YOU'VE GOT TO PAY TO PLAY

You design a killer site, submit to all the major search engines
and directories, and you wait...and wait...and wait...

Submitting to search engines/directories is a smart idea, but it
seems like an eternity before you see the results of your
efforts. Meanwhile, you're anxious to get traffic and make
sales, 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 your
site's content/products/services. The higher you bid, the higher
your link appears in the search results. One of the great things
about PPC is that you don't pay unless someone actually clicks
your link - in other words, you pay only for results. PPC
campaigns can be surprisingly affordable, even for sites on a
limited budget.

Another benefit of utilizing PPC is that you begin generating
traffic almost immediately. There is no 6-8 week waiting period
for your site to appear in the index - it's usually more like
2-3 days.

Before you rush off to open an account, though, there are a few
basic things to do beforehand to maximize your campaign's
effectiveness.

First, calculate how much you can afford to pay for each visitor
to 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 $1.00
for each visitor, you'll break even on the campaign ($1.00 x 100
visitors = $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) before
making your bids. Armed with this knowledge, you'll be better
equipped to execute a profitable campaign.

Second, create a list of keywords related to your
site/product/service. Develop a list of at least a few hundred
keywords; preferably 1000 or more. I realize that's a lot, but
as a general rule, a list of 10-20 keywords won't net you much
traffic.

If you're having trouble brainstorming keywords, many of the PPC
engines have tools to help you. GoTo's Search Suggestion Tool
generates a list of search terms related to keywords you enter
and ranks them in order from most to least popular. Try the GoTo
Keyword Wizard at JimTools.com (http://www.jimtools.com) too.

A third step to take before launching a campaign is to produce
effective ad copy for the "title" and "description" of your
listings. Make no mistake - your description and title ARE ad
copy - or they should be if you hope to maximize traffic.

If your listings don't pull as well initially as you hope, don't
worry; you can always tweak them until you achieve the desired
results.

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 home
page. Instead, consider linking to the page that contains the
content/product/service related to the keyword for which you're
bidding.

Don't make your visitors jump through hoops; give them what
they're searching for as soon as they click to your site if
possible. For each additional step in the process, you're losing
a certain percentage of visitors. Granted, there are legitimate
reasons to have visitors navigate a series of pages. Your goal
is to eliminate the *unnecessary* clicks.

Now that you have the basics covered, where will you open your
PPC account?

I recommend GoTo (http://www.goto.com). There is a $0.05 bid
minimum and a $20.00 minimum monthly spend, but the volume of
traffic generated can be significantly greater than traffic from
other 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 might
want 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 its
progress. Since your rankings are based on bidding, you don't
want to be outbid and lose traffic. The other side of the coin
is 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 and
you'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 drops
out of the listings, you're still occupying the #3 spot BUT
you're overpaying by $0.04/click (you could maintain your #3
rank with a $0.06 bid). Not a huge amount, but with hundreds of
listings, it's easy to see how it can add up over time.

That should be enough information to get you started on your PPC
campaign. Now that you know the basics, what are you waiting
for? A PPC campaign could be just the shot in the arm your site
needs!