Web Design & Development Ireland | Internet Marketing Ireland | Search Engine Optimisation | Web Positioning

FAQs on Pay Per Click Programs

What is a pay-for-placement or pay-per-click program?

Pay Per Click, or pay-for-placement, programs allow owners to enjoy a high position on the SERPs of certain search engines through a payment scheme. Costs are incurred whenever a user clicks on the link and is brought to your site, which means that pay the company running the program for each individual visitor on a pay-per-click basis. The advantage is that your site is guaranteed to be found for whatever keyword or phrase that you purchase. The two most popular forms of PPC advertising available currently are Google Adwords and Yahoo Search Marketing, previously Overture.

What is a pay-for-inclusion program?

This is another thing altogether, and merely refers to paying to have your web site listed within a search engine or directory's database. Your payment will ensure your site is listed, but no more, it will not guarantee high rankings.

How does pay-per-click differ from regular, "organic" search engine results?

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising programs permit site owners to pay for top rankings in the SERPs. The organic listings are usually positioned below the pay-per-click sponsored listings. With a PPC campaign you can achieve top rankings immediately, whereas getting the same results in the natural, or organic, listings takes several months and can often be difficult to achieve, depending on the keyword phrase and the competition. By combining the use of PPC ads in the early stages of an SEO campaign, you can enjoy top rankings at a price while your position in the organic results gets steadily better.

How does Avatar Web Solutions set up a Pay per Click campaign?

First, we work with the client to establish the key products or services to be advertised. Then we engage in detailed keyword research to find all those applicable, and then narrow the list to those which will perform best. Avatar will also identify the most effective titles and descriptions for the campaign. We are then ready to begin.

Does my web site need to be changed for Pay per Click?

No, PPC programs can be implemented with dynamic sites, sites built in flash and in frames. However, attracting a visitor to click onto your site is one thing, keeping them there and fostering their interest in your products or services is another. If your site is difficult to navigate through, contains user-annoying tricks like pop-ups, or is generally not a pleasant experience, then your conversion rates will suffer. It is best to ensure that you have the most user-friendly site possible before beginning any PPC campaign.

Why don't I handle my account with Yahoo and Google directly?

Because there is more to it than just selecting a few keywords and hoping for the best. This is your money you are spending, and you need to spend it wisely. Choosing the right keywords is the first step. The best titles and descriptions must also be decided on, then ensure that you have a content rich environment for your visitors to land on, you must manage the ever-changing bid process, and finally you must track your results to determine ROI. All of this takes time and, more importantly, experience.

How long does it take for listings to go online?

Usually it takes less than three business days.

Glossary of PPC terms:

  • Bid: The maximum amount of money that an advertiser is willing to pay each time a Web searcher clicks on an ad and visits their Web site.
  • Fixed Bidding: The opposite of Auto Bidding. A type of keyword bidding in which you pay exactly what you bidded for each clickthrough. For example, if you bid $0.10 on a keyword, you will pay $0.10 for each clickthrough, regardless of other advertiser bids. See "Auto Bidding" for further explanation.
  • Auto Bidding: The opposite of Fixed Bidding. A type of keyword bidding in which an advertiser sets a maximum bid for a specific keyword but may pay less for each clickthrough of that keyword. For example, if Advertiser A bid $0.10 on a keyword, but the next highest bid (Advertiser B) on that keyword is $0.05, then Advertiser A will pay only $0.06 for each clickthrough. However, if Advertiser B changes his/her bid from $0.05 to $0.09, then Advertiser A will pay the full $0.10 (Advertiser A's maximum bid) for each clickthrough.
  • Clickthrough Rate: The amount of clicks that an ad receives, divided by the number of times that ad is displayed (clicks/impressions). For example, if an ad is displayed 100 times and is clicked on 7 times, that ad has a clickthrough rate of 7% (7/100).
  • Cost Per Click: When an advertiser pays a specific amount of money (i.e. $0.10) each time a Web searcher clicks on an ad.
  • Impression: An ad view. One impression = one display of an ad. If an ad is displayed 1,000 times, that is considered to be 1,000 impressions.
  • Keyword: A specific word or group of words (keyword phrase) that a Web searcher might type in when searching for the product or service that a Web site offers. For example, possible keywords for a site selling apples would be "apple," "red apple" and "green apple."
  • Minimum Bid: The lowest amount of money that a Pay Per Click Search Engine allows advertisers to bid for a certain keyword. This amount is usually $0.01, $0.05, $0.10, $0.20, or $0.50.

 

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