google adword

One Google Adwords pay per click tool that you can use to help budget your keyword bidding is Google’s Traffic Estimator. It’s a really simple tool that is easy to use and can give you a rough estimate of what your ad spend might be on certain keywords. Keep in mind, however, that Google can’t guarantee that your estimates will fall into line with reality. There are, after all,things beyond your and Google’s control - like competitor bids, for instance.

But the tool does base its estimates on real data so it’s fairly reliable. You type in your keywords, select a currency and establish a budget, choose language and geographic targeting preferences, and hit Continue. Google’s Adwords tool does the rest.

Note that the tool is most accurate when you sign into your account. If you are a new user, the tool will still work but it is less accurate. That’s because Google Adwords does use historic information to make its estimates and that includes your account’s quality score.

Kontera In-Text Links: An Opportunity For Advertisers?

I’ve noticed lately that there are more and more websites, particularly blogs, using the Kontera in-text advertising links. I don’t think it’s because there are more advertisers. I think it’s because there are more people interested in making money from their blogs. But does this translate into an opportunity for advertisers to reach their market through a lower pay advertising medium?

I think there are some good reasons to believe that Kontera may be a good opportunity for advertisers. Consider:

* Kontera has recently released a plugin for WordPress 2.7.1, the latest version
* Kontera has lowered its standards regarding traffic for publishers who use its code
* The ads are fairly unobtrusive, which means publishers won’t mind them appearing on their sites
* Kontera is easy to install for publishers
* The price for keywords is lower, much lower, than Google AdWords
* A review by Dosh Dosh reveals that Kontera doesn’t affect AdSense earnings for publishers who are using AdSense on their sites

Just as you would for any pay per click advertising, you’ll need to run a few tests before you decide whether Kontera is good for you, but if you are in a niche that uses a lot of contextual advertising in its content, and uses Kontera in particular, then it’s a viable option for you. The ads appear as double-underlined text, but a not-too-large pop up appears when a site reader hovers over the ad. Some readers find those ads obtrusive, but most readers will probably learn pretty quickly not to hover over the double-underlined links if they don’t want to see the ads. So the pop up, not being too large, will be a benefit to advertisers without being too obtrusive for publishers and readers. It’s real simple for a reader to just un-hover a link and make the pop up disappear.

Publisher issues aside, if Kontera proves to be a useful pay per click advertising vehicle for you then you should add it to your campaigns. The bottom line is, it’s got to make you money and I think it can.

Should You Write PPC Ads For Landing Pages

You’ve got a landing page that ranks in the top 3 position for several keyword phrases. Should you use pay per click advertising to drive targeted traffic to that landing page. Won’t you be throwing away good advertising dollars by doing so? No, not really. Here’s why:

Studies show that people are more likely to click on the organic listing is there is an associated PPC ad on the same page. In people’s minds, that translates to more credibility. The fact that you are willing to pay for the click means that you are serious about attracting business and that you have something valuable to offer.

On any given day, 80% of the search market will click on the organic listing. 20% will click on the PPC ad. If you don’t have a PPC ad then you lose your opportunity to reach that 20%. They will click on a competitor’s ad. But advertisers who target their market through both organic search and PPC tend to achieve higher click-throughs on both so your average CTR on the organic listing may actually go up to 82% or 83% and your CTR may go above 20%. At any rate, whatever they were before you launch your ad, it is likely that afterward you will see higher CTRs in both your organic listings and your PPC listings even if higher means industry average.

I’d say it’s a qualified Yes! Advertising with pay per click for landing pages and keywords that are already doing well in organic searches will only make you more effective in reaching your target market.