Pay Per Click Marketing For Small Businesses


Pay Per Click Marketing is a newer form of advertising that can be more cost-effective than other methods because of its nature. Typically, pay-per-click campaigns are used on search engines, where you sign up and pay for a membership in order to have your ads show up on the search results page. There is no guarantee where your ads will appear; this will vary depending on which keywords you use in your ads and how relevant they are compared to other ads that are similar. However, these programs do offer results tracking, to see how often your ads are returned with the search results, and how many clicks they get.

Usually, the money you make is on a sliding scale, with a smaller amount for the result appearing, and a larger amount if your ad is clicked on. The amount you are paid will also depend on the particular program that you work with; each service has different rates, but usually average around $0.15 to $0.50 per click, depending. These programs can seem quite complex because you have to understand marketing and how pay per click marketing works best in order to achieve results, but the more popular search engines have set up their programs so that just about anyone can use them.

There are rules with this type of marketing, however. You can't say whatever you want; certain words and punctuation are not allowed, and will get you reprimanded or even banned if you continuously use them. There is also a limit to how many characters your ad can have. Most have around 30 character titles, with 48-60 character second lines. Some will allow you to use a third line, but this will also raise the cost of posting the ads in the first place. Basically, with pay-per-click marketing, you pay the website to host your ads, and you get paid back when people click on your ads. Thus, the profit that you make will be completely up to your marketing abilities and strategies.

You can also use pay per click marketing services with affiliate marketing, but that's another topic for another day. The two most common pay per click services are Yahoo! PPC and Google AdWords/AdSense. Using these services can help your business, but only if they are handled properly. As with any marketing the secret to success is improving what works and removing what doesn't work.
Posted in: |

Here's How Pay Per Click Advertising Can Help Grow Your Business


Advertising on search engines like Google and Yahoo is one of the best ways to increase the traffic to your website. With pay per click advertising, you only pay when someone clicks on your ads and visits your website, which makes it more cost-effective for your business.

In this article, I will highlight how pay per click advertising can grow your business:

1. Targeted traffic. With print and traditional media, you generally reach a mass audience which makes it very difficult to target your advertising message. With pay per click advertising, you can use geo-targeting, demographics, and targeted keywords to reach your target audience more effectively. By reaching the right audience, you will get a better ROI for your marketing campaign.

2. Small initial investment. The search engines do not charge you a fee to place or run your ad. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Therefore, pay per click advertising is a cost-effective channel for any business that wishes to try out online advertising.

3. Global exposure. With pay per click advertising, you can now reach out to countries that you wish to expand your business to, with just a few clicks of your mouse.

4. Good branding. By getting your business website to be listed on top placement of Google, Yahoo and MSN, it can be a very effective branding for your company.

5. Immediate exposure. The research, set-up and implementation of a pay per click campaign can take only a few days. Once your campaign is live, your website will be exposed to millions of searchers immediately. The day your ads are placed, the clicks to your website begin.

6. 24/7 exposure. Internet does not sleep. Pay per click advertising allows you to run your ads 24/7. If for some reasons that you wish to run your ads only during a specific time of the day, some pay per click platform can allow you to do it.

7. Realistic for all businesses. Regardless of your size, pay per click can create a level playing field for all businesses. With the right campaign management, the placement of your ad might be right above or below a larger competitor or a national chain. This effectively puts you in a good competitive position without having to out bid the larger advertiser.

With these tips, hope that you are now understand how pay per click advertising can help grow your business. Good luck with your campaign!
Posted in: |

77% of Total Internet Users Viewed Online Videos in November 2008


Online videos are becoming a part of daily routine and users are becoming more craving for them. According to comScore Report, 77% of total Internet users viewed online videos in November, 2008. 97.92 million Internet users viewed videos on Google sites in November, 2008. Google sites are leading with 40.3% market share of all videos viewed for the same period. More than 146 million Internet users watched an average of 87 videos per viewer in November, 2008.

77% of total Internet users viewed online videos
Online videos are becoming a popular form of entertainment as well as sources of information for many people. 77% of total Internet users viewed online videos and each user spent an average of 4.5 hours watching them. About 12.7 billion online videos are viewed in November, 2008, an increase of 34% when compared to same period in last year. Both streaming and progressive downloadable videos are included in total number of videos viewed in November, 2008.

97.92 million Internet users viewed videos on Google sites
With so many sites, you can upload, download the videos and can share them among millions of people across the world. More than 146 million of Internet users viewed online videos from different sites in November, 2008. 97.92 million viewers viewed online videos on Google sites including YouTube with an average of 52 videos per viewer. Only in YouTube, 97 millions of viewers viewed 5.1 billion videos in November, 2008. Fox Interactive Media is in second place with 58 million viewers with an average of 7.6 videos per viewer.

Google sites extends lead with 40.3% share in online video market
Many websites provide online videos and users view them based on various categories. Google once again was ranked number one with 40.3% share of all videos viewed. 5.1 million videos are viewed on Google sites in November, 2008 and more than 98 % of all videos are viewed in YouTube. Overall growth rate of Google sites is 9% when compared to last year?s market share i.e. 31.3%. YouTube has major contribution to market share of all videos viewed in Google.

From above statistics for November 2007 and 2008, Google related websites are continuing their leadership as they account for major portion of videos viewed online. Similarly, online video viewers are also increasing for the same period for Google sites including YouTube. Time spent in viewing online video is increased with an increase in number of sites that provide online videos.

Posted in: |

What To Track In Pay Per Click


Individually tracking every keyword list is the secret to the success of a PPC campaign. And this applies even when your keyword list entails thousands of keywords. It is this commitment to track successful keywords and dump unsuccessful ones that separates the boys from the men when it comes to making money using Google Adwords or PPCs in general. And if it's not yet obvious, this is where the bulk of the work in programs like Google Cash lay; going through your daily reports with a tooth pick.

Thankfully, the web analytics market is very sophisticated with the unveiling of the free Google Analytics version 2.0 early this year. This web analytic application did not outdo its competition but is literally annihilating the commercial web analytics. In the words of Brand Daison of ThinkMetric (a web analytics consultancy company) "the competition is dead. They just haven't stopped moving yet"

So what is web analytics and why should you care? Orielly, a highly respected internet research company defines web analytics as the process of measuring websites, analyzing the data and making changes based on the analysis. In PPC, the analysis of the entire visitor experience (sales process) is of survival importance; from the Advert to the Thank You Page, through Sales Pages, Opt-in Pages etc. But here comes the problem with web analytic tools. They can produce hundreds of metrics. You can for example tell with pin-point accuracy how many visitors from Kenya came to your site through Yahoo Search that have a screen resolution of 800 by 600 with their java script enabled and stayed for more than a minute, in any particular day. And probably with a little tweak you can tell if they support Raila or Kibaki for president.

As so succinctly put by Mark Twain "People use statistics like a drunk uses a lamp post, for support rather than illumination". In other words, because you have numbers does not necessarily mean they are important. The importance is in what the numbers unveil. You web stats should help you optimize your visitors experience and consequently the sale as process bringing about effective conversion then people that are happy to buy from you.

Having said that, there is what Dainow calls "Key Key Performance Indicators" (KKPI). These are the metrics you should know about your website. They include Average page view per visit, Average time on site, Bounce rate and Cost per conversion. Note that these metrics are found on the website that you send your traffic/visitors to. They do not include an equally important metric, the Click Through Rate (CTR) of the advertisement.

It is the opinion of this author that Cost per conversion is the single most important metric in PPC. The rest illuminate it. Cost per conversion is the cost of making a sale. Obviously to be profitable this should be such that it allows you to make a profit.
Posted in: |

Understand The PPC Advertising Field


PPC marketing is one of the most popular methods for marketing your online business. However, it can be a tricky process if you don't fully understand or appreciate everything that it has to offer. There are plenty of things to learn, and you could spend days educating yourself about this type of marketing, but knowing at least the basics will help you out more than anything. From different companies that you can work with, to the benefits of PPC, to the rules of the PPC game, there are some things that you absolutely MUST know when using this type of marketing for your business or website. Welcome to PPC for beginners.

First, a definition might be helpful. PPC marketing, in its most basic form, is simply using clickable ads to get business to your website. You can use programs like Yahoo! PPC or Google AdWords for your PPC campaigns, but many other search engines offer services, as well. Here's the basic process of setting up a PPC campaign:

- First, you choose the site(s) you want to use, based on cost and potential profit
- Sign up for the program, and learn all the rules and regulations of each program you work with
- Choose keywords to use in your ads that will get the most results for your business
- Write the ads, following the rules and guidelines set forth by the program or website
- Publish your ads, and wait for the click-through to start adding up and making you money
- Maintain your accounts to keep them fresh and updated

This sounds complicated, but it's really not. If you have a background in marketing or internet advertising, you should have no trouble understanding a PPC campaign. However when it comes to PPC for beginners, it can be tricky until you get the hang of it. You can hire people that specialize in running these campaigns for you, if you're not certain about your own abilities. However, the best option is to work with a marketing company that can help with ALL aspects of your internet marketing, including PPC, SEO, link building, banner advertising, and any other tools you want to use.

While PPC is a good way to generate traffic to your website don't forget that there are also less expensive methods of generating targeted traffic. You can use methods such as banner advertising, link exchanges, seo, and offline marketing methods too.
Posted in: |