There are two basic ways to get to the top of the search engine 
mountain:  

1. You can climb up step-by-step slowly and methodically getting 
   your website into the top rankings or;

2. You can hire a helicopter and fly up - pay for a well-placed 
   advertisement directly with the search engines.  

Now with $2.07 billion spent in 2003 on paid search advertising 
on such pay-per-click search engines like Google and Overture 
and with this figure representing 30% of all online advertising, 
how can I possible call it a "secret?"

Easy.  Since most marketers, whether working from the kitchen 
table or from the 20th floor of a corporate office tower, aren't 
doing it.  And if they are using paid search engine advertising, 
chances are they are not using it effectively or are paying too 
much.

When we say, "paid search," we mean that you bid on particular 
keywords and keyword phrases that are relevant to your offer.  
Prospects enter those keywords in a search and if you have bid 
highly enough and if your site content matches the keywords, 
then voila, the prospects clicks the link in the online 
advertisement and arrives at your site.  You now have a 
prospect that has cost you an average of somewhere between 
29 and 35 cents compared to a Yellow Pages lead that costs $1.  

Better yet, your online ad can be changed instantly, testing 
numerous keywords, headlines, phrasing whereas your Yellow 
Pages ad is "locked in" until the new book is printed.  You 
can't change your placement in the Yellow Pages either unless 
you pay a lot more money.  With paid search, your placement 
changes the moment you bid higher.

Some search engines allow you to have a very broad search 
throughout every country that has Internet access and Google 
allows you to specify a specific language, such as English, 
specific countries, such as Canada, USA, Australia, and the 
UK and a specific daily budget limit.

Where people overspend is that they don't bother limiting the 
countries the advertisement will appear in and thus promote to 
the world instead of their target market.  Another way to flush 
your advertising dollars down the drain is to go with their 
"suggested" pay-per-click rate instead of offering say 5¢ a 
click and then adjusting your bid upwards to get a better 
placement if necessary.

Use the free tools provided by the pay-per-click search engines 
to find at least 50 keywords and keyword phrases that your 
potential buyers use to search for your product or service.  
You only need to write two or three basic ads but change the 
headline for each one to match the keyword phrase.  Don't think 
of this as work but instead as a fascinating exercise in human 
psychology.  Get to understand your customer's needs, wants, 
fears, hopes, dreams, and feelings.  You are testing keywords 
to find the emotional trigger to motivating them to take the 
desired action.

When you get the right combination of headline and advertising 
text, then build your website around a tightly woven theme of 
what your best customers want and need.

Here's an example of one of the best-producing ads I ever wrote: 
"Are you embarrassed by fever blisters?"

I was marketing a tonic at the time and that ad consistently 
had a 30% click-through rate or more, day in and day out.  It 
absolutely nailed the problem and the text offered an immediate 
solution.

Try testing keywords for your offer.  You just might be 
surprised at what your customers are really looking for and the 
magical phrases that get them to whip out their credit cards to 
send you their money.