8 Popular Pay-Per-Click Myths
This blog entry was posted on August 21, 2009.
PPC or Pay per Click is an important method of search engine marketing (SEM). This paid advertising method is its own science to first attract a visitor to click on an ad and then designing a landing page that will convert this visitor into a lead or a sale.
Myth #1: You will see instant results when you launch PPC. You can’t just start PPC and then forget about it. You can get very poor results or burn through a lot of cash. PPC takes careful planning, keyword selection and development of landing pages to get proper results.
Myth #2: PPC will help your organic search engine rankings. PPC has no direct impact on your SEO rankings. You can spend as much as you want on PPC and it won’t change a thing in your organic results. Google does not apply bonus points to your organic rankings if you spend money on PPC. PPC ads use JavaScript and these ads do not count as anchor text links back to your website.
Myth #3: I don’t need paid listings if I have a top 10 result on organic listings. Having your listings in both the paid listings and natural search results will give you more credibility and website traffic. The two listings seem to reinforce your brand and the traffic volume multiplies.
Myth #4 PPC is the least expensive form of search marketing. No, PPC can easily be the most expensive form of search engine marketing. It is important to optimize a PPC campaign with keyword selection, the wording of ads and landing page design to maximize conversion rates and to lower the cost per conversion.
Myth #5 In PPC, the most expensive keywords are costly because they provide better returns. No, the pricing is based on the popularity and competition for a given phrase. PPC is a pure auction environment where higher demand creates higher pricing and has no relationship to your potential return on investment.
Myth #6: Google is the only search engine that matters in PPC. No, Google does have the highest traffic volume, but other search engines such as Bing/MSN can often yield better ROI. It is a good idea to diversify your advertising onto multiple search engines.
Myth #7 You need to be #1 to get good results. No, #2 and #3 will often cost much less per click and give a better ROI. Number one will get more traffic, but the cost per click is frequently much more expensive. Frequently a lower position will be your “best” most cost efficient solution.
Myth #8 PPC Geo targeting does not work. Local or regional businesses require local visitors for their PPC. Geo targeting in PPC is based on the user IP address. Some Internet providers have IP’s that inaccurately show the users location. It is much better to use location modified keyword phrases such as “denver dry cleaner” or “portland auto repair”.
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Pingback by Web Design, Seo, Blog Marketing Tips » 8 Popular Pay-Per-Click Myths | Toronto SEO | SEM | PPC Tips & Internet Advertising — August 21, 2009 @ 7:17 am
Nice post about SEO and web design. i was looking for such post.thanks for the posting.
Comment by web design and seo — August 27, 2009 @ 10:01 pm
I have an interesting thing happen regarding Pay Per Click, Doug, and wanted your opinion.
Oct 2009
I was getting a lot of click fraud on my Yahoo search marketing. Clicks not from searches, but from all these “nonsense” names sites, like stopglorify.info, http://www.qualityconformist.com, etc.etc.
I researched logs and it shows redirects from this company QuantCast.com, a data-mining company.
The clicks I am receiving from these nonsense sites, are because quantcast.com set up all these “parked domain” mini-search engines that are ONLY linked to Adsense/yahoo sponsored search sites.
So I am getting clicks from these no-content sites, that are sites filled with nothing but adsense arbitrage sites, that are no content al all, just pages filled with 100% links to Adwords ads.
Nonsense names Examples:
~ http://www.qualityconformist.com
~ http://www.stopglorify.info
~ http://www.sephalo.com
~ http://www.marketplacegains.com
They have search bars, for you to search a kw, which then redirects to these adsense sites. So when you search for a keyword example: quit smoking, you notice a redirect to quantcast, then to the nonsense name (above) pages with 100% adsense links.
Now, the owners of these sites can go in, using these redirects, and self-click on my ads to make adsense revenue all day. I get charged .80 cents a click..all day. They put up zillions of these adsense sites in Keyword silos — like quit smoking — and bang us advertisers all day with these fake clicks. $16 to 20 bucks a day
(whois shows some sites are registered to ns1. parkingspa.com.)
I have had to stop advertising on Yahoo PPC.
Part II
Just yesterday, I recieved a notice of class action lawsuit, levied towards Yahoo for this parked domain click fraud stuff.
And what do you know? The guy at yahoo who was responsible for this click fraud stuff, Todd Teresi, was pushed out of yahoo.com is now a Chief revenue Officer at Quantcast!
I guess he is up to his old tricks that he used for click fraud at Yahoo.com, to rip us off at quantcast.com.
His work at Yahoo resulted in this
class action lawsuit here: http://www.inreyahoosettlement.com
The management team of Quantcast includes alumnus from Fortent, Orbital Data and Transium, some serious research companies. A “Who’s who” of cyber criminals
What resource can we use to protect ourselves against these determined sophisticated data miners who have created an embedded click-fraud empire?
Hiring paid “clickers” to use Quantcasts mini “search engines” (to conceal their path from a Quantcast redirect property), so they can click on pricey adsense/Adwords is criminal to me. Your thoughts?
Comment by Larry07601 — November 29, 2009 @ 8:07 pm