One of the reasons many online marketers get into the Pay Per Click (PPC) game is to “hit the ground running,” so to speak. But like any type of marketing, PPC takes some skill, some luck and lots of testing. All of this can take – well, time.

Following are three tips to get quick results from your Pay Per Click marketing campaigns.

Don’t Auto Match: Turn off Google’s auto matching feature. You see, this feature is really for those who are new to PPC marketing, and/or who are lazy – and that’s not you, right?

If you’ve done your homework with keyword research, you will have made this unnecessary. And, you’ll probably do a much better job of driving targeted, motivated buyers to your site. After all, you’re spending your money, not Google’s, so you have much more of a vested interested in getting it right.

Appeal to a Few, Not Many: “Huh, what?” you may be thinking. The key to pay per click success is not how many surfers click on your ad, but how many qualified, interested, motivated-to-buy prospects click on your ad. So, be as specific as possible. Use negative qualifiers to weed out tire kickers and appeal only to those who want what you have to offer – now!

Forget Being #1: This is another piece of pay per click marketing advice that may seem counterintuitive. However, research has proven that being number one isn’t necessarily the best spot to be in. Why? Because you get a lot of curiosity seekers who’ll click on ads in this spot.

An ad in the third, fourth or even the fifth spot can convert better.

The only sure way to achieve success in Pay Per Click is to be in the game and monitor, test and tweak; tweak test and monitor. Good luck!

When most internet marketers think of pay per click marketing, they think of quick sales. And, while this form of search engine marketing is good for that, there’s another – just as good – reason to use it. What are we referring to? Branding.

Using PPC Marketing to Brand Your Business
In good economic times and bad, businesses need to brand their business. To digress for just a second, one of the biggest mistakes most businesses make is to stop advertising when times are tough or when they have too much business. Pay per click campaigns should be an ongoing marketing strategy.

Following are two reasons it’s a good idea to use PPC to brand your business:
(i) It draws motivated consumers: If you’ve done your homework and conducted the right keyword research, your search marketing campaigns will bring consumers who are highly motivated to buy. These are not tire kickers; they are ready for a solution to their problem (eg, to buy your product/service) if it fulfills the promise in the ad.

 (ii) It builds consumer awareness: Getting and staying in front of consumers is key to building brand awareness. Remember, pay per click marketing – by its nature if done correctly – draws highly focused consumers. They have a particular problem/need and are looking for a particular solution/product.

Staying top of mind with these types of customers is perhaps the number one reason to brand your business using pay per click marketing.

A successful pay per click campaign begins and ends with effective copy. After all, it’s the words that drive prospects to click, or not. To get high click thru rates however, you need more than good writing, you need effective search engine optimized (SEO) copy. Following are three SEO copywriting tips that will help to increase your pay per click campaign results.

Headlines: Some internet marketing experts say that headlines are the most important part of your PPC campaign. It’s usually the headline that gets noticed first. Your headline should always, always, always contain keywords. Add to it an effective qualifier, eg, free, discount, cheap, easy, etc., and you are well on your way to increasing your click thru rates.

Landing Page: An effective headline will get your prospect through to your real workhorse; your landing page. Your landing page should also include keyword phrases sprinkled throughout the copy.

The best places to put your keywords on your landing page are in the headings and subheadings. Other SEO copywriting tips for your landing page are to:

• Leave lots of white space on the page
• Use bullet points and numbered lists of points; and
• Use your main keyword phrase in the last paragraph of the page.

The running thread through all of these tips is that keyword placement on the page is as important as the keywords themselves.

Use Google AdWord Keyword Tool: When it comes to keywords, you shouldn’t repeat the exact same keyword phrase or you could get banned by the search engines for spamming. This is why learning to use Google’s AdWord Keyword Tool is important. It will give you alternate phrases you can use in place of your main keyword phrase.

These SEO copywriting tips should be employed in all of your pay per click campaigns; in fact, in all of your internet marketing efforts – to get maximum results.

As every Pay-Per-Click campaign manager knows, there are many elements that make up a successful PPC campaign. Following are two mistakes many make. Unless and until you know better, you’ll probably make them too? What are they and how can you avoid them? Read on.

Keyword List: Your keyword list is the foundation of your PPC campaign. Many define it too broadly, which leads to less than targeted traffic. This raises cost and lowers profits, which cause many to think, “Pay Per Click doesn’t work well for our product/service.”

Many PPC campaign managers are so afraid of excluding prospects that they include unprofitable ones.

The lesson here: Hone your keyword list as tightly as you possibly can. No matter how much it goes against the grain, force yourself to remember that less traffic is a good thing – if it’s bringing in more targeted traffic.

Ad Group Sharing: Many PPC managers take a “set it and forget it” mentality to pay-per-click marketing. This is especially true when it comes to adgroups, as in, most campaign managers will only use one.

The lesson here: You can – and should – have many closely related ad groups. This allows you to test, retest and tweak ads; something we advocate for every PPC campaign.

You can never test an ad enough because customer wants, needs, methods of searching and a host of other factors are constantly changing. This is why testing, retesting and tweaking ads is the only surefire way to improve your pay-per-click campaign results.

Learn more about this and much more at the upcoming PPC Summit (April 22-23) in Chicago, register now and save $400!

We hope 2009 is off to a great start for you! In 2009 we look forward to bringing PPC Summit, the premier Search Engine Marketing educational conference, to Chicago: April 22-23, New York: June 16-17 and Los Angeles: Sept. 23-24. During two-days of comprehensive training, PPC Summit offers laser-focused educational sessions to help online advertisers increase their ROI and maximize their Pay Per Click marketing dollars.

Experts from Microsoft, Google, and others lead hands-on workshops, panel discussions, training sessions and more. Sessions cover keyword development, customer conversions, bidding strategies, web site analytics and tracking, quality score & site rank, search engine copywriting tactics, B2B & B2C ad techniques, web site & landing page development and deployment and more!

Here’s what past attendees are saying…“My sales are up 350% and cost-per-sale is down 48.3% after applying the PPC Summit expert strategies.” David Wagner, PPC Summit Los Angeles attendee.

PRE-REGISTER NOW and SAVE $400 for PPC Summit:
>Chicago: April 22-23
>New York: June 16-17
>Los Angeles: Sept. 23-24

For more info visit, www.ppcsummit.com or email marketing@ppcsummit.com
Just 160 seats available at each conference!

It’s prime time to target holiday buyers and profit from the increased traffic and consumer spending. If you haven’t already built seasonal keywords into your Pay Per Click campaigns, there is still time! Read on to learn a few tips on applying holiday related keyword phrases to your PPC campaigns.

Here are a few PPCto help you reach holiday buyers: tips

1. Research the keywords that are searched most often during the holiday seasons. Check out Google’s Hot Trends tool to learn what people are searching for and review popular searches. Keep in mind timing, Christmas related searches start as early as September according to Google Trend data. Build popular seasonal keywords into your campaigns now!

2. Incorporate holiday related (seasonal) keywords into your campaign. Your keyword should match what your potential customers are searching for during the holiday. Here’s a Christmas example using holiday related keywords: Christmas toys, holiday toys, toy gifts, Santa Claus toys…

3. Research your competition and learn their ad copy strategies. Do a search on your keywords and review the ads that you are competing with. Also try using longer keyword phrases that your competition is not using.

4. Streamline your PPC campaign management and set up different campaigns for each season/holiday. When the season ends, you can turn the campaign off until the next year.

5. Be sure to analyze your seasonal keywords and campaign results to plan for higher ROI next year.

Make the most of your PPC advertising this holiday season!

PPC Summit LA Trainer David Szetela

PPC Summit LA 2008 Lunch Keynote

PPC Summit LA was a huge success on all levels according to event sponsors, speakers and 100+ internet marketers who attended the conference on Sept. 25 -26, 2008. We would like to thank all of the sponsors, speakers, and of course the attendees for making this conference a winner. PPC Summit LA sponsors include: Google, Business.com, Lyris, ContextWeb, Engine Ready, Adapt Technologies, Orange Soda, Web Host Industry Review, PR Web and Search Marketing Standard.

We are grateful for the expert speakers and trainers who shared profitable Pay Per Click campaign secrets for optimal results on Google and other search engines. Attendees had the opportunity to learn from 20+ sessions covering: improving quality score, keyword best practices, better website and landing pages, winning copywriting strategies, bid management and much more.

PPC Summit LA Speaker and Trainer Mary Huffman

Pay Per Click (PPC) Summit Los Angeles brought together 100+ internet marketers at the Omni Hotel on Sept. 25 -26, 2008.

The conference provided many opportunities for internet marketers and online businesses to learn about the latest education, issues, strategies, technologies and network with industry experts. Nearly 150 participants learned how to create and manage profitable PPC campaigns on Google, Microsoft adCenter, Yahoo! Search Marketing and more. The event delivered 20+ interactive sessions, a Meet The Experts networking reception and best selling SEO free book signing and giveaway. Attendees lined up to receive a signed copy of Tim Ash’s best selling Landing Page Optimization book and every attendee walked way with comprehensive manuals, information and tools to help them step up their internet marketing return on investment.

We’re excited to introduce the Pay Per Click (PPC) Summit blog where we’ll offer successful strategies and insider techniques for Search Engine Marketing (SEM) best practices on Google Adwords, MSN adCenter and all the search engines. PPC Summit is the leading SEM conference that delivers two days of educational training for online marketers eager to learn how to reach the most customers at the lowest cost per click. Now, we will connect you with SEM hot topics, expert advice, education and training through our blog coverage.

We invite those who truly want to learn the facets of successful Search Engine Marketing and stay abreast on PPC trends and strategies to participate in our blog. Our goal is to provide How-To guidance and tools to increase your internet marketing results. We look forward to sharing exclusive Search Engine Marketing and Pay Per Click information, answering your questions and providing exclusive strategies to ensure higher campaign results!

To Your Success,
Mary O’Brien, PPC Summit Founder

PPC Summit, Search Engine Marketing Conference, founder Mary O’Brien and the PPC Summit expert trainers have educated thousands of online marketers around the U.S. during two days of SEM training sessions covering case studies, best practices, client tactics, test results and strategies for successful campaign management. We look forward to seeing you at the next PPC Summit in LA on Sept. 25-26, 2008!

PPCSummit.com

More Clicks. Higher Conversions. Insider Secrets.

Register now for Los Angeles, Sept 25 – 26, 2008