ePOWER TIP: (full
story)
Add Instant PUNCH To Your Search Engine Results...
Imagine if you could have almost instant "first
page" exposure for your site on one of the top,
most widely used search engines in existence
—without spending a fortune or hiring a "pro"!
Google is arguably the largest, most widely
used, and one of the fastest search engines on the
Web. It is also one of the best-kept secrets in
search-result advertising. Thanks to its "AdWords"
program you can purchase keyword phrases, which
when used in a search, will cause your ad (in most
cases) to show at the upper right of the first
search result page.
CLICK HERE to see an example of what these
look like using the search phrase "Dallas real
estate".
AdWords Program Overview
Since you are not buying
exclusive rights to a particular search
phrase, more than one ad (up to 8 total) may show.
You pay for the ad by the "impression" (i.e. how
many times it was shown). The highest rate is
currently $15/thousand impressions for top
position down to $8/thousand for positions 4
through 8. If there are more than eight
advertisers who purchased the same keyword phrase,
Google will rotate the ads.
Now this next part is
important: your ad's position (i.e. how near
the top yours lands) is determined by its "click
through" rate. That is, the more successful ads
will tend to stay at or near the top. Each ad has
a "bar" underneath the ad copy. The length of the
green within the bar is an indication of its
click-through rate (longer is better). See the
example below.
You can have as many ads as
you want, and each ad can have more than one
triggering keyword phrase. In choosing which
keyword phrases to use, it is important to choose
something as specific as possible, yet that will still yield
results. For example, if you purchase the phrase
"real estate" you will probably go through your
entire ad budget in one day --with very little
results because it was not targeted enough.
However, if you reserve
"Dallas real estate" it will (according to
Google's Impression Estimator tool) deliver about
6,900 impressions a month, which will cost you no
more than $103.50 (estimates as of this writing).
Remember, these are "impressions", not necessarily
click-throughs. Your click through rate largely
depends upon how well your ad is written and its
position on the page.
Now, here's an interesting
twist. If you have a particularly well-known
competitor in your area you can purchase their
name as a keyword phrase for your ad. This way,
anytime someone specifically searches for them,
your ad will show up! Google doesn't typically
doesn't have a policy preventing this. However,
keep in mind that if you choose to do this you are
entering murky legal waters and may be inviting a
letter from your competitor's attorney for
unauthorized use of their trade name!
Not The Same As
"Pay-Per-Click"
Google's AdWords program is
not the same as pay-per-click search engine
positioning like in
GoTo.com. There you "bid" on results
positioning of specific key word phrases and pay
the bid price anytime someone clicks your link on
the results page. With the AdWords program
however, you pay for impressions, whether they are
clicked on or not.
This, of course, begs the
question as to why even bother with Google then.
While Goto.com has a great system and should
definitely be part of your search engine
repertoire, the user base of GoTo.com is only a
fraction of the size Google. To not include it
would amount to a rather large lost opportunity.
How To Get Started
Google makes it very
straightforward to create and manage your AdWords
account. You don't need a pro to advertise on
Google --just invest a bit of time on their well
laid-out instruction pages to see how its done.
You can even create a "dummy" ad on the spot just
to see how the system works. Just
CLICK HERE to go to their AdWords section to
get started. Within 15 minutes you can have your
ads up and running -it's that fast and simple!
What I like about this
program is that you don't have to be a search
engine guru (or pay for one) to have great results
with minimum effort and expense. And Google is so
huge and popular, chances are your investment in
time and dollars will be returned very quickly.
Take Action NOW!
Okay, I know what you're
thinking: "Great article, brilliant writing as
usual --but gee, I just don't have the time, blah,
blah, blah...". Look, it's your business, if you
don't have the time to implement this opportunity
then have your assistant (virtual or otherwise) do
it for you ... it's not rocket science. The only
thing between you and the business you want and
love is ACTION. So take some —NOW! (you'll thank
me later :o) |
