Pay Per Click Campaigns
Pay Per Click (PPC) is also referred to Cost Per Click (CPC) or paid placement. Regardless of what you call it, a pay per click campaign is a bidding process whereby you pay a set amount each time a user clicks on your “ad” link from a particular keyword search. Paid placement ads typically appear at the top and right hand sides of search engine results pages, and usually appear visually different from the rest of the results (they may be in another color, surrounded by a box, etc.)
Paid placement can be an extremely effective and fast way to appear at the top of a list with very little effort. However, it does require management in order to not spend a ton of money with very little conversion to sales. Pay per click campaigns can also be useful for short term promotional campaigns. For example, one of our clients is a Caribbean resort which wanted to drive reservations during the slow months. For that scenario, we set up a paid placement program in Overture and Google for only a 3 month period. During that time results were monitored closely, and ad phrasing was revised to help drive additional traffic.
Pay Per Click Analysis and Recommendations
The first step in developing a pay per click program is to perform an analysis using the results of the keyword analysis. This evaluation looks at the various paid placement programs available at the time (as these vary), comparing costs, account fees, length of time for keyword review, and usability. From this research we will provide you with our recommendation as to which paid placement search engine(s) and keyword strategies will best fit your needs. Comparisons of keyword prices at appropriate pay-per-click search engines would be included, so that you know how much it costs “per click” to appear in the top positions for specified.
Pay Per Click Account Setup
Once we determine the paid placement strategy you want to pursue, we will establish Overture, Google ad words, or other accounts for you, set up all the appropriate keywords and associated budgets, etc. At this state we need to associate your credit card information with the accounts so that the monthly budget balances are maintained directly by you.
Pay Per Click Account Management
Once an account is established and keywords purchased, the process needs to be monitored and adjusted on an ongoing basis to ensure that your investment is being utilized as planned.