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PPC Marketing – Google vs Bink

March 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

profitable niche ideasGoogle AdWords wasn’t the first search engine to come out with the PPC model, but they certainly are the biggest and most well known today. Does that mean you should ignore other engines, such as Bing?

No! In fact, there are many marketers who are making their full-time living on search engines like Bing without spending any money on Google at all.

What are the differences between AdWords and Bing and why might you choose one over the other? Here are the differences.

=> Conversion Rates

Some internet marketing experts report that – out of Google, Yahoo and Bing – Bing traffic tends to convert the best. That means that out of 1,000 visitors, you’ll tend to get more sales from Bing than AdWords or Yahoo traffic.

There are many theories about why that is. One common theory is that people using Google tend to be more savvy computer users and more discerning about where they spend their money.

Bing users on the other hand tend to be people who just left their browsers on their default search engines. And that could mean that they’re less discerning with their money and their internet habits.

=> Volume

This is where Google AdWords wins hands down. For any given keyword, you can expect to get 10% or less with Bing than what you’d get if you bid on the same keyword in AdWords.

Does that mean you can’t make significant money on Bing? No, it just means your strategy needs to be different.

=> Bidding Strategy

Generally, with AdWords you don’t want to go for high-profile, high-competition keywords with high volume. The bid prices are just too high.

With Bing however, it’s different. Bing’s PPC bids tend to be a little bit cheaper than AdWords. There also tends to be less competition.

That means that on AdWords a keyword like “Lose lower belly fat” may be far too competitive and expensive. On the other hand, on Bing there will be competition but you may have a good shot at making money with the keyword.

Basically, on Bing you’ll need to take advantage of the lower competition to bid on broader keywords. This will help you offset the lower search volume: You increase your total traffic by bidding on higher traffic keywords.

=> AdWords versus Bing

There are many similarities in strategies between AdWords and Bing. The principles of writing great ads and split testing carefully apply to both systems equally. Choosing the right keywords is as important in one as it is the other.

On the flip side, these two systems require very different strategies to master. AdWords often requires drilling down to very precise keywords in order to create profitable campaigns.

On Bing, your main challenge is often getting enough volume rather than getting your traffic to convert.

Each search engine is different and need different approaches. There’s a lot of money to be made in both.

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Tips for Writing Better PPC Ads

October 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

writing your first articlePay Per Click (PPC) advertisements can be a great tool for driving traffic specific web pages.

When you write each PPC ad strategically and you send visitors to a landing page designed for their needs, PPC ads can be a virtual profit generator.

But many business owners don’t know the simple secrets to writing effective pay-per-click ads.

Here are three secrets to writing more effective PPC ads.

#1 Place your keywords in your headline. You have twenty-five characters to use in your headline. Make sure that your keywords are there before you worry about the remaining characters. Once you have your keywords chosen and placed in your headline, then focus on the goal for your advertisement.

For example, are you giving away information? Then consider power words like Discover, Learn, Secrets and so on.

Spend some time crafting two headlines that will capture the attention of your audience. Split test the headlines for maximum effectiveness and return on investment.

#2 Use your two body copy lines effectively. For your two body copy lines you have thirty five characters for each line. That gives you a total of seventy to work with.  Many PPC experts have found that most ads are more effective if you list benefits first and then your offer.

For example, if you’re offering a free parenting report to build your opt in list for your parenting website then your benefit and offer might be:

Discover how to talk to your kids so they
will listen – Download Your Free Report

Download your free report is your offer and call to action combined. The benefit is that children will listen to their parents.

Learn to identify the benefits for your product or service and to explain them succinctly. The benefit must match the keyword used in the headline and targeted in the advertisement.

#3 The final piece of your PPC ad puzzle is your URL. The URL displayed can be different from the actual URL. This is another piece to test along with everything else about your advertisement. Make sure the URL is relevant to your advertisement.

For example, continuing with the parenting report advertisement example a URL that looks like this:www.sarajanesblog.com/free_report isn’t going to grab as much attention as www.freeparentingreport.com

Finally, writing your pay-per-click ad is only the beginning. You won’t know what’s truly effective for your audience until you run split tests for your ads. Test your headline, benefits, call to action and offer. And don’t forget to split test your URL too. Every percentage increase in your click through rate is more traffic, more profits and one step closer to your business goals.

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Three Easy Ways to Get More From Your PPC Campaign

October 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

pc campaignsDepending on your niche and business model, PPC or pay-per-click campaigns can be one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to a web page.

PPC campaigns can help you launch a product, grow your opt-in list or increase your bottom line.

But – as many business owners know – PPC campaigns can also be a challenge. And while many business owners use PPC, only they don’t maximize their efforts or their results.

Here are three easy ways to maximize your PPC campaign.

#1 Use the data – Any PPC service will offer data and analytics. Ignoring this information is like flushing money down the toilet. This information will help you increase your click-through rating. It’ll help you focus on the markets that are buying your product or service. It’ll also help you hone in on those keywords that are working for you and let go of the rest.

#2 Split test everything - It may seem a bit tedious, but split testing can mean the difference between amazing PPC success and so-so success. Considering that you’re paying for every click, it’s assumed that you want to make the most of your money.

Experts advise split testing every single ad you create. If you have 100 different advertisements going, that’s a lot of ads to split test. However, once the testing has been completed (usually after 50 clicks) then you delete the one that’s not working. Your split test, depending on your budget, may be completed after a single day.

So what do you split test?

* Headline
* Keywords
* Offer/Call to action
* Image if you’re using one
* URL

#3 Competition – So many people create their ads without looking at their competition and what they’re doing online. It’s a simple step and one that can save you thousands of dollars. Before you bid on a price for your keywords, enter your keywords into the search engine. Count the number of PPC ads. They’ll start repeating themselves once you run through them, so only count the original ones. If there are more than fifty, consider choosing a different keyword. Ideally, there will be less than thirty and the best may be if there are less than ten.

Why does this matter? Because many people pay for the top spot on the PPC results. They want to be the first ad listed. But being the first on the list doesn’t matter so much with PPC. You probably want to be the first on the page, however, and if there are ten or fewer ads for that keyword then you can bid low and still show up on the first page of results. So checking out your competition helps you save money and ensure you have a first page presence.

The most important thing you can do to maximize your PPC campaign is to start it right from the beginning. Have a plan. Test and track for success and don’t forget to pay attention to other factors that influence your success, such as your competition.

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PPC Money: How to Budget for a PPC Campaign

August 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

getting retweetedPPC, or Pay Per Click, can be a great way to drive qualified traffic to your website. It can also cost a lot of money.

The best way to make sure you get the best return on your  investment is to test your campaigns and to create a budget for your PPC campaign.

Here’s how to save PPC money by creating a budget for a PPC Campaign.

#1 Know your conversion rate. Okay, this may be difficult to know until after your campaign has been running for some time. But if you’ve used this ad or a similar ad on another site then you can begin by estimating that conversion rate. Your conversion rate is the percentage of people who take action.

#2 Know the amount of profit you make on each sale. Not the sale price of $19.99 but the profit you make after expenses have been taken care of.

#3 Know the amount of your profit you’re willing to use to market your business. For example, if you’ve decided to spend 10% of your profits and turn it back around and put it into marketing the sale of that product.

Using this information, you can calculate a budget for your PPC campaign and feel safe that you’re spending an appropriate amount. You can use it to set your daily budget or your monthly budget depending on your needs.

One term for this is visitor value. If you know how much each visitor is worth then you know how much you’re willing to pay for each click. If your visitor is worth $10 then you know you’re willing to pay at least $5 per click. This is where it’s important to know your conversion rate so you can determine the average visitor value.

Starting From Scratch

Many new business owners don’t have a conversion rate. They’re coming at a PPC campaign from a place of “Where do I put my money?” and “How much should I spend?”

The answer is to test and to start small. Google is almost always a great place to start because they have the most traffic. However, that also means you have the most competition. Other businesses may be willing to pay more per keyword than you are.

Start with a small budget you feel 100% comfortable with. It could be $5 a month, whatever you can swing. Create your campaign and test and track it for results. When you have your advertisement tweaked for maximum conversion and click through rates, then you can take that information and create an ongoing PPC budget.

Additionally, if you’re using Google’s AdWords service, they offer a Budget Optimizer. This enables Google to set your cost per click for you based on your budget, keywords and activity. Again, this is something to be tested and not relied on blindly.

Budgeting your PPC money involves a bit of trial and error and good old common sense. Start with what you know, safely test and track, and then build on the knowledge. Advertising the old fashioned way used to be a bit of a gamble. With PPC campaigns you have all the information at your disposal to get maximum return on investment and stay well within your marketing budget.

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