Training & Education

One of your first considerations when deciding to launch a PPC campaign is training and education. Each search engine has their own pay per click program and way of doing things. One of the advantages of web site promotion through PPC is that it is generally easy to establish an account. Simply do your keyword research, outline the benefits of doing business with you, create some ads, have your credit card handy and follow the steps. The search engines have made setting up an account very simple, although some require that ads pass editorial review before going live. However, when compared to waiting for "organic" search engine rankings, waiting a few days for editorial review is not really a drawback, only mildly frustrating. There are some engines though, that will post ads immediately and satisfy your need for instant gratification.

Search Engine Advertising Program Changes

Keeping up-to-date on changes as they occur can also be challenging and another reason for logging into your campaigns daily. The search engines are continually improving their programs, adding enhancements and making changes. Be sure you subscribe to some of the many newsletters made available by experts in the industry. Another great resource is Google Alerts. Google Alerts is a free service offered by Google that sends you email notifications for topics that you are interested in and is a great way to keep on top of industry changes.

PPC Engine Programs

Although some PPC campaigns require editorial review before they go live, others will review ads only when an issue is brought to their attention. Even with editorial review, a pay per click campaign can be active within 3-5 business days or even sooner.

Google AdWords offers some automated bid structuring which helps initially, but soon you will want to manually manage your bids. Learning how to do this will take time --looking through the forums and asking the right questions of the right people will help. Conferences like Search Engine Strategies, AdTech, Webmaster World's PubCon and eComExpo offer sessions and seminars on best practices and how to manage campaigns.

Bid management can be "tricky" in programs such as Google Adwords. Although, setting up a campaign is fairly easy managing it can be frustrating if you don't know what you are doing. Figuring out where the "sweet spot" position is for your industry and what keywords to target can be difficult. In some engines, knowing what dollar amount to set as the maximum or minimum and how it will affect your position is not always straight forward. Some things are learned by trial and error and only over time will you become an expert.

Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture) is considered by many to be The King of all PPC search engines. It provides sponsored listings on the Web's top portals and search engines, including Yahoo! MSN, Excite, CNN, Altavista, Infospace, ESPN and others. Perhaps its best feature is the Search Term Suggestion Tool which allows subscribers to see exactly how often people search for a particular word or phrase. There is also an email marketing tool called Content Match that allows subscribers to broaden their consumer reach within newsletters and emails. The Local Sponsored Search targets customers searching for local services, which is especially beneficial for small businesses who lack a large web presence but want to establish branding. Those not comfortable with the software can have their keyword bids automatically monitored for a monthly fee. Yahoo Search Marketing is best suited for those willing to pay top dollar for quick results.

MSN has partnered with Yahoo! Search Marketing to create their PPC tool MSN adCenter. Where adCenter differs from the competition is they encourage users to select target audience demographics that they want to particularly seek out.

AskJeeves, not wanting to be left behind, has also designed its own PPC tool, Ask Sponsored Listings. This engine includes all the standard features without too many bells or whistles. Features include a keyword pricing tool that displays the cost that per-click advertisers need to bid in order to claim one of the top four positions, real-time reporting for easy monitoring, and campaigns that go live in 1 to 2 hours of set up.