The last two days in the Growing Your List challenge have focused on getting free (organic) search engine traffic. Today's topic is PPC, or Pay-Per-Click (paid) search engine marketing.
For Day Twelve, refer to pages 30-32 in the
31 Day Guide to Growing Your List
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Pay Per Click (PPC) search engine marketing is just what it sounds like... Rather than paying for your ads to be displayed, you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad. -page 30
PPC marketing is a great way to test your new squeeze page, split test certain elements on your squeeze page, and optimize your conversion rate. It will also give you stats on conversions, which will be useful in approaching potential Super Affiliates and joint venture partners.
You can expect higher conversion rates on PPC ads for a well-designed squeeze page where you are offering something free, to be delivered by email - or even on a very low cost "impulse buy" type product.
That said, you still want to create a very intriguing ad, and you want to micro-target your ideal visitor through keyword selection.
There's definitely an art to PPC marketing. I recommend you keep a super close eye on your active campaigns, and make adjustments as necessary.
It's been quite a few years since I actively used Google Adwords. I believe it was 2004-2005 actually. I recently received two $100 gift cards in the mail from HostGator, so I'll be using those and digging in to PPC again myself.
Back when I first started using PPC (Google Adwords), I did NOT just jump in cold turkey.
I invested in a $50 guide from the leading expert on the topic, which turned out to be a great investment. You can easily lose that much (and 10x more) trying to figure things out on your own.
I'll be doing the same before I set up my new campaigns. Given that so much has changed over the last 5+ years, I'll definitely do my homework prior to putting my money on the table. I did a bit of looking around and decided on WordTracker's step-by-step guide to Adwords. ^
Your Task For Today:
Set up a Google Adwords campaign. Target long tail (very specific!) keyword phrases, and split test your ads - and the elements on your squeeze page.
If this is your first attempt at PPC marketing, or it's been awhile for you like it has for me, be sure to study-up first!
Best,
p.s. Still struggling with your Squeeze Page??
Paul Evans and Carrie Wilkerson hosted a great in-depth training workshop on this last week. You can get the full replay, plus access to their upcoming "techinar" here: Expert Squeeze Page Training. The workshop is 3 hours of solid content. From beginner to advanced. Good stuff! 😉
About Lynn Terry
I agree pay-per-click is an effective method of promotion, try asking a publication or broadcast station to show your ad. without paying, saying you'll just give them a small payment everytime someone responds. You can imagine the reaction!
The problem with Google adwords is that it is so expensive. The fastest growing method of viewing the net is via a mobile device and pay-per-click via mobile marketing is even more effective, even more targeted and a fraction of the cost of adwords.
'The problem with Google adwords is that it is so expensive'
Paul,
it depends - when you select really good keywords and also use negative keywords to get rid of tirekickes, adwords can be very profitable. It is important that you track your results so you can determine if a campaign is working for you or not.
I know a lot of people have been burned by using PPC and not getting back what they invested. I think you should only get into PPC marketing if you have a solid game plan otherwise you may just end up getting burned yourself.
A clear plan for sure, and an education on how PPC works - the ins and outs of running profitable campaigns. Otherwise yes, you can burn through some serious cash. This is the reason I invested in a thorough guide on the topic before diving in myself. It's well worth it, otherwise you can spend 10x that much figuring it out on your own. 😛
Lynn,
I am glad I found your website. I have a question, if I create a Landing/Squeeze page with the object of op-in email gathering, does Google still allow me to promote it byt itself using PPC? My understanding is that they no longer allow that?
If that is the case how would you recommend using paid advertising to promote Squeeze page?
Yes, Google does still allow landing pages or squeeze pages in Google Adwords. They do have to meet their new criteria though, which is a safeguard against scams. See:
Landing Page and Site Quality Guidelines
Also see this discussion on the Google Adwords Help Forum:
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdWords/thread?tid=7a185f2d07755925&hl=en
Hope that helps 🙂
It's not fair that only US, Canada and UK citizens can use these coupons :/ I have them in my Hostgator account too and I was really happy about it, as I want to see how PPC could bring more traffic. But personally, I think it's really hard to get a lot of visitors from it.
That is unfortunate.
It's not hard to get visitors from pay-per-click. I'd love to hear more from you on that, or why you feel that way. It's actually a very effective method of marketing online - and a great way to split test your campaigns and design elements.
I'd have to disagree with you. I personally know people who have hit $xx,xxx in a day with PPC. Like anything in internet marketing, you just have to know how to use it. If you don't, you can find yourself out a LOT of money. And I mean a LOT.
Cheers,
Eric
I agree Eric. That is exactly why I recommended investing and studying a guide on the topic - from a trusted source. I did, and it made all the difference in the world.
You can invest in a guide, or you can invest A LOT more figuring things out by trial & error. 😛
adwords so expensive its worth spending your money on SEO for a longterm investment
very expensive and the ROI is so weak I agree better spend the money on SEO for long term investment
Um... I would never hire an SEO or pay for SEO. Period.
I appreciate with you that pay per click is the very effective for website; I think pay per click is great tool thought to develop our business. PPC is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites and increase the direct leads
Thanks for information (PPC).