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about the latest innovations in home theatre technology. If you were a
salesperson in a traditional brick-and-mortar store and a consumer
wandered into your department, you would approach him or her as he
or she was already semi-engaged in the sale, just trying to figure out
what to buy. In a similar way, the latest advancement in contextual
advertising enables you to reach those same consumers, but in the online
marketplace.
To further illustrate the example, assume that you are that same
consumer on the electronics Web site and you are viewing a page of
content that strictly provides information on plasma televisions. Accompanying
the content on this page you are presented with a listing of
ads for online retailers who are promoting plasma televisions on-line.
Because the ads relate directly to your area of interest, you click on a
link, are directed to a Web site, and ultimately place an inquiry with the
online retailer about its product.
Similar to how a Web surfer searches for information using a major
search engine and is presented with PPC ads, contextual ads enable
advertisers to promote their ad listings on content sites that relate to
specific information (e.g., electronics). Contextual advertising provides
advertisers with yet another opportunity to target specific customer segments
with targeted advertisements. Both AdWords and Overture currently
offer advertisers the ability to take advantage of contextual
advertising opportunities by promoting their ad listings on related content
sites within their respective advertising networks. Figure 8.9 illustrates
an example of a contextual advertisement within the Travel section
of the CNN.com Web site.
Geo Targeting Your Campaigns
Implementing a PPC strategy enables you to advertise to a mass audience,
or to target Internet users in a specific geographic location. As
explained earlier this chapter, AdWords provides you with the opportunity
to target customers not only on a state or provincial level, but also
on a local level, by only displaying advertisements to potential customers
conducting searches in your business’s local area.
With AdWords alone you can choose to target over 250 different
countries in up to 14 different languages. You can also choose to advertise
within over 200 different regions throughout the United States. Geo
targeting provides you with an increased level of control over where
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Developing Your Pay-to-Play Strategy 171
your ads are displayed and how they spend their advertising budgets.
By targeting only those locations where you wish your ads to appear,
you can maximize your online advertising dollars whether you are working
with a small or a large budget.
Dayparting
When you are analyzing your Web traffic logs you will most likely notice
that your traffic levels spike on a particular day of the week and/or
during a specific time period throughout the day. When monitoring the
performance of your PPC strategy, you can also note when searchers
are more apt to click on one of your ads to visit your site and learn more
about what you have to offer. If you notice a significant increase in your
click-through rates at a specific time you can capitalize on this increased
visibility.
Adjusting your PPC advertising strategy to capitalize on traffic during
a particular point of the day is what is referred to as “dayparting.”
Reports reveal that when you capture your target market when they are
more apt to visit your Web site (e.g., during a particular time of the day,
Figure 8.9. Overture’s contextual ads that appear on the CNN.com Web site.
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172 101 Ways To Promote Your Web Site
or on a particular day of the week) they will be more apt to click on
your ad and ultimately convert to a customer. This strategy requires indepth
analysis of conversion rates, click-through rates, and general traffic
levels. The basic premise behind dayparting is that advertisers increase
their CPC during the time of the day when searchers will be most apt to
view information on their products and services. By increasing your
CPC during this timeframe you maximize the exposure for your products
or services—providing you are presenting the searcher with optimized
ads.
Maximizing Your Exposure
Developing ads for your PPC strategy is not just a matter of throwing
together a headline and description in the hope that a customer will
click on one of your ads. Well, it could be, but this strategy will not
result in you meeting your campaign objectives of click-throughs and
conversions. Your ads should be designed to entice the searcher, but be
wary that if you create ads that are too inviting you can rack up your
click-through rate quickly without converting any customers at all. The
bottom line is that you do not want to entice uninterested searchers to
your Web site, as you would be wasting your online advertising budget.
To avoid this issue make sure that your ads relate specifically to the
keywords they are associated with and make sure your message is clear.
When a true potential customer views one of your ads you want that
person to say “Wow, that’s exactly what I am looking for.” This ensures
that your click-throughs are more targeted.
In addition to developing targeted ads for your campaigns, you also
want to be sure that the page searchers are directed to when they click
on your ad provides them with information about what you are promoting.
Too often, businesses simply point click-throughs to their Web
site’s homepage, which requires the potential customer to navigate further
through the Web site to find more information about the company
and their product and/or service offerings. This often results in wasted
clicks and fewer conversions.
Instead, try pointing Web surfers to landing or gateway pages that
are tailored to specific advertisements. You have to remember, people
are not going to buy simply by clicking on your ads—they want information.
That’s why you would never simply point a new customer to
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Developing Your Pay-to-Play Strategy 173
your online order form. However, if you develop a landing page that
communicates the features and benefits of the promotion and provides
the visitor with a clear “Order Now” call to action, you can increase
the likelihood that the visitor will convert to a buyer.
When developing landing pages for your PPC strategy you should
design various pages and test their effectiveness. The key thing to remember
is that if someone is searching for “New York Hotels,” you do
not want your landing page to say something unrelated, but rather to
include a call to action that says “Click here for New York hotels.” You
want to make sure that you provide the viewer with the information
that she or he is looking for. In addition, make sure that you do not
overwhelm the visitor with navigation options that would distract the
visitor from understanding the message you are trying to communicate.
Clear communication of your value proposition is the key.
Maximizing Your Budget
One of the biggest mistakes that organizations make is assuming that
they have to bid into the number one position to make their PPC strategy
work. Being number one is associated with being the best, thus it is
very easy to let your ego get in the way of your marketing objectives.
Bidding into the top positions for more competitive keywords generates
optimal exposure, but it also blows through your budget quicker than if
your ads were appearing in the lower ranks. Constantly bidding into
top positions can result in having to start and stop your campaigns if
the budget is not available to constantly maintain them.
To maximize the effectiveness of your budget try bidding into the
lower ranks to minimize your average CPC. This helps you to stay under
your daily budget and lets you implement longer campaigns with
your advertising dollars. Also, bidding on the most competitive keywords
is not always the best strategy. Use the tools that are available
with your PPC program to identify keywords that are proven to be
effective, but are not being capitalized on by your competitors. Advertisers
typically focus their efforts on the keywords that are most utilized
by their target market and avoid keywords that are less popular.
To illustrate, assume that using the Overture PPC program, the most
popular keyword related to New York hotel accommodations is the
phrase New York Hotels. This is the most popular keyword phrase used
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174 101 Ways To Promote Your Web Site
by your target market, but its CPC is US$5.55. However, after conducting
additional research you discover that the keyword phrase New York
Accommodations is used slightly less by your target market, but only
has an average CPC of US$.30. This is a much more attractive keyword
to sponsor as it still generates targeted exposure for your site, but at
only a fraction of the cost. Identifying popular keywords that are cost
effective is an excellent way to stretch your advertising budget—it just
requires a little more upfront work to conduct the appropriate keyword
research.
Internet Resources for Chapter 8
I have included a few resources for you to check out regarding designing
your Web site. For additional resources on a variety of topics, visit
the Resources section of my Web site at http://www.susansweeney.com/
resources.html. There you can find additional tips, tools, techniques,
and resources.
Popular PPC Advertising Programs
Google AdWords
Site Address: https://adwords.google.com/select/
LookSmart
Site Address: http://www.looksmart.com
Overture
Site Address: http://www.overture.com
Kanoodle.com
Site Address: http://www.kanoodle.com
Lycos Insite Adbuyer
Site Address: http://insite.lycos.com
FindWhat.com
Site Address: http://www.findwhat.com