JSPRAA Article - May 2007

Pay Per Click Is So Easy

It seems like everyone has jumped on the Google, Yahoo and MSN CPC banner advertising. I can only speak for Google since I am a certified CPC Advertiser, but it is not really as easy as it looks. Are you getting traffic? Yes. Did you bid your keywords to the top ranking? Yes. But did you know that there is a pretty complicated formula that you must use to get the maximum return on investment (ROI) with their banner ads?

Let's use an example campaign that is budgeted for $10/day and your key words are costing you $1.00 each and the person doing it read enough to get it active. When you review your stats from Google you will notice a several categories of importance. Right now look at your CPC (cost per click) column. Lets say for sake of argument in the above example that I described the average CPC as $.87 cents and were averaging 12 visitors per day. Sounds good, but is it?

Google does in the Pay Per Click campaigns the same thing it does on the natural side. It rewards those who follow the rules and panelizes those who don’t.

Google has several rules when developing your campaign that if adhered to would bring that CPC average of $.87 cents down about 20 - 25% in cost for the same positioning or better. Which translate into more visitors per your $10/ day budget or a higher ROI.

Remember either way Google is making money.