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Getting Past the Hype and Directly to Profit
with PPC Advertising
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Don't Believe the Hype!
Don't let anyone tell you that you can just turn up at one
of the major 'Pay-Per-Click' search engines, load up some
keywords and ads, sit back... and watch the money roll in.
Why?
Because it's not going to happen... Unless you've been
incredibly lucky or have the brainpower of a budding
Einstein, you can lose some serious money on PPC
advertising! (I'm not even sure it would work for Einstein,
but that's another story!)
I'm going to concentrate here on Google AdWords, because
it's widely recognized as being the most popular search
engine on the planet, and its PPC service has a number of
advantages over its leading rival, Overture (now Yahoo
Marketing).
Make no mistake, Google AdWords is a great product - if
you know how to use it successfully.
And PPC advertising (or investment, as I prefer to think
of it, providing you're using it profitably) probably
represents one of the only ways you can give your
business a more or less instant boost.
The information that follows is really useful anytime of
course, but even more so now, if you're thinking about
buying those special presents for friends and family for
Christmas, or looking ahead to get the best possible start
in the new year.
Preparation is vital
So... you're probably thinking, what is the secret?
Well, I don't have the space in this article to go into
detail about every aspect of profiting from AdWords, so
I'm going to cover one vital aspect in enough detail for
you to actually use to benefit your business, whatever
it may be.
As with virtually everything in your business, the
secret is in the preparation.
Would you put a new product on your web site before
deciding where you were going to get it from or how you
were going to manufacture it, how much you were going to
charge, what the profit margin was going to be, how you
would distribute it etc., etc.
Of course not!
So it shouldn't come as that much of a shock that you
can't just bowl up at Google and start making a fortune
using AdWords.
Succeeding with AdWords needs to follow a similar process
of preparation, just like everything else in business.
Wasn't it Benjamin Disraeli who said "Failing to prepare
is preparing to fail"? That's good enough for me!
How To Prepare for Profit
The first step in this process is to select the right
keywords for your business.
'Keywords' - that is the words or phrases that people
enter into the search box at their favorite search engine
to find what they're looking for, is where your
preparation must start.
AdWords have a 'Keyword Suggestion Tool' of their own
which they're improving all the time, but that's not the
best place to start.
Why? Because the vast majority of businesses start there,
so you and your competitors all end up bidding and
therefore competing, for the same keywords.
Your advantage will be to bid a lot less for loads of
keywords your competition hasn't identified, because all
they've done is to use the AdWords suggestion tool, and
then to beat them at their own game with those keywords that
are more widely used.
Brainstorm your keywords
Get a group of friends, family or business colleagues
together, (depending on the size of your business), and
draw up a list of all the keywords people could be
using to find your product or service.
At this stage, don't leave anything out and don't let
anyone 'pull rank' on what should, or shouldn't go into
the list.
Be specific
Bear in mind that the trend in search terms is for more
words to be used by searchers to find what they're looking
for. Five years ago, if you wanted to buy a new computer,
you may have entered 'computers' into a search box. Now
you're much more likely to enter 'laptop reviews',
'desktop pc reviews' or even 'dell laptop model XYZ'.
Obviously there won't be as many searches for these more
specific terms, but they have an overwhelming advantage
over the broader terms...
These prospects are actually looking for exactly what
you're selling!
That is, they are highly targeted prospects for your
product or service.
This is one of the most important secrets to profiting
wildly from AdWords, rather than just donating part of
your profits every month to Google!
Don't only bid on the general keywords for your product or
service - find as many of the specific keywords as you can,
and make it an on-going challenge within your business to
keep identifying new ones to help you build an ever-expanding
list.
Hardly anyone does this and you will give yourself an
unfair advantage over your competitors! If you're
anything like me, that will really bring a smile to your
face!
Here are five more "insider" tips to profiting from Google
Adwords...
Tip #1
You must have some means of tracking the results of your
Google AdWords Campaign(s), from the first ‘click’ on your
ad, right through to the sales/leads generated or anything
else you wish to measure at your web site.
Tip #2
Know the value of every visitor to your web site before
creating your AdWords Campaign if you are able to
calculate it, or use AdWords to calculate it if you don't
already know it. This is an invaluable index for all of
your web site promotional techniques.
Tip #3
Complete some preliminary keyword research before you go
anywhere near Google.
Tip #4
When creating your first Campaign, don’t choose "All
Languages" and "All Countries". You'll waste time and
money.
Tip #5
Give some thought to how many Ad Campaigns and Ad Groups
your business may ultimately need, and sketch out this
structure with names for campaigns and groups that make
sense for your business.
Tip #6: Target every category of connected keywords with their own Ad Group.
Tip #7: Generally, the more tightly targeted you make your ads, the better the CTR will be.
Tip #8: Divide your keywords into as many categories as you need, in order to ensure that you are able to write ads that specifically target your prospects that are using particular search terms.
Tip #9: Use a different Ad Campaign for each country and language you want your ads to be displayed in, to give you the most flexibility with Campaign settings.
Tip #10: Determine your USP. This is vital to all web businesses – more so than in a traditional ‘bricks-and-mortar’ business.
. . .
Copyright © Phil Chapman
About the Author:
Today's guest article courtesy of Phil Chapman. If you would like
to start a PPC campaign, or improve an existing campaign, I
recommend you START with Phil's in-depth Google Adwords advice.
Phil has read, listened to and/or watched all the most highly-
regarded AdWords material available, and tested it for himself,
so you don't have to!
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