Pay-per-click (PPC) services have created a new way
for merchants to increase their search engine positions.
Basically, merchants pay a small fee every time a web
surfer clicks on a link to the merchant’s site.
In other words, instead of fighting for high search
engine listings by using optimization strategies, you
can achieve high listings almost immediately, by simply
paying for them—in effect, using a form of paid
advertising.
Importantly, the listings you pay for
not only appear as “web hits” in the Overture
search engine, but also appear at the top of listings
in Yahoo!, MSN, Infospace, Netscape, AltaVista, Lycos/HotBot
and others through partner contracts between Overture
and those search engines. Google Ad-Words appear prominently
in Google. This approach allows a merchant to get prominent
listings—but, of course, by paying for the privilege.
How much do you pay? Here’s where it
gets interesting. Within the Overture system
or Google systems, you actually bid for keywords; you
compete for them by bidding a given amount of money
for each word you wish to use. The merchants who bid
the highest amount will get the highest listings. You
can change your bid at any time—even multiple
times within a single day.
How high should you bid? This is complex.
It depends on two main factors: how high do you want
to appear in the search engine listings, and how much
you are willing to pay for a “click-through”
to your website. Because this gets very involved, we
will discuss these issues with you personally.
Here's what
you will need to decide:
How much would you be willing to pay for a single visit
to your website?
With this
system in place, why should I bother with search engine
optimization?
There are several reasons. Keep in mind that with Overture,
you must pay each time a user clicks on your listing—whether
they make a purchase or not. With optimization tactics,
you can achieve a high listing and maintain it –
and pay only for the initial set of services. Today,
many vendors are paying as much as $4.00 to $5.00 per
click. It’s extremely competitive.
(For this reason, our keyword analysis will help find
keywords that will be optimally effective at the lowest
possible cost.)
Process
We will operate as your agent in respect to the Overture
PPC (Pay-Per-Click) search engine. Our objective will
be to use this service to generate traffic for you as
cost-effectively as possible. This process involves
the following steps:
1. Identification of best keywords for
this specific service.
2. Registration with Overture including setting up an
account, deposited initial cash, etc.
3. Application for each of the keywords. (Overture
maintains the right to accept or reject keywords based
on a number of criteria including their judgment as
to relevance and others. This application process can
take up to a week or more.)
4. Submitting “description” text for each
keyword using best practices in this area.
5. Creating “tracking URLs” for each keyword
so that a click on an associated link can be tracked
using your tracking software (Web Trends(tm),
etc.).
6. Testing of above: creating traffic graphs.
7. Monitoring bids on a daily basis initially. This
can be phased to weekly depending on the nature of competitive
activity (to be discussed).
8. Creating bidding and traffic reports for your review.
9. Consulting with you in respect to effective and ineffective
keywords and overall success of the campaign.
Note: You
should not be concerned about costs-per-click based
on the number of keywords you use. In other words, an
abundance of keywords does not, by itself, increase
costs. The real objective is to use keywords that are
likely to attract those people who would be inclined
to make purchases -- in this light, the more effective
the keywords, the better.
Costs increase inappropriately when
non-buyers enter the site. This is managed by using
effective keywords and strategies that attract the correct
audience. Overture, by definition, performs
at least part of the latter service. Since visitors
have actively typed in the keywords, we assume they
are looking for the associated services. It is, however,
still important to choose keywords carefully.
Services
Setup
Includes communication with you, keyword research, setup
of account with Overture, application and communication
with Overture respecting the initial keyword
set, writing of keyword descriptions and posting of
tracking URLs, daily monitoring, reporting to you, and
bid-adjusting for the first week your keywords become
“active.”
Monitoring
Daily bid-monitoring, daily/weekly reporting during
a trial period beginning the second week after the keywords
become active. Often, based on the data from the second
week, we will arrive at a strategy that dictates how
often bids will be monitored and changed. We will be
in communication with you in this respect.
Monthly Reporting
Monthly reports will include total clicks, total costs,
total cost-per-click, and clicks-per-keyword tracking
of each keyword used. These reports help you determine
which keywords are cost-effective. Reports will also
include analysis, commentary, and suggested changes
in strategy.
Your
Overture and Google Ad-Words Campaign