Making Money Online Using PPC Advertising

By Bill S. Alexander
Pay-Per-Click Advertising is one of the most baffling topics I get asked about. There is a fine line between making money online and losing money with PPC Advertising. If done properly, it can be one of the quickest and most effective forms of advertising online. It generates Targeted Traffic to your site by bringing visitors who are already interested in what your site has to offer. When done improperly, it can be one of the most frustrating forms of advertising online. It can drain your budget as well as your spirits. Just as it can boost your sales instantly, it can devour your advertising budget just as quick.

So, what's the key to success in PPC Advertising? Well, quite simply, it's knowledge and applying that knowledge.

PPC Advertising can be broken down into 3 basic areas; Keywords, Keyword Ads, and your Sales Page. All of these are important and if any one of them is sub-par, then it will affect your PPC Campaign.

Keyword research is the foundation of your PPC Campaign. You can have the greatest sales page for your Niche, and you can have the greatest ads for your keywords, but if you are advertising on the wrong keywords, your traffic is not really targeted. Keywords are simply, what people are looking for when they type in a search term into a Search Engine. Your Keywords need to be in tune with your Keyword Ad and Sales Page.

Also, if you are trying to target a very popular keyword, the price per click to be on the first page will be very high. If you are just starting out, you want to pick less popular and less expensive words so you can test, test, and test some more. When you get your Keywords, Keyword Ad, and Sales Page dialed in, then you can go after the bigger money words.

Keyword Ad. This is the Ad that comes up when someone types in your keyword into a Search Engine. Obviously, the purpose of this ad is to generate interest and get the visitor to click on it. You're not necessarily trying to make the sale here, you have a Sales Page for that. You are trying to spark interest in your sales page. Your headline needs to be compelling and grab the visitor's attention. The body of the ad needs to create a sense of urgency or a sense of loss if they don't click through to find out more.

Sales Page. This is your top salesman online. He has to seal the deal. You have less than 30 seconds to explain the benefits of what you are selling and why they need it. You need to make the customer feel like they are losing something (money, time, happiness) if they don't buy what you are selling.

Test, Test, and Test some more. You need to focus on each one of these 3 areas specifically and fine tune them. You need to see what works and what doesn't. Fix what doesn't work, expand on what does. This takes Time and Effort. But nothing worth having is free.

This should help give you a basic understanding of PPC Advertising. Whether you dabble in Affiliate Marketing, AdSense, or Sell Your Own Products, It is important to have an understanding of PPC Advertising. As long as you educate yourself, it can be one of the quickest and most effective forms of getting customers to your website.