1. Using Google and other Search Engines as a Low Cost Marketing Tool Prepared by: Milton Zlotnick SCORE Chapter 476 Staten Island, New York

2. About Google AdWords Google AdWords™ is a performance-based self-service advertising program. The text-based, keyword-targeted system offers cost-per-click (CPC) pricing: Advertisers pay only when users click on their ads.

5. How much does AdWords cost? In the Google AdWords program, the cost of your campaigns really depends on you -- how much you are willing to pay. There is a nominal, one-time activation fee for Google AdWords for $5.00 After that, you pay only for clicks on your AdWords ads Cost-per-click (CPC) from US$0.05 - US$100. Daily budgets start as low as 5 cents up to whatever limit your are comfortable spending.

6. FOUR MAIN STEPS TO GET STARTED

13. STEP 4 OF 4: SIGN UP ENTER EMAIL ADDRESS AND PASSWORD FOR YOUR ACCT

14. WHERE WILL MY ADS APPEAR

17. Conversion tracking allows you to track how many ad clicks convert to purchase, sign-ups, page views and leads – for free.

18. Here are seven tips using Adwords PPC 1. Figure out what you can afford to bid. This might sound obvious, but it needs to be said: Don't bid more than you can afford! A lot of businesses make this mistake. Before you pay for advertising of any sort, calculate the value of a single visitor to your site.

19. Tip 2. Being "No. 1" isn't always best. You don't always need to be ranked No. 1 for certain keywords to attract visitors. So run some tests. Vary your bids so that your listing appears higher and lower on the page and see what effect the ranking has on your profits.

20. 3. Bid on low-cost variations and common misspellings of particular keywords. Frequently, you'll see businesses bidding as much as $5.00 per click for popular keywords—while nobody is bidding on common misspellings and similar keywords. Use Wordtracker to locate keywords that relate to your business and are that none of your competitors are bidding on.

21. 4. Bid on highly targeted phrases with less traffic. Bid on dozens—or even hundreds—of highly "targeted" keywords, which tend to be cheap. For example, instead of bidding on "pet supplies," you might bid on "red dog leash," "oversize dog kennel," and "cat toys with bells.“ You can direct these qualified visitors to a page that gives them exactly what they're looking for.

22. 5. Bid on keywords in the lesser- known PPC search engines. Overture and Google are the PPC industry leaders, but some of the smaller PPC search engines are worth checking out as well. The most popular ones are: Findwhat –Kanoodle- Enhance Interactive - lookSmart Espotting (for the UK & Europe) Not as popular but much cheaper.

23. 6. Create separate ads for each product or service you sell. Write ads specific to each keyword and phrase you bid on. For example, instead of writing an ad for "sporting goods," write one for "quality leather soccer balls," another for "discount ladies' tennis shoes," and so on. Direct them to a page on your site with the exact product or service they're searching for.

24. 7. Get listed in relevant specialty PPC search engines Did you know that there are specialty PPC search engines that target different markets such as brides, pet owners, antique collectors, car owners and so on? Check out PayPerClickSearchEngines.com to see if there are any relevant to your business that might be worth getting listed in.

25. PPC –Options Keyword Matching Options (offered by Overture and Google AdWords Exact match. A listing is triggered by the exact keyword phrase and nothing else. Example: "fishing rods" will match "fishing rods" but not "fancy fishing rods." Phrase match. A listing is triggered by the keyword phrase as it's written, though it might be included with other terms as well. Example: "fishing rods" will match "antique fishing rods and reels" but not "rods fishing."

26. PPC – Choosing the Best Keywords Negative match. When words identified as "negatives" are typed into the search engine along with the keyword phrase, the listing will not appear. Example: "fishing rods - cheap" will match "fishing rods and tackle" but not "cheap fishing rods.“ Contextual Targeting (offered by Overture, Google AdWords, Kanoodle and Enhance Interactive). Contextual targeting places your PPC listing on websites where the content somehow relates to your ad.

27. PPC – Choosing the Best Keywords If you decide to try contextual targeting, however, be sure to monitor where your ads Your ads may end up featured on websites that have little to do with your advertisement—and therefore attract unqualified click-throughs.

28. PPC – Choosing the Best Strategy Geotargeting (offered by Overture and Google AdWords). Geotargeting allows you to choose which countries or geographic regions your ads appear in. For example, if you're a landscaper who lives in Staten Island, you probably don't want to pay for click-throughs from out-of-area visitors.

29. PPC – Choosing the Best Strategy Day Parting (offered by Kanoodle). Right now, Kanoodle is the only search engine we know that offers this option. "Day parting" allows you to choose the time of day your ads will appear in different regions. For example, if your market testing shows that most people click on your ads to make a purchase in the early evening, you can make sure your ads appear only at that time in the different regions where your potential customers live.

30. PPC – Choosing the Best Strategy Keyword Research Tools (offered by Overture, Google AdWords, FindWhat, Kanoodle, LookSmart and Enhance Interactive). Helps you find common variations and misspellings of the more popular keywords so you can keep costs down while still generating traffic. More sophisticated keyword research tools let you see how much you need to bid to achieve a particular ranking

31. PPC – Choosing the Best Strategy Multiple Ads for the Same Keyword (offered by Google AdWords). Google AdWords allows you to "split test" different ads for the same keyword. To make sure your ads will yield the highest possible return on your investment.

32. PPC – Choosing the Best Strategy Autobid" Software (offered by Overture, Google AdWords, FindWhat, Kanoodle, LookSmart and Enhance Interactive). Autobid software is a bid management program that tracks the bidding activity on your different keywords and automatically adjusts your bidding amount so you can maintain your ranking.. They also eliminate "bid gaps" that occur when the bidder below your listing drops their bid.

33. When do my ads start running? Once you've completed the account creation process. The Google AdWords team will send you an email asking you to click on a specific link to verify your email address. After your address has been verified, you can log in to your new account. You'll see a message asking you to submit your billing information. Your ads will usually appear on Google within a few minutes after that's been done.

34. How is an AdWords account structured? There are three levels to Google AdWords: Account, Campaign, and Ad Group. Your account is associated with a unique email address, password, and billing information. At the campaign level, you choose your daily budget, geographic targeting, syndication preference, and end dates. At the Ad Group level, you create ads and choose keywords. You can also select a maximum cost- per-click (CPC) for the Ad Group or for individual keywords.

35. Unique email address Password Billing information Campaign Daily budget Geo-targeting Syndication preference End dates Ad Group One set of keywords One or more ads You can determine which ads perform best by logging in to your account and viewing your campaign reports. You can then refine or delete poorly performing ads.

36. Final Advice Don’t wait – start now while keywords are still available Bid on lots of cheap, targeted keywords and phrases, including misspellings, and avoid the expensive general words that everyone is bidding on. Never bid more per click than what a single visitor is worth to your site Target your ads as much as possible. Write "custom" ads for each keyword Design your landing pages so they convert qualified visitors to buyers.