The days of free search engine traffic are over!

(And the reign of cheap search engine traffic has begun!)

Okay, that may not be quite the case *yet*, but you really
do have to work hard (or pay someone to work hard), to even
get close to guaranteeing a top 10 position on search
engines like Google.

Pay-Per-Click search engines, however, offer the promise of
guaranteed visitors, for the keywords of your choice.

Choose to pay per click wisely!

There are literally hundreds of pay-per-click search engines
available for you to spend your money. Only a few can
guarantee targeted visitors to your site, though. I've
listed the best pay-per-click search engines below.


=> SIGN-UP WITH THESE POPULAR PAY-PER-CLICK SEARCH ENGINES

* GOOGLE ADWORDS

Google operate a highly popular pay-per-click search engine.

Called Google AdWords, results appear on the Google search
engine itself, as part of the search engine listings (right
hand side).

Results also appear as part of AOL and Yahoo!'s searches and
other major content providers. This might change soon, 
though. And, with it's recent launch of Google AdSense, 
Google AdWords now appear on minor, but still relevant, 
content sites.

Unlike other pay-per-click search engines, Google AdWords
doesn't always list the highest bid term first (see THE
BASICS OF BIDDING below for details). In Google's words:

   'Getting great results in AdWords doesn't necessarily
   mean spending a lot either. The AdWords system rewards
   the best-performing ads.'

Verdict: Definitely consider signing-up to Google AdWords,
but learn how to make the most of your AdWords campaign
first via a suitable tutorial or learning resource.

Google AdWords - https://adwords.google.com/

* OVERTURE

Overture is the original pay-per-click search engine. 
However, its popularity as a marketing tool has probably 
been surpassed by the superior Google AdWords product.

Overture is also one of the most expensive, and competitive.
A quotation taken from their sign-up page:

   'A $50 initial deposit is non-refundable and will be
   applied to click-throughs or to the minimum monthly
   spend. Each account has a $20 minimum monthly spend.
   There is a minimum bid requirement of $0.10 per click-
   through.'

Overture do have tough anti-fraud measures in place - always
evolving, obviously - so there is far less chance of
receiving so-called 'bogus clicks' using Overture.

And Overture has an impressive search engine reach, with its
results found in 'Sponsored Listings' in many search
engines.

You can currently choose from Fast Track or Self Serve sign-
up options.

Verdict: If you're serious about generating targeted traffic
to your site, but less bothered about minimum (or maximum!)
bid amounts etc. then you should consider signing-up with
Overture.

Overture - http://www.overture.com
Overture UK - http://www.uk.overture.com

* ESPOTTING

Espotting is the self-proclaimed #1 pay-per-click search
engine in Europe. Its results appear on many major search
engines as well as well as thousands of relevant smaller
sites too

This is what is says at Espotting UK's sign-up page:

   'Espotting Media can help you access targeted leads from
   72% of the UK's online population... By ensuring that
   your listings appear within our top 3-5 search results,
   you will benefit from highly targeted leads from Yahoo!
   Europe, Lycos, Kelkoo and Netscape and many more. '

It offers a Gold, Silver and Bronze service depending on how
'hands-on' you want to be with your pay-per-click campaign
(and how much money you want to spend!).

Verdict: A serious contender in Europe, worth considering.

Espotting - http://www.espotting.com


=> OR VISIT THESE LINKS

There are other pay-per-click search engines worth
considering. All of the pay per click search engines listed
below have considerable reach, and can guarantee visitors to
your site (often at a much cheaper cost than Overture etc.)

o  http://www.enhance.com

o  http://www.FindWhat.com

o  http://www.kanoodle.com

o  http://www.xuppa.com/ (formerly Bay9)

o  http://www.7search.com

o  http://www.epilot.com/

o  http://www.goClick.com

o  http://www.onesearch.com

o  http://www.NetFlip.com


=> THE BASICS OF BIDDING

Using Overture as an example here, making a bid is simply a
matter of choosing the following:

* keyword
* title
* description

And as Overture recommends on its site, always repeat the
keyword in both the title and description to improve your
chances of a click. Overture also comes with a keyword
suggestion tool, available to Overture advertisers only.

Choosing your keywords, and the amount you are willing to
bid is also simple, but can take a lot of time.

This is because you need to research suitable in-demand
keywords, that cost little. Solutions to this problem
include using the paid-for version of Wordtracker - the
excellent keyword suggestion tool allows you to brainstorm
good keywords, and determine the current cost of the top 20
bids. You might also want to use bid management software.

Wordtracker
- http://www.wordtracker.com

Example of bid management software for Overture
- http://www.ppcmanagement.com/

Find more pay-per-click search engine tools and resources 
(including keyword generation) here
- http://HowIPromoteMyWebsite.com/pay-per-click-tools.html


=> BUT BID CAREFULLY!

Make sure you don't spend too much money.

Clicks can add up quickly. It's probably worth investing in
some kind of bid management software, or at least worth 
using the in-built bid management provided by search engines 
like Overture.

Remember, you ONLY want your prospective customers to click.
And you must know the value of your visitor! (A rough guide:
Value = average earnings / average unique visitors .)

Try and make sure that the cost of a click never exceeds
this 'value' of a visitor.

One successful strategy is to bid low on many listings.


=> READ MORE...

You can find out a great deal more about pay-per-click
search engines from this excellent resource.

- http://www.PayPerClickSearchEngines.com/

And the online version of this article contains a variety
of sign-up offers for some of the search engines listed, as
well as details of Google AdWords learning resources, and
some useful pay-per-click search engine tools
- http://howipromotemywebsite.com/pay-per-click


    © Copyright 2002-2004 Steve M Nash. All Rights Reserved.