What
is a Pay-Per-Click(PPC) Search Engine?
Uptil now,
the Search Engine (SE) world has been basically governed by Free Search
Engines, i.e. Search Engines which rank various web sites for free.
However, with the emergence of numerous PPC SEs, the scenario of SEO
has undergone a sea-change. But first, what is a PPC SE? Put in simple
words, PPC SEs are those SEs which give rankings to various websites
based upon the amount of money the website owner is willing to pay for
a particular keyword. For example, if you are the CEO of an online tea
shop, and you have bidded for the keyword “online tea shop” for US$
0.90, while your competitor has bidded for the same keyword for US$0.85,
then your website will be placed higher up than your competitor on the
PPC SEs. However, if your bid amount is less than your competitor, you
will be pulled down the list. Don’t worry, you won’t be charged anything
if your website link goes unclicked.
Procedures
for Bidding in PPC SEs
The trick
for bidding in various PPC SEs lies in extensive and thorough research
of the keywords, developing good, relevant content on those keywords,
astute understanding of the functioning of various PPC SEs and of course
the budget allocated for SEO of your site.
PROCEDURE
# 1 : Since
you will be paying for all those clicks, you must ensure that those
clicks convert into your customers. So, target your main keywords, i.e
keywords which describe your products or service to the fullest extent.
You can conduct the keyword research yourself by using various keyword
research tools available on the net or can take the service of various
professional Keyword Research Consultants. Here’s a list of keyword
research tips that you may find handy :-
·
Always target keywords that best describe your products/service.
·
Try to find multiword potential keywords compared to single keywords.
·
Try formulating keywords which give answers to as “why/how/what …….?”
·
Utilize your server log files to know what your customers searched most
while visiting your site.
·
Use keyword generator softwares.
·
Include common misspellings (e.g mortgages typed as morgages etc.) in
your keyword list(may backfire and hence is risky!!!).
PROCEDURE
# 2 :
After
identifying the main keywords(i.e those keywords which you are going
to bid with your competitors), visit the major PPC SEs and find the
amount at which they are currently being bidded by your competitors.
Ask for the bid amount of the top ten positions from the PPC SEs.
PROCEDURE
# 3 :
After that, what? Research, research, research!!! Finetune your keyword
list, ensure that those are your most potential keywords. Then compare
the bid amount of those keywords in various PPC SEs for top ranks and
find out which one really suits your budget(Compareyourclicks.com, is
a nice site which I found very handy for comparing the bid amounts of
a particular keyword in the major PPC SEs).
PROCEDURE
# 4 :
After finalizing your potential keywords, optimize the pages based on
those keywords. A few tips on page optimization :-
·
Develop content which are relevant to your keywords and site.
·
Try to place your keywords at the beginning of the title and description.
·
Title and Description should not be misleading and should reflect the
content of your site
·
Repeat the keywords throughout the page quite a number of times(pay
attention to Keyword Density , normally between 3-9 %)
·
Try to place your keywords in the very first sentence of the page. Repeat
the keywords throughout the first paragraph. Same should be tried at
the last paragraph of the pages.
PROCEDURE
# 5 :
My advice for first timers would be to opt for generic keywords that
are bidded for lower bid amounts. Try to be within the first page, and
then slowly work your way up. Track down your most potential keywords
again from your visitor’s stats, and then raise the bid amount to be
within the top 3-5 positions.
PROCUDURE
# 6 :
Opt
for higher bid amounts at the beginning only if you are going for very
specific, highly focussed keywords related to your business, keywords
which you are dead sure of producing valuable clickthroughs.
PROCEDURE
# 7 :
Since every keyword bidded in the PPC SEs will have a see-sawing effect
on bid amounts over time, it’s imperative for the website owners to
keep a close eye on it and judiciously increase/decrease the bid amount
to get maximum clickthroughs. Not an easy job, but should be religiously
pursued if you are interested in getting maximum mileage from PPC SEs!!!
PROCEDURE
# 8 : Don’t
be obsessed with getting No #1 Position. Focus on the fact what you
are spending on a particular keyword and what your clickthroughs are
producing. Figure out the following. You are ranked Fifth(5) in XYZ
PPC SE. You are spending 8 cents on a keyword and the clickthroughs
are producing 18 cents, then you are surely well off. However, anticipating
greater potential of your keywords, you hike your bid amount. You are
now ranked second(2) in XYZ PPC SE. You are spending 12 cents and clickthroughs
are producing say, the same 18 cents. Then also you are well off, but
not as before. So concentrate on the following
·
Try to gauge the implications associated with increase/decrease of bid
amount, corresponding higher/lower ranking in PPC SEs, it’s effect on
site traffic(percentage of clickthroughs converting into customers).
Coupled with the budget allocated for SEO plan, you should decide whether
you should opt for PPC SEs or not.
About the
Author:
Prabuddha
S Raychaudhuri is the Founder of Search Engine Optimization Guru Pvt.
Ltd., one of the most well known search engine optimization consultancy
firms in the world. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) in Construction
Engineering and can be contacted at mail_raychaudhuri@vsnl.net