Here's a fact
for you, 85 to 95% of websites are found through a search
engine. You may have the most incredible website on the
Internet, but it will receive little or no traffic without
search engine visibility and ranking. Can you imagine a
billboard in the Sahara desert? Who sees it? How will
searchers find your website?
What types of search engines could they use?
Search engines fall into two categories. The first is
referred to as natural, organic or standard. The second is
called pay-per-click, paid inclusion or paid placement.
Natural, organic and standard are interchangeable terms
describing a search engine that bases its search rankings on
a ranking algorithm. The algorithms involve a number of
criteria and parameters, all relating to the content of the
website, the website's size, the number of incoming links to
the website, and the content's relevancy. You will hear
terms such as keyword relevancy and keyword density to
describe various components of the algorithms.
For the standard search engines, you, your webmaster or
hired search engine optimization specialist could spend
considerable time optimizing your website to achieve top
rankings. The goal is for your website to appear on the
first or second page of the search engines' results when
your target user searches keywords or keyword phrases.
The good news is rankings on standard search engines are
free. The downside is the tremendous amount of time and
effort required to achieve exceptional search engine
rankings. Let's confess to each other that top rankings on
standard search engines can be tough and timely to achieve!
The interchangeable terms pay-per-click, paid inclusion or
paid placement describe a search engine that bases its
search rankings on a "bid for position" basis. Simply
stated, you "bid" a price to be in a specific position of
the search rankings for a particular search keyword or
keyword phrase. For example, the #1 position on the search
phrase "pay per click" recently required a bid of $3.55 per
click, whereas the 15th position required only a bid of 55
cents. As a result, your differential website advertising
costs between position #1 and #15 can be considerable.
With pay-per-click search engines, your ability to bid high
can dramatically impact your website's search engine ranking
when the search results display website domain names or
URL's for the search keyword or keyword phrase. The benefit
is your website gains visibility with the searcher, but you
are not charged the pay-per-click "bid" until a searcher
actually clicks on your website domain name or URL displayed
in the search engine results. The selection of your website
in the search engine results is called a click-through.
In general, click-through rates range from 1% to 5% of the
number of impressions. What is all of this? A click is when
a searcher selects or "clicks" your pay-per-click ad. An
impression is one display of your pay-per-click ad on the
search engine results. So, the click-through rate is a
measure of the total number of ad clicks versus the total
number of impressions in a period of time:
Click-Through Rate % = Total Number of Ad Clicks / Total
Number of Ad Impressions * 100
Let's do the math for our #1 position bid of $3.55 per
click. In September, 2004 there were 21,535 searches for
"pay per click." First, let's assume a 1% click-through
rate. The top bidder spent $764.49 (21,535 * 1% * $3.55).
Now, at a 5% click-through rate the top bidder spent
$3,822.45 (21,535 * 5% * $3.55). Budgeting and controlling
marketing expenses with such a broad range of potential
costs could be tough. Plus, such costs could be the tip of
the iceberg. We still must consider derivatives of the
keyword or keyword phrase. So, was being #1 worthwhile? That
depends on your website's cost per visitor, conversion rate
and profit margin of your product or service.
From what we've covered so far, you should realize you can
achieve a top or high ranking through the pay-per-click
search engine. But, a high ranking will cost money and these
costs can be volatile. Meanwhile, the standard search engine
remains free.
However, pay-per-click offers one significant advantage. It
enables you to achieve website visibility with a high
ranking instantaneously or overnight. If you want to draw
traffic to your website fast for any reason, pay-per-click
can make that happen. Remember, maximizing the standard
search engine process takes time!
Let's summarize the pros and cons of pay-per-click
marketing:
Pros
* Improves your website's ranking and traffic quickly.
* Tests the marketability of your product or service
swiftly.
* Determines the ability of your web site to convert
visitors to a call to action or make a purchase promptly.
* Identifies which keyword phrases will provide the best
conversion rate rapidly.
* Provides complete control of the search engine campaign,
both position and cost.
Cons
* Cost
Many individuals criticize pay-per-click because of the
costs involved. But, have you really thought about the cost
issue? Unless you or someone in your organization has
expertise in search engine optimization, you'll probably pay
several thousand dollars in fees to a search engine
optimization specialist to improve and optimize your website
to achieve higher rankings in the standard search engines.
So, my question to you is. Are the standard search engine
rankings really free?
At the end of the standard versus pay-per-click search
engine debate, it's like the old saying, "There is no such
thing as a free lunch." Or, it's like the old commercial,
"You can pay me now or you can pay me later." The reality of
the debate is you must evaluate your specific website
situation and utilize the search engine approach that
maximizes your website promotion goals and investment.
Chet Childers is a successful Internet marketer utilizing
both pay-per-click marketing and search engine optimization
to increase website traffic. To learn more, visit
http://www.ThePayPerClickMarketer.com
and enroll in our free e-course.
|
