Many web site owners do not venture into pay-per-click (PPC) advertising because they do not understand how it works. Google’s AdWords program is the most successful PPC program on the web. We can answer the most common questions asked about this advertising method.
What is pay-per-click advertising?
PPC advertising allows advertisers to place ads on various web pages. There is no cost to display the ads. The advertiser is only charged when a user clicks on an ad, which contains a link to a page in the advertiser’s web site.
Why would I want to pay to drive traffic to my web site?
In some cases, such as when a site does not have a method to earn revenue from users, you might not want to pay for traffic. If you have a new web site that does not yet rank well on search engine results pages–and therefore has no free traffic–and you need to start earning an income from the site, you might want to using PPC advertising to drive traffic to the site. If you have an mature web site that either does not rank well or needs additional traffic, PPC advertising may be the solution. So PPC advertising can be good for driving traffic to a site that otherwise gets no traffic and also as a method for driving supplemental traffic.
What is targeted traffic?
The goal with AdWords PPC advertising is to drive targeted traffic to your site. Targeted traffic consist of web users who are actively searching for the types of goods, services or information that you offer. Targeted traffic is much more likely to result in a sale than would random traffic. A small web site is far better off with 500 visitors per day who are actively searching for what the site offers, than 50,000 random visitors who are not.
What will it cost me each time someone clicks on my ad?
That depends upon the type of business that you are in. With AdWords, a set of targeted keyword phrases is selected. When these keywords are used in a search by a user they will trigger an ad to display, or your ad may display on a web site whose content is closely related to your keyword phrase. Bids are placed for ad positions. Bid prices can range from $0.05 to an extreme top end of $100.00 per click. Bid prices for keywords for most business fall into a range from $0.50 to $5.00 per click. The bid price depends upon how high you wish to see your ads positioned and how much competition there is for the keyword phrases that have been selected.
Where will my ads display with Google AdWords?
AdWords has three advertising networks. You can chose any combination of networks.
- The Google Search Network displays ads on Google search pages. These are the ads that display with a colored background at the top of a search results page or in the right-side column. This results in the most targeted type of traffic on the web because your ad only displays when someone is using a search phrase that contains your keywords. In other words, they are specifically searching for the products, services or information that your site offers.
- The Search Partners Network works similar to the Google Search network, but your ads will display on search results pages for search engines that Google has formed partnerships with.
- The Display Network will display ads on various web pages in possibly thousands of web sites that contain content closely related to your targeted search phrases. This called contextual advertising because the ads are matched to pages with content related to your keyword phrases. The Display Network is good to use if you want to drive lots of traffic to a site, but the traffic is not as targeted as that found with the Google Search Network.
Will Google AdWords work well for every web site?
No. The profit for each sale must exceed the cost of the PPC advertising required to drive that user to the site. If there is no profit associated with the products, services or information offered, then AdWords might not be a good choice. Also, if the profit margin is very small, AdWords might not be a cost-effective method for advertising. Running a trial test with AdWords will help you to determine if it is right for your situation.
AdWords has a built-in conversion tracking tool that can automatically track a cost-per-conversion for the traffic driven to a site. This can help assure that AdWords is a profitable method for driving traffic, or show you why it is not.
How do I get started with AdWords?
You can sign up for an AdWords account and start learning how to use their system on your own, or you can sign up for our Google AdWords Management program. This program is geared for small businesses and is an affordable way to have a certified AdWords advertising professional set up and manage your account.
Every AdWords campaign starts with keyword research. It is absolutely imperative that the best keywords are selected so that qualified, targeted users who are searching for your products, services or information are driven to your web site. An AdWords account will be set up for you or we can use an existing account if you have already set one up.
What will this cost me each month?
That depends upon how much you wish to spend for advertising. If we manage your account, we will send you an invoice for our management fee. All Google click charges will be billed directly to your credit card through your AdWords account.
A daily budget can be set in AdWords, which translates into a monthly budget. We have managed accounts with a monthly budget from $100 to up to $40,000. The choice is yours.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about AdWords PPC advertising.
