From cost-effective to the ability of measuring increased profit and sales, all internet marketing tools are now gaining ground. Coupling at the forefront of its method is the pay-per-click advertising or keywords or phrases in search engines. Simple model: The advertiser only pays when a visitor clicks their ad and top positions are available for selected keywords through the most favored search engines such as Google AdWords, Yahoo Search, and Miva. The highest bidder for a keyword gets the top position, and each click is charged at the amount of the bid.
The Difficulties of PPC
While PPC advertising has several merits, it can be an expensive and time-consuming process if it is not managed accordingly. Knowing the step-by-step processes involved in PPC makes this a very value-laden alternative to other modes of advertising. Once users search for products or services, very often their search results will include PPC advertisements. The top bidders for these keyword terms appear at the top of the results, driving targeted traffic to their sites and therefore likely to increase sales.
Getting Started with PPC Bid Management
Before actually managing a PPC campaign, you will need to determine your maximum cost per click. CPC can range far and wide depending on the current averages of the bids, typically between $0.25 and $5. Having an average CPC, based on these averages, should set a baseline starting point for your initial bids. Of course, as the campaign progresses, you’ll want to adjust CPC further, based on actual conversion rates—that is, how many visitors have resulted in buyers.
Bidding Strategies and Considerations
Because the different search engines all have their own PPC system in place, one is compelled to use different bidding strategies on each. Do not bid for the first position because in most instances, this is quite costly and really will not amount to any conversions. Instead, the fifth place is optimal for a better cost versus return equation.
Creation of Effective Bidding Strategies
Subsequent to the PPC campaign launch, chart a course for you to keep track of which sites give the most traffic for you and analyze ad performance. Max CPC will be what allows you to know how much you need to pay to place your ads in those places. Bid gaps—such as from $0.40 down to $0.39 or even $0.20—are exploited to save money and improve ranking. Do not overbid for your keywords, as this can give you poor price vs. conversion rate balance.
Use Bid Management Tools
To really optimize your PPC campaigns, it would pay to investigate the various bid management tools that are available. Fundamentally, there are two types of tools available: Web-based, or subscription services, and PC-based, or software purchased for the computer. With tracking tools, one can trace precisely how each keyword is working and what kind of ROI it is generating. It shows which keywords finally turn out to be the most profitable in comparison with their cost per click.
High-end tools also offer the following key features: warn about competitor bids, able to create reports, and even interface with multiple PPC engines at the same time, very useful when managing large keyword lists.
Conclusion
Effective PPC bid management can give your online business quite a good promotion without having to cost you an arm and a leg. With the right set of tools and strategies, you can increase your advertising efforts to their fullest in order to reach a wider audience.
