Synopsis Introduction to pay-per-click search engines.

Chapter Contents Marketing Your Website Search Engines Pay-Per-Click Other Marketing Techniques

Pay-per-click search engines

While search engine listings are beneficial, they are usually not enough. The big problem with search engines is that you can't control how your site is ranked in a list of results displayed when someone performs a search. If your site is not listed on the first three pages of results, you are not likely to attract a lot of traffic from that listing. With pay-per-click search engines you control where your website appears in a list of results by bidding on keywords.

Here's how it works. You choose keywords that relate to your website's theme. You then place a bid on each of your chosen keywords. You are competing against other people who want to be listed for the same keywords. When someone searches for a keyword, results are listed in an order determined by the bidding. The websites with the highest bids appear first in the list. You pay the amount of the bid every time someone clicks on your website from the list of results.

Pay-per-click search engines are probably the best way to effectively advertise your affiliate website. We cannot emphasize the importance of this enough. If you want to succeed at affiliate marketing, you will need to use a pay-per-click search engine.

Pay-per-click Example

Sally operates a website which offers reviews of widgets and affiliate links for purchasing widgets. She bids on the keyword "stainless steel widgets" at a pay-per-click search engine. Her bid is 11 cents, enough to put her website in first place for this keyword.

John is searching for a widget he needs to complete a project he is working on. He searches for "stainless steel widgets". Sally's site appears first in the list of results. John clicks on the link to Sally's website. Sally is charged 11 cents by the pay-per-click-engine for John's click.

What happens after John clicks on the link to Sally's website? That depends on a few factors. If John finds what he was looking for, he is likely to make a purchase from Sally's website. Either way, Sally must pay the pay-per-click engine 11 cents for John's click. Therefore Sally must choose the keywords she wants to bid on very carefully. Bidding on keywords that aren't directly related to your website may draw a lot of visitors, but they may not produce commissions, because they are not targeted.

Tips for picking keywords

• Be specific. Choose keywords that are directly related to your website and the products it offers. Keywords that are more general will attract more visitors, but may generate less commission than more specific keywords.
• Utilize the tools provided by pay-per-click search engines. For example, Overture offers a tool that can suggest keywords for you.

Overture

Overture is the dominant leader in pay-per-click search engines. They stand out simply by generating the most traffic. Most people are not aware that listings from Overture are syndicated to some of the Internet's most popular destinations including Yahoo, AltaVista, Lycos, Netscape, and InfoSpace. This means that when people perform searches from any of these sites, some of the results displayed come directly from Overture, and are listed in order of the highest bid. Considering those sites command a very high percentage of all Internet traffic, Overture's service is capable of providing a high level of exposure for your website.

Click here for more information about Overture and other pay-per-click search engines