tools available to find good variations on specific keywords and the hundreds of viable phrases that can earn you valuable business.

Then, when you're confident you have the right keyword combination, it's time to start designing the advertisement. Don't skimp on time here, even the best keywords can't work in a poorly designed ad. What you need here is to compel the reader and draw them towards the headline, then seal the deal with copy that empowers the reader to click and find out more. Make sure your ad is accurate, bad descriptions will always lead to lost sales.

Make sure your ad copy includes a sense of urgency, as well as the chief benefits of the products and services you offer. Let your customer know that clicking on the ad now to make a purchase has advantages. Many ads do well by including promotional or discount information in the third line - a limited time offer is an excellent choice.

Many people click advertising sites that are first on a search page. It could result in more sales or even a visitor just accidentally clicking on the search engine. Focusing on a great advertising campaign that targets your potential customers is a good idea. Being the highest ranking ad on a search page is good too, but you have to make sure that your advertising has all the information and facts otherwise you might not get the sale.

Pay attention to the competition, too. Adjust your keywords and ad copy according to what appears to be working for them, although direct copying should be avoided. Check the results of each keyword set and the ads associated with it to find out which ones are working, and which aren't.

PPC ads are a new and uncertain entity and careful thought needs to be put into any advertising campaign for it to succeed. The best way to do this is to make sure you know what you're doing. Here's to reaching your target audience, and lots of sales. - 15246

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