With more and more consumers shopping online the value of pay per click advertising is becoming ever more popular. If you have decided to include PPC marketing techniques in your advertising campaign here are a few tips to get you going.

Decide on a search engine

The larger search engines such as Google and Yahoo have outstanding market coverage and have facilities in place to assist their users. However you pay for what you get and these search engines are also the most expensive to use if you want good visibility ranking.

However, by choosing either Google or Yahoo you are able to opt out of non-search traffic. Since you are going to be paying each time anyone clicks on your advertisement you want to target genuine ‘searchers’, avoiding ‘curiosity clicks’ which will quickly make inroads into your budget without any return on your investment.

Open an account

Opening an account is usually free, charges only apply once you start bidding on keywords. Once you have successfully obtained your chosen keywords (see below), however, you need to fund your account. You can do this by using a credit card and crediting your account with a fixed amount or you can set a monthly limit. In either case, once the funding has been exhausted your advert will cease to appear.

Some search engines require a minimum initial deposit, you need to be clear on the amount needed, and what happens to it should you decide to cancel, before committing yourself to your campaign.

Choose your keywords

Depending on the popularity of both the keyword and the search engine the price per keyword can range between $0.01 and $100, with the higher priced keywords ranking higher on the search results pages. In most search engines the bidding process is automated and you will drop out when the maximum amount you have set has been reached.

You can avoid becoming involved in the competition for popular keywords by choosing two or three word phrases which specifically target your product or service. Unfortunately, neither Google and Yahoo encourage the use of more obscure keywords. If you have already run unsuccessful PPC ads through either of these search engines you may be barred from bidding on the same keywords again.

Compose your advertisement

The final step is to create your advert. The headline should preferably include your keywords which are the words the user employs to arrive on the search results page. The description of your product or service is surprisingly difficult to write because of the limited space, the restriction in the number of words and in the type of text you are allowed to use.

In just a few chosen phrases you have to be able to convince potential customers that your product is exactly what they are looking for. Words like ‘free’, ‘save now’ or ‘bonus offer’ attract immediate attention and encourage users to click through to your website.

Once you feel you have mastered the basics of a PPC marketing campaign take time to evaluate your return on investment (ROI) and perhaps look at the possibility of using smaller niche market search engines which may be more suitable for your needs and would almost certainly offer keywords at a lower cost.