Section Links: Our Services | Google AdWords | MSN adCenter | Our References | Facebook Ads | Twitter Ads
Pay Per Click Explained
Pay
Per Click programs, PPC or Pay For Performance are terrific ways to extend
your business reach beyond your city and even state. The growth in web traffic
generated by pay per click services is a marketing option to be seriously
considered.
With PPC, you only 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 click platform to use.
The most widely known pay per click agent on the web is called Google AdWords. Google AdWords ads reach approximately 75% of all United States Web users. The power, relativity, and reach of Google.com makes AdWords the best place to start when considering a pay per click program for the first time.
Although Bing and Yahoo have just consolidated their efforts with Microsoft adCenter serving ads and Bing.com search results on Yahoo as well as on Bing, they still only account for under 27% of the total search market. Google AdWords is still king!
With Google AdWords, you can see your ads in several hours, and have the ability to start and stop campaigns easily. You will show your products and services to millions of viewers and active shoppers using the massive reach of Google. Additionally Google AdWords will typically out perform MSN adCenter when it comes to generating conversions and return on investment.
The second step is to select your targeted keyword or phrases.
At this point you want to create keyword lists as your PPC ads are triggered by the keywords you selected that are tied to your ad and not your web site's content. We like to create keywords lists based on themes. Those themes can be categories or products or services. Use keywords that a potential customer would use to search for your services. Try not to use general keywords or keywords that may be about your topic but not specifically about your service. Be specific but keep your keywords phrases to two or three words on the maximum.
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 both Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter, 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 can select to be charged for clicks after they happen.
What Are The Costs?
Each pay for click platform 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 pay per click program.
Account Set Up Fee
Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter requires no deposit but do charge $5 each to open an account. 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. With Microsoft adCenter, you are billed for clicks after they have happened in a 30 day billing period.
Minimum Per Click Charge
Each agent sets their own figure for the minimum charge per click. Google
AdWords' minimum is $.05. Typically
for your ads to show in the advertiser auction you will pay well above these
figures.
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 Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter, 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 pay per click programs depending on the industry and level of competition. Remember pay per click platforms sell ad exposure based on an auction where pricing is driven by supply and demand in the advertising marketplace. Both Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter have great programs that automatically allow you to manage your budget and to plan your bids effectively.
Minimum Monthly Charge
For advertisers there is now no monthly minimum charges for either Google AdWords or Microsoft adCenter.
What Are The Real Differences Between Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter?
Ad Space
There are some real differences between each of these pay per click programs. Both Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter have 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. Some products will have trouble being approved to show on the AdWords network due to their strict Web site content standards may run on adCenter.
Geo-Targeting and Global Marketing
Both services deliver a high quality of clicks and all allow you to target your ads on the national, state, and city level. If you want to advertise globally or in a 25 mile radius around your business address, Google AdWords is still the vehicle of preference due to their massive reach and granular targeting options.
Performance
We
have found that some, but not all, advertisers will have a better click through
rate and better ROI (Return on Investment) with with Google AdWords than with
Microsoft adCenter. For our clients, we recommend starting with Google AdWords and expand successful ad groups onto adCenter. As a point of reference however adCenter at this time will deliver about one
half to one third of the conversions that Google AdWords will deliver as their search
market share is under 30% while Google's is over 67%.
Ad Placement on the Page
With Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter, an advertiser who pay less per click than another may still have their ads in the top position if the ad content is crafted well and receives more clicks per impressions versus another ad and has a landing page closely tied to their ad's theme and keyword list. The ad rank position on all platforms is determined by quality score and the keyword bid.
Understand the Differences between AdWords and Microsoft adCenter
Read more in-depth information about Google AdWords then review our Google AdWords advertising Quick Start program and Microsoft adCenter Smart Start program and see which works best for you. You may want to try both options at the same time or start AdWords and then expand onto Bing and Yahoo using Microsoft adCenter as your program matures.
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 Google AdWords,Yahoo! Sponsored Search, or Microsoft adCenter programs. We can:
- Set up the account for you.
- Research your keywords using online keyword discovery tools.
- Create custom ad landing pages for your website.
- 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 Google AdWords or Microsoft adCenter? We are a Google AdWords Certified Partner and a Microsoft adExcellence Member. Visit our AdWords page for more information on Google AdWords or review our Quick Start Program and AdWords pricing. Visit our Microsoft adCenter page for more details on the fees and services we provide.