A PPC Primer for Beginning Online Marketers

By Adam C Cherrington

Pay per click (PPC) advertising is becoming increasingly popular as a way for entrepreneurs to start and grow business enterprises on the Internet. Here is a guide to help beginners understand the basic principles behind the business model.

PPC Advantages

• You will get highly targeted customers coming to your website who are looking for exactly the type of products or services that you can provide.

• You can start an ad campaign and get it up and functioning almost instantly. Editing is also quick and easy to do.

• You only pay for your ad when a potential customer actually clicks on it.

• More and more tools are available to help marketers create successful and profitable campaigns.

PPC Disadvantages

• There is a potential to lose money if you do not monitor your campaign carefully.

• Click fraud is sometimes a problem and occurs when competitors click on your ads repeatedly with no intention to buy anything in an effort to raise your costs.

Basic PPC Terms

Here are the definitions of some basic terms that may help beginning marketers to understand the process of PPC marketing.

Keywords are the terms that Internet users type into a box on a search engine start page. If you place your ads for your organic dog food so that they will come up whenever people type the keywords,"dog food," "natural dog food," or "organic dog food" into Google, Yahoo or another search engine, you will be getting a highly targeted audience for your ad.

Long Tail Keywords are chains of words that are typed into a search request box. Sometimes bidding on a long tail term like "organic dog food for large breeds" can be much less expensive and still as effective as bidding on "organic dog food" alone.

Search Network is the area that most PPC advertisers use to display their ads. These ads will be found in the "Sponsored Results" sections on a Google, Yahoo, MSN, or other search engine results page (SERP).

AdWords is the system that Google uses to market ads to PPC customers. Yahoo! has Search Marketing and Microsoft provides adCenter that perform the same function. Several other search engines provide similar services, but these are the three largest ones.

Cost Per Click refers to the price that advertisers must pay each time a user clicks their ad. The price can vary greatly and is determined by an auction-style bid process.

Content Network refers to PPC ads that are placed on websites other than search engines. Since SE traffic only makes up about 5% of the total traffic on the Internet, it makes sense to place ads on sites that relate in some way to the products you are promoting

CTR refers to the click through rate. It measures the number of times that people who see your ads on a search engine page actually click on them in order to view your product.

Conversion Ratio is the percentage of clicks that lead to purchases. You obviously want this to be as high as possible.

Ad Creative is the specific wording of the ads that you place on the search or content networks.

Ad Positioning means the spot where your ad is displayed on a search result page. The price for an ad in the top position is higher than those in lower spots. The most effective ads are in the top three places, and they are also the most expensive. An ad that is found anywhere other than the first page of search results drops drastically in terms of price and CTR.

In short, PPC marketing can be a lucrative way to do business, but it requires that you do your homework and be informed before you dive into the process.

A computer geek as a child, Adam C. Cherrington grew up to discover he had a surprising talent for creative internet marketing. He's the creator of more than 100 websites, including Sandtray Therapy Institute, now in its third year online, and SiteGrinder. He currently mentors marketers to be full-time Internet Marketing Consultants, and helps them create a promotional presence that attracts the kind of clients who make them happiest.

To learn more about his unique methods, and read all about his exact six-figure blueprint, check out his site "The Shoestring Marketer": http://www.theshoestringmarketer.com/blueprint

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