Buy Search Engine Keywords to Improve Business
10/12/2008 - By Maggie Strevell, President, Naper Solutions, Inc. Did you know you can bid on search engine keywords? When someone goes to Google and types in words to find your business, you can bid on those keywords! Here's a quick intro to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
There is something you should know… you can bid on search engine keywords. So when someone goes to Google and types in words to find your business, you can bid on those keywords!
Here's What You Need to Know About Bidding on Search Terms
Sponsored ads show up in the top few positions of the search results and often to the right margin. People are bidding to be there.
It doesn't cost anything to display an ad. Ads display for free. It only costs something when the ad is clicked on. Even though paid search is referred to as pay-per-click, it is amazing how many people don't know a keyword or keyphrase can be purchased and that it only costs something when someone clicks on the ad.
The highest bidder does not necessarily get the top sponsored ad position (the ones directly above organic/free search results). The highest ad spots are often "earned" positions that go to a high quality ad, not necessarily to the highest bidder. A high quality ad is the result of a combination of factors including but not limited to great ad copy, a highly converting landing page, accurate bidding, maximum cost per click (CPC), low bounce rate, and high click through rate (CTR).
Ad campaigns can produce immediate results. While new businesses and websites are working on their natural search results (this can take time), paid ads can help drive the perfect customer to your business within minutes.
Give your campaign time and effort. An optimized campaign can take some time to gather data including keyword impressions, click-through-rates, click behavior, geography, bid positions, conversions, and more… This information is critical to determining what keyphrases are working and profitable. For example, an ad for the term "SEM" might be intended for those searching on "search engine marketing", but unfortunately the ad is shown for someone looking for the "Society of Experimental Mechanics", or the "Society of Ethnomusicoloty", or a "Scanning Electron Microscope". Statistics will give advertisers clues to what's working and what's not. There are techniques such ad defining "negative" keywords that will filter out unwanted traffic.
It's not going to cost you when your competitors click on your ads over and over again. Search engines attempt to filter and prevent this from happening, but no system is infallible, so I would agree that there is some click fraud. At Naper Solutions, we've done our own tests and found that top engines are doing a darn good job from preventing charges from double clicks and repeated clicks by the same person.
Show your ads only when customers and prospects are ready to do business. Advertisers can also setup their ads so that they only show during peak business hours.
Lots of ad impressions do not equal success. Don't get too excited when an ad is showing to 10,000 people (ad impressions). Take a look at the CTR (click through rate). A low CTR usually means an ad is showing to people who did not find your ad relevant. There is usually a reason for that. You might be bidding on the wrong keywords or your ad is not compelling.
A low CTR also often results in losing out to competitors that are bidding less than you. If your goal is to make a sale, a CTR below 1% usually means there are underlying problems with poor ad copy, the keywords you are/are not bidding, or how ads are setup.
You can track what is working. With analytics programs such as Google Analytics (a free program), you can see what keywords are leading to sales. That's a big topic to discuss here, but the important thing to know is that there are methods for tracking what is working. You aren't throwing away money on a marketing initiative with hope. You are going to know if it is the reason for your new sales and leads.
About Naper Solutions, Inc.
Naper Solutions provides Internet Marketing consulting services and training to small to medium-sized businesses. Naper Solutions is passionate about helping businesses make informed Internet Marketing decisions.
