Monday, October 6, 2008

How effective is your PPC Campaign?

By Brian Basch

The landscape of PPC advertising has changed dramatically in recent times and will continue to do so. Google continuously improves its systems to ensure that content simply isn't made up of an enormous number of keywords.

Attempting this kind of PPC deviousness will bring an expensive campaign that often ends up being partially deactivated. Prices are rising on basic keywords, so it's easy to lose money fast if you ignore Google's rules.

Pay just a little attention to detail and Google becomes your best friend. What Google really wants you to do is the right thing by everyone and run an honest campaign.

Google makes its money from advertising. And, one of the reasons the search engine became what it is today is that people know they can get good information when they use it. This is why Google tries to keep everyone honest by ensuring that all ads on their site are the real thing.

Google works hard to keep out false information, spam, and websites that don't give the visitor what they were looking for. It's a bit like seeing a sign on a store advertising burgers only to get inside and find out that everything is tofu. There are lots of unscrupulous types out there who will try anything to earn a dollar, so Google has its systems to keep the cheats out.

Adding quality content to your site is a great start if your want to keep Google on your side. You can start with something as simple as a privacy policy, terms and conditions, a page about your company and some information about what you do and where you do it. Contact details are considered extremely important by Google, it shows the search engine that you have a home.

A Directory of your site is a slight change that will give you big results. Improving your search standing will also increase your profit for a pay per click campaign. Adding an XML (Extensible Markup Language) sitemap to your site will make it easier for Google to tell what your site is all about. You can even hire a programmer to create a map for you and you will find that bids are thirty-five per cent (35%) less expensive.

If you know what Google wants to prove your site's legitimate, building a good campaign is a lot easier. You can also find out how you're doing - for instance, when you want to know how effective your keywords are, just search for them. If you appear in the top entries, you've chosen effective words. Check out related terms, too, and don't forget to check out meta tags and copy on competitors' sites. While you should never copy these, they make great inspiration. Real content is what you need to get lower costs and higher profit, but proving to Google that your site is real. - 15266

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