SEO: Paid Search

Whilst Paid Search in itself isn’t really a form of SEO I feel like it’s important to understand how it can impact on your Search Engine Optimization strategy.
Paid Search is classified as paying for traffic from a Search Engine via their pay per click program. A good example of this is Google Adwords.
You’ve probably seen examples of Google Adwords, in fact if you haven’t I’d be worried that you may need glasses
I like to think of Paid Search as an integral part of any SEO Strategy, it’s something that we recommend to most clients. Whether it’s for Brand Awareness, Product Launches or pure conversions nothing can quite deliver quicker results than Paid Search. The problem however is that it’s short term, whereas Pure SEO is a long term strategy. That’s one of the main reason I feel they compliment each other so well.
The second point to note is that running a PPC Campaign is the absolute BEST way for you to know what’s working in your market, which keywords get the most traffic & more importantly which keywords CONVERT. It’s fine doing your keyword research with programs such as Keyword Elite however it can only provide you with so much information.
Here’s a few examples of PPC Engines that work well:
Google Adwords: Probably the Daddy of PPC, however the hardest to master. I’ll be doing some case studies over time to try & give you an idea on how to run a successful PPC Campaign with Adwords.
MSN Adcenter: The new boy on the block, Adcenter is currently only Operating in the USA & UK with plans to launch in Australia & France at some point too.
Adbrite: Adbrite is a completely different type of system that makes bidding & placing ads much simpler however it is much less targeted than Adwords & Adcenter, due to the lack of pure keyword control (it does have basic keyword control). You also have more options such as paying for a month long ad on a particular site instead of bidding on keywords. So for example say you were selling a product related to Myspace you could buy a spot on a popular Myspace Resource Site for best conversions.
7Search: 7Search is an American PPC Company that seems to be quite popular with Adsense Arbitragers lately. Basically that means bidding on cheap keywords with 7Search then diverting them to a page with Adsense in order to increase profits.
I’ve personally had varied success with PPC, it depends on a few things. The product or Service you’re promoting & also what you hope to achieve out of it. Some people merely want to increase traffic, which is fine, you can make up huge lists of keywords & go for as much traffic as you like. Most people prefer to convert their visitors into paying customers, this in itself is much trickier. The trick is to catch your customers at the final stage of the buying process. Lets have a look at the buying process quickly:
Buyer wants a particular product
They search out reviews & of the product
They’re Ready to Buy
Ideally you want to get the customer when they’re at stage 3. No bullshitting around, you just want the customer to convert.
In order to do this you need to try & target the right combination of words. This could include things like buy, purchase etc also try & be as specific as possible with the name of the product. Don’t use keywords like “buy lg phone” that’s way too generalised, you need to use more targeted keywords like “buy lg 8110 phone” or “buy lg 8110 mobile” or even “lg 8110 mobile deals”
Anyway you get the general idea & I hope this article has helped you understand the value of running a PPC campaign along side your SEO campaign
Recommended Reading:
Blog SEO
Googlecash
Beating Adwords
Recommended Resources:
Buy Text Links
Keyword Elite