You design a killer site, submit to all the major search
engines and directories, and you wait...and wait...and wait...
Submitting to search engines/directories is a smart idea, but
it seems like an eternity before you see the results of your
efforts. Meanwhile, you're anxious to get traffic and make
sales, right?
I have just the site promotion technique for you:
pay-per-click (PPC) search engines.
PPC programs work like this: you bid on keywords related to
your site's content/products/services. The higher you bid, the
higher your link appears in the search results. One of the
great things about PPC is that you don't pay unless someone
actually clicks your link - in other words, you pay only for
results. PPC campaigns can be surprisingly affordable, even
for sites on a limited budget.
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Another benefit of utilizing PPC is that you begin generating
traffic almost immediately. There is no 6-8 week waiting period
for your site to appear in the index - it's usually more like
2-3 days.
Before you rush off to open an account, though, there are a
few basic things to do beforehand to maximize your campaign's
effectiveness.
First, calculate how much you can afford to pay for each
visitor to your web site. If you have a product that sells for
$100.00, 1 out of every 100 visitors buys the product, and
you pay $1.00 for each visitor, you'll break even on the
campaign ($1.00 x 100 visitors = $100.00 spent/$100.00 sale).
If you pay more than $1.00/visitor, you'll lose money and if
you pay less than $1.00/visitor, you'll make a profit.
Know what you can afford to spend per visitor (per click)
before making your bids. Armed with this knowledge, you'll
be better equipped to execute a profitable campaign.
Second, create a list of keywords related to your
site/product/service. Develop a list of at least a few hundred
keywords; preferably 1000 or more. I realize that's a lot, but
as a general rule, a list of 10-20 keywords won't net you
much traffic.
If you're having trouble brainstorming keywords, many of the
PPC engines have tools to help you. GoTo's Search Suggestion
Tool generates a list of search terms related to keywords you
enter and ranks them in order from most to least popular. Try
the GoTo Keyword Wizard at JimTools.com
too.
A third step to take before launching a campaign is to produce
effective ad copy for the "title" and "description" of your
listings. Make no mistake - your description and title ARE ad
copy - or they should be if you hope to maximize traffic.
If your listings don't pull as well initially as you hope,
don't worry; you can always tweak them until you achieve the
desired results.
Finally, carefully select the URL where your listing will point;
in other words, your landing page. This doesn't have to be your
"home" page - oftentimes, it's better if it's NOT your home
page. Instead, consider linking to the page that contains the
content/product/service related to the keyword for which you're
bidding.
Don't make your visitors jump through hoops; give them what
they're searching for as soon as they click to your site if
possible. For each additional step in the process, you're
losing a certain percentage of visitors. Granted, there are
legitimate reasons to have visitors navigate a series of pages.
Your goal is to eliminate the *unnecessary* clicks.
Now that you have the basics covered, where will you open
your PPC account?
I recommend GoTo . There is a $0.05
bid minimum and a $20.00 minimum monthly spend, but the
volume of traffic generated can be significantly greater than
traffic from other PPC engines. GoTo Premium Listings
(top 1, 2, and 3 spots) appear as search results on America
Online, Lycos, Netscape, AltaVista and other large sites.
Here's a list of a few other pay-per-click engines you might
want to consider:
FindWhat.com
Sprinks
Kanoodle.com
Brainfox.com
Bay9
Once your campaign begins, it's important to monitor its
progress. Since your rankings are based on bidding, you
don't want to be outbid and lose traffic. The other side
of the coin is you don't want to pay more than you should
for your ranking.
For example, let's say you have the #3 spot for a keyword
and you're paying $0.10. The #4 spot is going for $0.09, while
the #5 spot costs a mere $0.05. If, for whatever reason, #4
drops out of the listings, you're still occupying the #3 spot
BUT you're overpaying by $0.04/click (you could maintain
your #3 rank with a $0.06 bid). Not a huge amount, but with
hundreds of listings, it's easy to see how it can add up
over time.
That should be enough information to get you started on
your PPC campaign. Now that you know the basics, what
are you waiting for? A PPC campaign could be just the
shot in the arm your site needs!
