| Internet
Advertisement Explained : Part 4
PPC Advertising - Easy
Way to Top of Search Engine
Research has shown that an average Internet user rarely
surfs beyond first three pages of a search result. So,
any web-site figuring at 4th or later pages in search
result of a given keyword may not receive many visitors
for the concerned keyword/phrase.
This is not a particularly happy situation for sellers
as web-sites at top of search result will hog most of
the buyers looking for that product.
Assuming a typical search result page has 10 web-site
links, a rank of less than 10 is extremely important
for any web-site and any rank over 30 is not going to
be of much use.
Contrary to what so called search engine specialists
claim, its extremely difficult and time consuming for
a newly created or content-deficient web-site to get
high search engine rank.
Is there a way-out for new or unpopular web-sites to
attract quality visitors from search engines ?
Fortunately, the answer is Yes. One can attract quality
visitors from top search engines like Google and Yahoo!
right from day-one through PPC advertising.
What is PPC Advertising ?
PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click. In this mode of Internet
advertisement, advertiser pays whenever a visitor clicks
on his/her advertisement. By clicking at the advertisement
- the surfer reaches advertiser's web-site and hence
increases quality web-site traffic.
Anyone searching Google must have noticed a series
of small text advertisements on right hand side of most
search results. The advertisements are always related
to search keywords so that the searcher has an option
of either clicking at main search result or at any of
the text ads. This is targeted PPC advertisement.
Its targeted - as only ads relevant to search keywords
are displayed. The ad inventory of the search engine
may have millions of ads of all kinds - but the searcher
gets to view only ads related to his/her search keyword.
Its PPC because advertiser pays the search engine (e.g.
Google) a previously agreed fee only when a visitor
clicks on his/her advertisement.
PPC is a surefire way of attracting quality traffic.
It doesn't matter what's the quality of web-site content
or present rank in search engine. Even a completely
new and unknown web-site can attract more quality traffic
than an established one through eye-catching ad copy
and intelligent keyword bidding.
What is Keyword Bidding ?
The core of search engine based PPC advertising is attractive,
eye-catching ad text and selection of right keywords.
The ad copy will be displayed only when a surfer uses
any of the selected keywords to search.
You can select any keyword(s) for your PPC ad, however
the position or rank of your ad will depend upon how
much you are willing to spend for each click. The higher
you bid, higher will be the rank of your ad in the listing.
Remember, you only pay when someone clicks on your
ad copy and reaches your web-site. In other words -
you don't pay to list your ad copy, you only pay for
click-throughs (i.e. when someone clicks on your ad
and jumps to your web-site from search engine result).
How Important is PPC Advertisement for Web Marketing
?
If you are selling a product or service and want quick
result - PPC advertisement is extremely important. It
attracts quality traffic almost from day-one and helps
you test the marketability of your product or service
swiftly. The best part is - you remain in complete control
of search engine campaign, for both position and cost.
Why PPC is Different ?
Internet advertising has always been perplexing, bordering
on bizarre for most people new to online marketing.
With so many new names - banner advertising, text link
advertising, CPM, CPA, CTR, CPC, email advertising -
the scenario could turn out to be very confusing and
expensive if the advertiser does not know what he/she
is doing.
However, with the introduction of pay-per-click advertising,
the advertiser has gained significant control over advertising
campaigns.
In PPC, advertiser is able to target the audience and
set his/her own price per click (pay per click). Most
PPC Advertising Networks provide the platform to specify
the target audience by geographic location and topic
or industry. The advertising networks have websites
of publishers lined up where those ads will be displayed.
In PPC advertising the advertiser creates his ad and
sets a limit per click that he is willing to pay. Most
advertising networks provide tools to see how that pay
per click limit applies to other advertisers' bids for
the same audience/industry. This will allow the advertiser
to see if his pay per click limit is competitive and
if his ad would be shown at all. The higher the bid,
the better is the chances of an ad to be seen.
Is there a Downside in PPC Advertising ?
Cost is certainly a factor that one should keep in mind.
However, if the advertiser knows what he/she is doing
and have worked out a marketing plan and budget - cost
shouldn't worry much. Click fraud is another factor
to worry about.
However, besides legitimate concerns, there are several
myths, half-truths and untruths about PPC that need
attention.
On the first look PPC advertising sounds expensive.
What happens if a visitor goes on the rampage - clicking
on your ad copy repetitively over and over again. Imagine
your competition ruining your business by clicking your
ads like crazy. In theory this could bump up advertisement
bill dramatically. But advertising networks usually
have some sort of protection built-in to identify click
frauds. That way the advertiser can rest assured that
his money is not running down the drain on fraudulent
incidents.
The advertiser has the option to set a daily budget
for his ads. Once the budget is fully consumed - the
ads will no longer appear until either the budget is
increased or the next day starts. The advertiser can
also remove certain geographic regions from ad coverage
and filter out web-sites suspected of involved in click
frauds. I know from my personal experience how restriction
in geographic coverage can dramatically change click-through
rates.
Conclusion
PPC is a promising tool for search engine marketing.
Unfortunately, many web-site owners still believe that
they can crawl to top of search engines through keyword
manipulation or link peddling. Some of them may indeed
be successful someday - however most will be failures
as there are only 10 or 30 positions to fill-up from
all over the world.
Instead of paying handsome money to so called experts
for ambiguous claims of top search engine placement
- web-site owners have a sure way of attracting quality
traffic through PPC advertising. At least, you will
know how much you are spending and get result from day
one.
Happy and Productive Surfing
Dr. Amit K Chatterjee
Related Links:
Author
: Dr.
Amit K. Chatterjee
(Amit worked in blue-chip Indian and MNCs for 15
years in various capacities like Research and Information
Analysis, Market Development, MIS, R&D Information
Systems etc. before starting his e-commerce venture
in 1997. The views expressed in this columns are
of his own. |
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