PPC Tips and Strategies
Getting the Most from Every Dollar

Introduction

It doesn't take much to get listed in a PPC engine. However, some people will ultimately get a much higher return than others from advertising. This isn't luck--successful strategies can go a long way in getting the most bang for you buck.

Pay More Than You Must

If your desired terms have a large number of sites willing to pay high prices of traffic, then the minimum bid isn't going to do much for you on any PPC search engine.

Especially at the beginning, you need to be willing to spend more than 5 cents per click. This will allow you to see the potential for the market that you've chosen, as well as optimize your site (and the text of your ad) without waiting weeks for substantial numbers.

At the beginning, a higher bid is particularly important so that you can be in the chunk of results that are visible. If you don't have a visible listing, then don't bother continuing. This means the top 8 on Google, and preferably the top 2 or 3 on Overture (though lower on Overture may be acceptable for high-traffic terms). Other PPC engines vary on a case-by-case basis.

Also, on Google being at or near the top initially will give you a better click-through-rate. Google is unique in that it will reward this by still giving you a relatively high listing, even if you lower your bid somewhat later.

Be Creative

Just because you have an online casino, that doesn't mean that you have to pay $1 per click to get listed. Be creative!

A "bidding war" is when the sites with the deepest pockets directly compete with one another for the top place in listings. This results in ridiculously high rates for advertising.

There's nothing wrong with paying high rates--if you're still getting a positive return from your advertising, then don't worry about it. However, sites on a smaller budget need to be more creative. And even if you have a big-budget site with high profit margins, creativity is still a great way to get the most for you money.

Try thinking of more specific terms, as well as synonyms. Instead of "casino," try "online Roulette" (assuming that your site has Roulette). This should get you a much lower price than a high-price term.

Short and Sweet

PPC ads shouldn't be long (and on Google they can't). Google ads should be phrases, not sentences. And on other PPC engines you should use only one sentence. The ad should say what makes you stand out in a few words, and should include the price if you only sell one item (this will cut out a large number of unnecessary clicks from people looking for a different price).

Google: Specifying Terms

On Google, your keywords will be interpreted differently based on how you write them:

To use this to your advantage, bid on all three separately. The highest price will be for "[online games]," but you won't have to pay the same price for "free online games."

Don't Use that Language!

Most PPC engines provide a way for you to exclude searches containing a certain word. In Google, at the end of your list include a word with a minus sign before it.

Excluding words such as "cheap" or "free" in this way will avoid traffic that isn't willing to pay for your services. So, at the end of your list you might have:

-free
-cheap
-discount

Google: Avoid AdSense

Google now allows content websites to put AdWords listings on their own sites and get a cut of the revenue. This is good for the affiliates, but advertisers have reported getting traffic that's somewhat less interested in purchasing. Luckily, Google allows you to choose whether or not you would like to receive this sort of traffic. You could just turn off AdSense traffic, but there's a more creative option that you may want to consider.

Create two campaigns that are alike in every way, except that one accepts AdSense and one does not. Make lower bids on the one that accepts AdSense.

A side effect of this is that you can write ads for the AdSense campaign which appeal more to people who may or may not have been searching for what you're selling.

Geographic Targeting

Google, as well as most other PPC engines, allow you to target your ads to a particular country or language. Don't underestimate this feature.

If your website only ships to the US, then don't advertise anywhere else. Although people with languages other than language may still be able to speak the primary language of your site, don't accept different languages if you don't badly need the extra traffic.

Alternatively, you may want to create three campaings (one for the US, one for Canada, the UK and Mexico, and one for all countries), with different bids for each.

Conclusion

Be prepared to put some time into this. PPC advertising isn't something that you set up and forget about, it is an ongoing commitment.