What ever you call it, Google AdWords (pay-per-click online advertising, PPC) is a quick and simple way to purchase highly targeted, cost-per-click (CPC) sponsored listings or advertising on search engine results pages (SERPs), regardless of your budget. Is it the only CPC game in town? Absolutely not. For example, Yahoo Search/Overture, which we also use, offers sponsored listings. And there are some smaller search engines which can be very good for CPC campaigns. But, in our view, Google Adwords is the best overall CPC program in regards to workability, flexibility, reach and results. For one thing, Google is still the 800 pound gorilla of search engines and accounts for nearly 50% of all Internet searches, with Yahoo/Overture coming in at a distant second, followed by MSN.com.
AdWords ads are displayed along with search results on Google, as well as on search and content sites in the growing Google Network, including AOL, EarthLink, HowStuffWorks, & Blogger, for example. With searches on Google and page views on the Google Network each day, your Google AdWords ads reach a vast audience.
When we create a Google AdWords ad, we use a variety of methods to choose the best keywords for which your ad will appear, and then we create the ads based on our experience with making ads “pull.” We also specify the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for each click and the total amount you are willing to spend on a daily basis. Google does not require a minimum monthly charge – you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. To save you even more money, Google’s AdWords Discounter automatically reduces the actual CPC you pay to the lowest cost needed to maintain your ad’s position on the results page.
Your ads start running and appearing on the Internet within 15 minutes of our completing the construction of your Adwords campaign. Then we closely monitor and track your ad’s performance using various reports and additional traffic-monitoring software and provide bi-monthly reports on your Adwords Campaign.
We also conduct “split-runs” where we compare one or more ads to each other over a certain time period to determine which ad(s) results in the best click-through rate. The click-through rate is determined by the number of times your ad is clicked on compared to the number of times it was shown.
Once we have a “control” ad, we run it, then continue tweaking the ad using another split-run. The best pulling ad becomes the new control ad. On and on. (Note: We also use other portals for CPC campaigns such as Yahoo/Overture, depending on your needs and your budget.)
