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Pay Per Click Explained
Pay Per Click programs, PPC or Pay For Performance are the new buzz in internet marketing. The growth in web traffic generated by pay per click services is growing and a marketing option to be seriously considered.
With PPC, you pay each time a web viewer chooses your ad listing link and clicks into your website.
Pay per click targets a specific audience reaching up to 85% of all internet users in a cost effective and immediate way. There can be as much as a $20 return of investment for each $1 spent.
Exactly How Does Pay Per Click (PPC) Work?
The first step is to select which pay for performance agent to use.
The largest pay per click agent on the web is Overture which is now a subsidiary of Yahoo! and is now called Yahoo! Sponsored Search. Yahoo! Sponsored Search has traffic of 200 million searches per month reaching 80% of all web users. They have the largest reach on the Web. Yahoo! Sponsored Search's pay per click listings appear on Yahoo Search, Yahoo Directory, AltaVista, AllTheWeb, Lycos, InfoSpace, and other search engines and directories. Yahoo! Sponsored Search reaches over 80% of active Internet users on sites like Yahoo!, MSN and AltaVista.
Don't overlook Google AdWords as another viable option, you can see your ads in several hours, and have the ability to start and stop campaigns easily. Over 80% of all US Internet users will be exposed to Google AdWords with in the course of a month. You will show your products and services to millions of viewers and active shoppers using the massive reach of Google.
The second step is to select your targeted keyword or phrases.
At this point you may want to consider increasing the density of your selected keywords in your website's HTML code, your site's description, and title. However, we have found that you can still experience great returns using PPC without revising your website, as your PPC ads are triggered by the keywords you selected that are tied to your ad and not your web site's content.
The third step is to select your monthly budget.
You select the maximum amount that you will pay each month for click throughs to your website. Once the maximum amount is reached your agent will halt click throughs to your site automatically. Additionally, you will select how much you are willing to pay by keyword.
With Yahoo! Sponsored Search, you will be charged your pre-designated budget amount on a monthly basis in advance of the clicks. Clicks are then deducted from your account balance on a daily basis. You will have a $20 minimum monthly spend with Yahoo if you live outside of the USA. Yahoo waived the minimum monthly spends for US accounts in early November 2005.
With Google AdWords, you may pause a campaign or update your settings at any time. There are no minimum monthly spending limits and no contracts or long term commitments. You are charged for clicks after they happen.
What Are The Costs?
Each pay for performance agent has a different rate scale, but in general, these are the kind of charges that you should expect to pay for set up and throughout the course of your contracted program.
Account Set Up Fee
This amount also depends on the agent. Sometimes the deposit is refundable and sometimes it is not. Yahoo! Sponsored Search charges a $5 non-refundable account set up fee that they apply as a click credit to your account. Yahoo! Sponsored Search will also pre-bill your credit card for your monthly designated spending amount as your click account gets low unless you have clicked manually replenish account balance. You will pay in advance for your clicks.
Google AdWords requires no deposit but does charge $5 to open an account and will charge an additional fee to restart your account if your performance falls below their standard. With Google AdWords, you are billed for clicks after they have happened several times a month in $50 to $500 billing increments as you develop a click and payment history.
Minimum Per Click Charge
Each agent sets their own figure for the minimum charge per click. Yahoo has a minimum click charge of $.10. Google AdWord's minimum is $.01. However, the reality is that you will never pay just $.01 for a click with AdWords, but that is their published minimum amount.
Bid Amount by Keyword
If you have a popular keyword, be prepared to pay higher than the minimum click amount to get top listing within your category. With both Yahoo and Google AdWords, the client with the highest quality score will have their ad shown first. Most of our clients are paying between $.35 to $20 per click with either agent.
Both Google AdWords and Yahoo! Sponsored Search have great programs that automatically allow you to manage your budget and to plan your bids effectively.
Minimum Monthly Charge
For US advertisers there is now no monthly minimum charges for either Google AdWords or Yahoo! Sponsored Search as of early November 2005. If you are outside of the US and using Yahoo! Sponsored Search you may still have a $20 minimum monthly account spend.
What Are The Real Differences Between Yahoo! Sponsored Search and Google AdWords?
Ad Space
There are some real differences between these two pay for performance programs. Yahoo! Sponsored Search gives you significantly more ad space than AdWords; enough space to really say something to sell your product effectively or to run one ad instead of many. Google AdWords has very strict standards on spacing and presentation. You may only have 25 characters in your title for example and 35 characters each in your 2 subsequent lines. Additionally, some products will have trouble being approved to show on the AdWords network due to their strict Web site content standards. With Yahoo! Sponsored Search you may have 40 characters in your title and 75 characters in your ad description including spaces as well as the opportunity to create a long version ad that will show on some content sites.
We've just revised our popular white paper comparing Google AdWords to Yahoo! Sponsored Search, adding new case studies and new information and analysis. This detailed 8 page report will help you to identify which program will be best for your advertising needs. Just click the "Download Now" button to get our white paper.
Geo-Targeting and Global Marketing
Yahoo! Sponsored Search has an open-ended contract just like Google AdWords. With Yahoo's new account interface changes effective to all new advertisers as of December 15, 2006 the differences between Google AdWords and Yahoo! Sponsored Search are much finer and more difficult to discern. Both will deliver a high quality of clicks and both allow you to target on the national, state, and city level. If you want to advertise globally however, Google AdWords is still the vehicle of preference.
Performance
We have found that some advertisers will have a better click through rate and better ROI (Return on Investment) with Yahoo! Sponsored Search than with Google AdWords. Yahoo simply has a different client than Google. That being said we usually recommend that you start your advertising program out on Google AdWords and then expand onto Yahoo! Sponsored Search.
Ad Placement on the Page
With both Google AdWords and Yahoo! Sponsored Search, an advertiser who pay less per click than another may have their ads in the top position if the ad content is crafted well and receives more clicks per impressions versus than another and has a closely matched landing page to their ad's theme and keyword list.
Understand the Differences between AdWords and Yahoo! Sponsored Search
Read more in-depth information about Google AdWords and Yahoo! Sponsored Search, then review our Google AdWords Quick Start program and Yahoo! Easy Start program and see which works best for you. If you want to try both out at the same time, we have options just for you. Find out more.
Pay Per Click Can Pay For Itself!
Pay per click programs can pay off in increased website traffic, brand identification through impressions, and most importantly in increased leads, prospects, and sales. In addition to exposing your website to a wide qualified audience, targeted click throughs can turn in to sales, generating more profit for your business.
If you are looking for a great way to drive traffic to your website, you should consider adding a PPC program to your advertising plan.
We can help set up your PPC Program
We can help you to set up your Yahoo! Sponsored Search or Google AdWords programs. We can:
- Set up the account for you.
- Research your keywords using Wordtracker.
- Optimize the content and code of your website with your selected keywords if you desire.
- Create custom ad landing pages for your web site.
- Set up your ad text and campaigns.
- Set up your campaign geographic areas and budgets.
- Monitor your programs on a daily or weekly basis.
- Refine keywords or develop new campaigns as needed.
- Offer recommendations and create your action plan to maximize traffic
Interested in AdWords or Yahoo! Sponsored Search? We are Qualified Google Advertising Professionals and Yahoo! Search Marketing Ambassadors. Visit our AdWords page for more information on Google AdWords or review our Quick Start Program and AdWords pricing. Read about our Yahoo! Sponsored Search programs, and management discounts for clients having both AdWords and Yahoo! Sponsored Search accounts.
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