Pay-Per-Click Search Services

Pay-Per-Click Search Services

How They Work

Unlike traditional search engines, which base their selections on your web page's content and HTML code, pay-per-click search engines sell their top spots to the highest bidder. As the name implies, these sites charge you every time someone clicks on your listing.

To utilize these search services you actually bid on search terms, and the amount you bid determines the place your listing comes up when that term is used in a search. It’s a clever advertising vehicle because you are only paying for actual visitors to your site. If you know your website metrics (i.e. how much you make per visitor), then you know how much to bid on keywords so that you make a profit.

The most popular and prominent pay-per-click search engine currently is Overture.com (formerly GoTo). This search engine currently generates about 90% of the pay-per-click traffic, but there are many others. I've listed some of the better known ones below, but if you want a comprehensive listing and review of each service, you'd best head on over to Allan Gardyne's Pay Per Click Engines.

Perhaps the best thing about the pay-per-click system is that it allows you to get listed right away. It's a very, cost effective way to build up a lot of targeted traffic in a hurry!

Keyword Bidding Strategy

As a general rule of thumb, you should try not to pay more than 10 cents per click, unless you have a very good sale per click ratio. However, if you're just starting out online, you probably don't want to wait until you get the sales to figure out your click-through break even point. In this case it's probably best to go for quantity rather than quality.

Since the more popular terms are going to be more expensive, you should try to come up with keywords that everyone else isn't bidding on. Less obvious or popular keywords may not draw in as much traffic, but because they are so cheap you can afford to purchase a whole slew of them at bargain prices.

You do the math. If you have 100 keywords, each one of which is only searched 10 times per week, you will garner the same amount of traffic as you would purchasing 10 higher cost keywords, each of which is searched 100 times a week. So, your best strategy is to work the niches. Bid on lots of less popular keywords related to your business or Website. A great tool to use to come up with all the keywords you need is WordTracker.

This strategy will work well with most of the lesser pay-per-click engines, and was a great tactic to use at the mighty Overture.com up until they increased their minimum bid price from 1 cent to 5 cents per click (you must invest a minimum of $50 up front). Another new Overture.com rule is that every advertiser has to spend at least $20 a month or be charged the difference.

How can Overture get away with charging so much? The simple answer is because they still dominate the pay-per-click search engine industry (although they may not for much longer). Overture links appear all over the Web - on Alta Vista, Lycos, HotBot, Direct Hit, Netscape, Ask Jeeves and most recently, AOL Search and iWon.

Also, unless you've got big bucks, I wouldn’t worry about coming up in first in any listing. You're better off aiming for somewhere in the top five or ten. People generally check out all these listings anyway, and there’s no reason to pay top dollar when you can spend a bit less and get the same results.

Bear in mind, however, that the more you can narrow down your keywords or phrases, the more targeted the traffic you'll get. And targeted traffic, consisting of people who are specifically searching for what you have to offer, will translate into more sales.

To learn more about pay-per-clicks and keyword strategies, you might want to check out the eBooks: Pay Per Click Commando and/or Pay Per Click Search Engine Secrets Revealed!

TIP: Here's a worthwhile tip from Terry Dean: If you’re bent on purchasing a more expensive listing, say spending up to a dollar on a favorite keyword bid, you might want to pre-qualify your visitors through it by telling them upfront the cost of your product/service or supplying some other qualifying information. This way, only the most targeted prospects or potential customers will click on your link and you'll save some money!

SIDEBAR: If you are going to be focusing a lot of your promotional efforts on the pay-per-click engines, it would be well worth your while to look into the Atlas OnePoint Bid Optimizer service. This is a fully-automated system that...

automatically monitors your keywords, positions, and bids which saves you loads of time
automatically eliminates costly bid gaps and saves you money by adjusting your bids to ensure you are never paying a penny more than necessary.
automatically maintains your desired rankings, so you're always one step ahead of your competitors.
sends you regular HTML email reports, plus you can login at any time to view your current stats, make changes and get a real-time update.

Atlas OnePoint offers instant account set-up. You can import all of your keywords in seconds and be up and running generating traffic within minutes. A very worthwhile, modest investment for the serious-minded entrepreneur.

Prominent Newcomers to the Pay-Per-Click Arena

Unleash the full revenue potential of your website with Google AdSense!

Google AdSense is a fast and easy way for webmasters who want to make money from their website content to do so without having to search out affiliate revenue. Google AdSense delivers dynamically generated text-based Google AdWords ads precisely targeted to the content of your pages. Because the unobstrusive ads are related to what your users are looking for on your site, they will likely click on them and when they do, you will earn money. Google will pay you so much per click.

There you have it. A simple solution to both monetize and enhance your content pages. The program is free, you just have to sign up and, if your site is accepted, you will be issued some HTML code to insert into your web pages. Not all of your web pages - just the ones you want to display the AdWord ads. Then, Google's proprietary search and page-ranking technologies take over to deliver precisely relevant ads to those content pages.

In sum, here are just some of the advantages of the new Google AdSense program:

Run ads that will interest your users.
Google AdWords delivers easy to read and text-based ads targeted to the content of your pages.
The award-winning and proprietary Google search and page-ranking technology underlying the service enables it to understand the context and content of your web pages and precisely match AdWords ads to your pages.
Filter unwanted ads.
Google combines an editorial team, filtering technology, and your input to create a robust set of filters that are right for you.
Getting started is fast and easy.

To learn more and to apply, go to http://www.google.com and click on the Business Solutions link, or click here.

If you want to know exactly how you can best go about applying this new service to your web business (be it existing or yet to be) click here for a complete AdSense Education on...

... the fastest and easiest way to generate revenue with Google's AdSense.

Indeed, Ken Evoy (among others) has proclaimed AdSense "A Revolution in Website Monetization." Here are some of the things you will learn at this site:

Should You Participate?
How To Get Started
"What If My Site Is Not Accepted?"
Integrating AdSense Into Your Site
How to Get The Most Out Of AdSense

Click here now to take your AdSense Education to the next level.

Google's Adwords Select Program - It's better than Overture in some ways - and worse in others.

What you get at Google is a small text ad that appears to the right side of the search results. Ads are labeled "sponsored links." There's a $5 set-up fee and the minimum cost per click at Google is 5 cents.

Here are some of the benefits:

You can pay only for clicks.
You can choose a maximum daily spend, so you won't overspend your budget.
There's no minimum monthly fee (unlike Overture).
You choose keywords relevant to your business. Only people searching for those keywords on Google will see your ad.
You can target by country and language.
You can change your ad(s) anytime you want.
Best of all - the Adwords Discounter automatically checks your bids and makes sure your don't pay too much! (For example, say you're willing to pay 25 cents per click and the next bidder is willing to pay 15 cents, you'll be charged only 16 cents per click.)

Now here's the bad news... Unlike Overture, you won't necessarily be at the top just because you paid the most. Google takes into account the popularity of ads when it decides on placement. In fact, keywords/ads that receive less than 0.5% click-through rates are automatically disabled/dumped. So, you have to be very careful in choosing your keywords and wording your ads to attract adequate click-throughs or you'll be shut down - and it will cost you another $5 to get up and running again.

Unlike the Overture model that encourages you to bid on as many relevant keywords as possible, at Google you want to be more selective - and you don't get to decide what you'll pay. Google will tell you how much you have to pay for one of the available ad spots (based on the price being paid on the original Adwords program) and if you can't meet the price, you're not allowed to play.

Just like Overture, bidding at Google is highly competitive and can get quite expensive if you're interested in popular phrases. If you want to avoid costly mistakes, I recommend you read the full FAQ.

1st Search Ranking Pay-Per-Click Program

Sumantra Roy and the team at 1st Search Ranking have come up with a brilliant new alternative to pay per click search engines. You can now receive qualified traffic from major search engines for a flat rate of 5 cents per click. Just like most, if not all pay per click search engines, there is no setup fee for the pay per click program. The minimum order has just been raised to $500 for the pay per click program because of the overwhelming response Sumantra has received and the amount of work involved in optimizing each site. [It was originally only $150.] For your $500 order you will receive 10,000 visitors. 5 cents each.

So how does it work? He will register a domain and create a site that is targeted at the keyword/phrase you choose for your site. The site will be optimized for the major search engines and when visitors start arriving at the site, they will find links and recommendations to your site. Quite simple really. Your site is linked via a third party tracking program so there's be no need to worry about not getting what you pay for. And, unlike most pay per click search engines you can actually ask for a refund if your account balance isn't going down as quickly as you would have hoped. Well worth checking out!

Search Engine Sponsorship Programs

An alternative to pay-per-click URL listing is pay-per-ad placement. There are currently only two such services operating on the Internet, but this is another cost effective way to promote your business.

Google's AdWords program (Precursor to their new Adwords Select program)

You simply open an account (no minimum deposit is required), supply your keyword list and submit your text ad. When a user types in one of your keywords, your ad will appear just to the right of the search results. Pricing ranges from $8 to $15 CPM (cost per thousand). The higher up you want your ad, the higher the price. And the more targeted your keywords, the more targeted the the prospects that will see your ads, so it's both wise and cost effective to choose carefully. You can read all about AdWords and open an account here. You might want to take a look at Google's "Ad Optimization Tips" before you sign up, so you can make the most of this service.

Ask Jeeves' Text Sponsorship Network

This program also involves bidding for keyword sponsorship, however, only the top three bidders get their ads shown in the search results. The top sponsored ads not only appear on Ask Jeeves, alongside of the search results for sponsored topics, but also on other sites that participate in the Jeeves Text Sponsorship Network, including MSN, Searchalot, Bomis.com, SuperCyberSearch and Direct Hit.

You need to open your account with a $25 deposit before you go ahead and supply your ad and your keywords. The cost of the keywords you sponsor varies according to their popularity and the number of other bidders. The more unique your search topic, the less you'll have to pay to secure top placement. Even with popular topics and terms however, the cost of this service is much cheaper than paying for sponsored ez-ine ads. You can find out more about Ask Jeeves' Text Sponsorship Network here.

SearchKing's Pay Per Day Program

SearchKing offers a simple and quick way to purchase highly-targeted advertising, regardless of your budget. You can bid to have text banner, text button, or graphical banner ads appear on search result pages for the keywords you buy, at SearchKing and the 1,000's of search engines and directories hosted through the SearchKing Portal Program. Pay-Per-Day bidding for Ads start out for as little as 10 cents per day! You can bid on the position in which your ads are shown. SearchKing positions your Pay-Per-Day ad based on the bidding amounts by users on keywords. Accounts are opened with a credit card with a minimum deposit of $20.00 USD.

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