Pay-Per-Click Search Engines

Obviously in order for your site to be profitable you need to get people to go there. While there are many methods for obtaining traffic, one of the least understood is the pay-per-click search engine.

The "regular" search engines (like Google and Yahoo) have submission forms for publishers to add their sites to the search engine, pay-per-clicks have a different model for submission.

In order for a site to be listed in a pay-per-click (PPC) search engine, the owner of the site must open an account with that search engine. An ad is then created from the site's owner's text. The next step is for the site owner to create a list of keywords. These key words consist of words the webmaster wants his/her site to appear in the results set for. In other words, the webmaster of a site related to web site tools may choose the key word "website". When a visitor to the search engine queries for the term "bond", that site would appear amongst the results.

The next step is for the webmaster to place a value on the key words. Going back to the example keyword "website", the webmaster may choose to place a value of 10 cents on the keyword. Every time someone searched for the word "website" AND clicked on it to visit that webmaster's site, the owner of the site would pay the search engine 10 cents. If there were 10 click-throughs a day, the webmaster would pay the PPC $1.00 for that day. Likewise, if there weren't any click-throughs the webmaster would owe nothing.

Suppose that there was more than one webmaster who chose the keyword "website" (usually this is the case). In that case, the site who had placed the highest bid on that keyword would be listed first. If the bids for that word from four different sites were $4.00, $7.50, 35 cents, and 10 cents the order the results would be displayed would be the $7.50 bid on top, followed by the $4.00 bid, the 35 cent bid, and the 10 cent bid respectively.

In essance, one would think that PPCs are the way to go. After all, you pay only for results (click-throughs). Perhaps this used to be the case, that PPCs were quite useful. Problem now is that there is such a glut of PPcs out there and not a whole lot of traffic to go around. In theory, this isn't really a problem. If a PPC doesn't get a lot of traffic then you just don't output as much money, right?

Okay, but what about the traffic quality? If you choose to use a PPC keep an active eye on your referral URLs in your logs. Track the actions of visitors to your site from the PPC search engines. Use IP tracking to establish if these visitors continue throughout your site or if they close the site immediately after visiting.

Many PPC searchers are not aware that only paid listings are included. They become frustrated with the results they're achieving in these searches. Try to create a very eye-catching front page when dealing with these audiences. A user already disgruntled from what they see as poor search results is a harder visitor to target. Every step you can make helps.

There is still a place for PPC marketing in the current web environment, but, as with any advertising, part of the campaign should be an ongoing evaluation as to the evectiveness of the advertising. Be prepared to put in the research time to follow up on and modify your campaigns as needed.