The Global Online Population Forecast shows that the number of Internet users all over the world will reach 2.2 billion by the year 2013. The numbers are increasing and so are the ways to get your business noticed in the online world. The need for cost effective yet global Internet advertising has given rise to PPC or pay per click programs. If Forbes Magazine is to be believed, this advertising amounts to 2 billion dollars annually.

Pay per click program involves clicking an advertising link that directs the visitor to a particular site. The advertiser is charged only when the user clicks on the ad and hence they are pocket friendly.

There are many benefits of pay per click (PPC) programs for every business.

Immediate implementation
PPC is very fast to implement and easily adjusts to changing market conditions and demands. You can reduce or increase the budget almost instantaneously without any losses.

Leveling the playing field
Pay per click programs provide an opportunity to compete with the top players of the industry without any hesitations. Even if you don’t have an office space or you work from home, you are at par with anyone out there.

Result oriented
The biggest benefit of PPC is to have the results faster than any other natural search engine optimization techniques. The results are measurable and provide a clear picture.

Tracking
It is very much possible to analyze which ads are the most clicked ones and which do not have any response. You can also keep track of the most favored keywords and the conversion rates. This helps in finding the problems in the approach and correcting them without wasting time.

Visibility
If you have just started out and no one knows you yet, then pay per click programs are the best bet because these ads are placed at such spots that they instantly catch attention.

Pay per click programs are measurable, cost effective, result oriented and offer lot of potential for small businesses to grow. No other form of advertising allows so much of control and on the fly changes.

Love life, not just the weekends. You only have one life, Live It! @ www.NicciAndLee.com

Some say we are in a recession. Others say we haven’t had any negative growth yet through the 2nd quarter of 2008 and you need 2 consecutive quarters of negative GDP for a textbook recession. The financial and credit markets are predictors of the future and they are telling us that, any way you want to measure it, 2009 will be a year of recession

Does this mean to go and hideout in a bunker until the weather clears? If you do, this will be a mistake which you will regret for a very long time. Tough times call for action, not passivity. It calls for greater precision and targeting for the most efficient and ROI-driven strategies to maintain and improve your sales and profits. Yes, I said improve … even in a recession.

The following from Emarketer was just released showing the estimates of online advertising spending growth:

The doom and gloom crowd don’t believe these numbers and therefore won’t share them with you as we are here. However, according to a June McKinsey & Co. survey of 340 senior marketing executives worldwide, 91% are using online advertising, and over one-half indicate that their companies plan to maintain or exceed current levels where possible. Even more telling, 55% of marketers said they’re cutting expenditures on traditional media, precisely in order to increase funding for online efforts.

Why is this? Why do marketing experts believe that shifting precious marketing dollars online and taking away from the traditional media is the way to go? It all comes down to results.

Here are the key reasons for the phenomenon:

1. The buyer is finding your website as a result of their personal initiative; all at a time and place of their choosing. Traditional media reach less than .05% of their target market at enormous cost; this is the quintessential example of inefficiency and waste and cannot be tolerated by all those on a tight marketing budget.
2. The web is, more than anything else, an instrument of measurement. Therefore it is vastly more measurable and accountable than traditional methods.
3. The web is clearly more targeted and provides us much granularity as the buyer or the seller desires. The information is all there and always available.
4. The web is just simply gaining viewer time. Traditional media commercials are ignored or “fast-forwarded” using new technology. When online, viewers are in buyer mode when searching for a product or service; they have the confidence that the web / Google et al will lead them to the right information and the right purchase.
5. Traditional media provide you only the information they want you to know in the time or space they are allowed. The web provides no barrier; buyers can check out products, prices, terms and conditions. They can use the social media and other supportive tools to gain the confidence and peace of mind they need before making a buying decision.

So here is what you need to do to overcome the challenge of recession:

1. Improve your Internet Marketing Strategy. This includes many factors:

a. Hire an Internet Marketing Company
b. Generate a game plan to generate targeted traffic through SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Sponsored Search or PPC (Pay per Click).
c. Make a major commitment to content with the company you select. Content is life-blood of quality SEO results.
d. Improve your website to optimize conversions as well. The right SEO Company will actually include this service as an integral part of Search Engine Marketing and Website Design.

2. Start e-publishing a monthly newsletter for your existing clientèle. Keep your name in front of your customers and new prospects that sign up through the sign-up on your website.

3. Consider Affiliate Marketing - depending on your business, you can take advantage of thousands of online sales agents that only earn a commission after the sale is made or the lead is generated … a true meritocracy.

Do all of these things and more and you will be found by precisely those people who are seeking your products and services.

Love life, not just the weekends. You only have one life, Live It! @ www.NicciAndLee.com

1. Set your budget, and set your daily limit. (The most you can spend in any one day – start small)
2. Use a tool to help you choose your keywords. I recommend Wordtracker* for this. (Wordtracker shows you words that are being searched by you and me on the internet, so real time data)
3. Research Keywords that are applicable for you and separate these keywords into different ad groups.
4. Test and Measure with writing your ads. Don’t underestimate this stage. Write different adverts and test them against each other.

Helpful hints for Writing Ads
Make your ad more appealing to others so they want to click on your ad over someone else selling a similar product. Make it more appealing so you will be the one who gets the clicks. The higher your click rate, the higher up the page your ad will appear.

When writing your ad think about the following…
Do you have a unique selling distinction/point (USD) ?
What have you got that your competitors have not?
Then test your ad on yourself. Would you click on this ad? Would it interest you? Is it the same as all the rest? Are you selling benefits or features?

Test And Measure
Always test and measure and ensure you have your ad formula that works for you. We have found through extensive testing that we still need to test and measure!
We (www.NicciAndLee.com) separate our ads into different categories to ensure we capture the whole audience. We will write an ad that may be a question on the first line, we will also write one which is the first line not finished to make someone read on, and we will also write one with a statement and benefit in the first line.

Test and measure all 3 ads at the same time and see what one works for you?

5. Do you want to match your keywords exactly or do you want to use a broad match? You can choose to do either in the set up phase. (With exact match you bid on specific keywords only, with broad match you bid on all keywords containing the word you are bidding on)

6. Make sure you align your advert with your keywords that are in your landing page. This will mean you will rank higher and move up pages resulting in less costs and more profit.

7. Geo-target your ads and ensure they are only showing during relevant times. Make sure your ads only appear for searchers in regions that you can sell to and during times relevant to your company and/or product

8. Test and Measure. Use the free tools available to you (for example Google Analytics)

The objective is always to gain more for your buck or get a higher return on your investment.

The key to success with PPC is Test And Measure

Love life, Not just the weekends. You only have one life, live it @ www.NicciAndLee.com