Phung

Pay per Click (PPC) advertising is one of the biggest lead generation breakthroughs to come about in a long time. For the small and midsize company in particular and thanks to its ability to narrowly target prospects, tightly manage spending and precisely measure results PPC is one of the most efficient lead generation tools ever developed.

It does however, have a downside. Because PPC campaigns are so quick to set up and so easy to get started, a business owner can easily waste thousands of dollars in a matter of weeks, before learning some hard (and expensive) lessons about what works and what doesnt.

The purpose of this brief report is to point out the most common mistakes made with PPC, so that your efforts begin generating results as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Mistake #1 Use your Home Page as the Landing Page
When you set up a PPC ad, whether its with Google, Yahoo or any other search engine, its up to you to decide where to direct the people who click on your ad. By default, most companies simply send clickers to the company home page. After all, they reason, if the home page is the digital equivalent of the company front door, shouldnt we bring prospects here as a starting point?

No, and heres why: Most company home pages cover too many subjects and have too much going on to work as effective landing pages. Simply dropping a searcher here in the hope that he finds what hes looking for almost guarantees frustration and failure. Remember, a person who initiates a web search is looking for something specific. Tossing him to a generic home page (with the implicit message, "Here, you figure it out") will work against your intention of converting ad clicks into leads.

Instead, the most effective PPC ads take clickers to a tightly focused landing page a page specifically developed and matched to the subject of the search, with minimal distractions, a strong call to action and a well thought out process for moving the searcher to the next step, whether thats requesting information, signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase.

Fix #1: Always take clickers to a well-crafted landing page, distinct from the company home page.

Mistake #2 Dont Bid Enough to Secure a Top Spot
PPC works on an auction model, giving you, the advertiser, the option of deciding how much you want to pay for a particular search term. In effect, you can choose how high up in the ad listings you want to appear. All else equal, the more you pay relative to other advertisers, the higher up your ad will be.

Popular search terms can have a dozen or more ads listed in order on search results pages, giving the impression that anyone can drive clicks with PPC. But consider this startling statistic: 85% of all PPC clicks are on ads in one of the top three positions. The remaining ads whether there are five more or fifty share the scraps.

In practice, that means that unless you bid high enough to get into one of the top three spots, youre wasting your time. Youre not wasting money since if nobody clicks you pay nothing, but if you choose to be hidden further down the list, youll have trouble generating the leads you want to close the sales you need.

Fix #2: Choose search terms and manage bids in such a way that youll consistently appear in one of the top three spots.

Mistake #3 Dont Make Your Ad Copy Specific
Yahoo allows you 190 characters (including spaces) in your text ad. Google allows just 70. No pictures, no colors, no company logo just a few words.

Many advertisers waste this precious space with vague, meaningless terms or general statements that dont clearly explain the uniqueness of their offering. When that occurs, one of two things can happen both of which are bad.

The first is that searchers dont click on your ad. Again, it doesnt cost you anything but it doesnt help you meet your objectives either.

The second bad thing is much worse, since in this case, it costs you both time and money: The wrong searchers click. In other words, your ad causes clicks, but those who click thanks to poorly written ad copy are not good candidates for your product or service. You pay for the clicks, but the leads go nowhere.

Fix #3: Be specific and unique in your ad copy. If youve got patented or otherwise unique features, a particular market or application expertise, unusually friendly return policies or warranties, or something else that sets you apart, this is the place to mention it.

Mistake #4 Dont Align Your Landing Page with Searchers Keywords
Heres how the ideal PPC sequence should work:

A searcher goes to Google and inputs the search term red widget. Your ad pops up and the term red widget is in both its headline and in the ad copy. The searcher clicks on your ad (because youre in one of the top three spots) and arrives at a landing page that is specifically about red widgets.

No confusion, no hesitation, no wondering if maybe this isnt the right place after all. The searcher is systematically taken down a Keyword Flow path from start to finish.

The important thing to keep in mind is that web searchers have lots of options and are presented with lots of data. Together, this leads to impatience and a tendency to abandon any search that doesnt quickly and easily lead to a desired result.

Fix #4: Make sure your landing pages stay focused on the key words which bring clickers there in the first place (you may have several landing pages, simply to ensure Keyword Flow). Youll increase clicks, increase conversions and as a result, increase ROI.

Mistake #5 Dont Bother With Testing
One of the things that makes PPC advertising so compelling particularly for those with limited ad dollars is that it is instantly and perfectly testable. Unlike an ad in the newspaper, on the radio, in a trade journal or in any of the other traditional, offline media, PPC dollars are trackable. Not only can you tell which words were clicked on, you can follow the click all the way through to a completed conversion (newsletter sign-up, literature request, sale, etc.).

Its critical, therefore, to constantly and continually test PPC results tinkering with or discarding the keywords, ads and landing pages that dont work and making improvements along the way. You will not get everything right from the start, thats guaranteed. But thanks to the data that PPC advertising generates, you have the ability to fine-tune the process and continually improve your ROI.

Fix #5: Test, test, test. Its easy to do and with a bit of focused attention, you can improve your results dramatically.

In summary, PPC has a tremendous amount to offer the small and midsize business owner or marketer. Keep these five guidelines in mind as you establish your PPC campaigns and youll be turning clicks into profits in no time!

John Grant is President of Take Aim Search, a search engine marketing company specializing in search engine lead generation for small and medium sized companies.

Copyright John Grant 2006. All rights reserved. You may reproduce this article by including this copyright, and if reproducing it electronically, including a link to http://www.TakeAimSearch.com