YOU'VE GOT TO PAY TO PLAY

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You design a killer site, submit to all the major search enginesand directories, and you wait...and wait...and wait...Submitting to search engines/directories is a smart idea, but itseems like an eter...
You design a killer site, submit to all the major search enginesand directories, and you wait...and wait...and wait...Submitting to search engines/directories is a smart idea, but itseems like an eternity before you see the results of yourefforts. Meanwhile, you're anxious to get traffic and makesales, right?I have just the site promotion technique for you: pay-per-click(PPC) search engines.PPC programs work like this: you bid on keywords related to yoursite's content/products/services.
The higher you bid, the higheryour link appears in the search results. One of the great thingsabout PPC is that you don't pay unless someone actually clicksyour link - in other words, you pay only for results.
PPCcampaigns can be surprisingly affordable, even for sites on alimited budget.Another benefit of utilizing PPC is that you begin generatingtraffic almost immediately. There is no 6-8 week waiting periodfor your site to appear in the index - it's usually more like2-3 days.Before you rush off to open an account, though, there are a fewbasic things to do beforehand to maximize your campaign'seffectiveness.First, calculate how much you can afford to pay for each visitorto your web site.
If you have a product that sells for $100.00,1 out of every 100 visitors buys the product, and you pay $1.00for each visitor, you'll break even on the campaign ($1.00 x 100visitors = $100.00 spent/$100.00 sale). If you pay more than$1.00/visitor, you'll lose money and if you pay less than$1.00/visitor, you'll make a profit.Know what you can afford to spend per visitor (per click) beforemaking your bids.
Armed with this knowledge, you'll be betterequipped to execute a profitable campaign.Second, create a list of keywords related to yoursite/product/service. Develop a list of at least a few hundredkeywords; preferably 1000 or more.
I realize that's a lot, butas a general rule, a list of 10-20 keywords won't net you muchtraffic.If you're having trouble brainstorming keywords, many of the PPCengines have tools to help you. GoTo's Search Suggestion Toolgenerates a list of search terms related to keywords you enterand ranks them in order from most to least popular.
Try the GoToKeyword Wizard at JimTools.com (http://www.jimtools.com) too.A third step to take before launching a campaign is to produceeffective ad copy for the "title" and "description" of yourlistings. Make no mistake - your description and title ARE adcopy - or they should be if you hope to maximize traffic.If your listings don't pull as well initially as you hope, don'tworry; you can always tweak them until you achieve the desiredresults.Finally, carefully select the URL where your listing will point;in other words, your landing page.
This doesn't have to be your"home" page - oftentimes, it's better if it's NOT your homepage. Instead, consider linking to the page that contains thecontent/product/service related to the keyword for which you'rebidding.Don't make your visitors jump through hoops; give them whatthey're searching for as soon as they click to your site ifpossible.
For each additional step in the process, you're losinga certain percentage of visitors. Granted, there are legitimatereasons to have visitors navigate a series of pages.
Your goalis to eliminate the *unnecessary* clicks.Now that you have the basics covered, where will you open yourPPC account?I recommend GoTo (http://www.goto.com). There is a $0.05 bidminimum and a $20.00 minimum monthly spend, but the volume oftraffic generated can be significantly greater than traffic fromother PPC engines.
GoTo Premium Listings (top 1, 2, and 3 spots)appear as search results on America Online, Lycos, Netscape,AltaVista and other large sites.Here's a list of a few other pay-per-click engines you mightwant to consider:FindWhat.com (http://www.findwhat.com) Sprinks(http://www.sprinks.com) Kanoodle.com (http://www.kanoodle.com)Brainfox.com (http://www.brainfox.com) Bay9 (http://www.bay9.com)Once your campaign begins, it's important to monitor itsprogress. Since your rankings are based on bidding, you don'twant to be outbid and lose traffic.
The other side of the coinis you don't want to pay more than you should for your ranking.For example, let's say you have the #3 spot for a keyword andyou're paying $0.10. The #4 spot is going for $0.09, while the#5 spot costs a mere $0.05.
If, for whatever reason, #4 dropsout of the listings, you're still occupying the #3 spot BUTyou're overpaying by $0.04/click (you could maintain your #3rank with a $0.06 bid). Not a huge amount, but with hundreds oflistings, it's easy to see how it can add up over time.That should be enough information to get you started on your PPCcampaign.
Now that you know the basics, what are you waitingfor? A PPC campaign could be just the shot in the arm your siteneeds! Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com .