Pay Per Click Tips (PPC) in the New Age of Blogging

     In the current world of blogging, it's way too easy to waste your money with PPC. But you don't have to throw more money at pay-per-click then necessary.  With some planning and a little extra hard work your PPC can generate revenue for you.  For many reasons, the cost of pay-per-click ads on search engines continues to rise.  Competition for key words is greater and often fellow bloggers, large & small businesses, shopping sites, affiliates and ad publishers are after the same keywords. With so many working against you, you may wonder if PPC is worth it?  I say yes it is, because it's still a great way to reach on-line consumers, but you have to operate with a much a smarter search strategy. Here are a few tips to reduce your ad costs and reach new customers for your blog and/or service-

Diversify your ad Platforms. Google AdWords isn't the only PPC player in town. Try Microsoft AdCenter and Yahoo Sponsored Search . Also test PPC on directories like yellow.com and openlist.com (especially for local ad marketing). These sites might not deliver as many clicks as Google, but competitive keywords cost a lot less per click and allow you to run test ads.

Define your goals clearly.  Know what strategy you plan to use to reach your goals. What metric are you going to use so that you can define whether your campaign is a success. 

Gather Data and More Data. There's nothing more important than an informed decision. Too many bloggers and business owners make decisions based on a current trend rather than on looking at a bigger picture. Gathering data should not end with a single source, but should help you open your eyes to search every possible area that could impact your business. Customers are a tremendous source of data and sharp search marketers are always is in tune with customers needs.  Ask questions, and LISTEN

Keyword level Tracking. It's not the only indicator, but it is important, so keep good records to gather data and make informed decisions. If you're seriously into this, use a 3rd party tracking system.

Write for the Right Season. It's smart to prepare your campaigns that work with the season. For the upcoming holidays you should probably already have a few holiday ads and ad groups with holiday terms prepared. It is also smart to create a holiday ad group that has some of your best producing words bundled with holiday focused ads. This can also applies to other seasons that affect your consumers shopping habits.  Words like "swimming" are not usually top words but rocketed up during the recent Olympics.

Spend Time Creating Killer Ad Copy.  Killer copy doesn't write itself. It takes time and effort to generate great ad copy, so give copywriting the time it needs. Try the following :

• Figure out the difference between you and your competitors.
• Brainstorm copy segments like various USPs, product or service descriptions, etc. Keep them short, as the space you have to work with in paid search ad copy is very limited. At this point, the goal is to list as many ad copy segments as you can.
• String copy together in various combinations.
• Write ads with different tones.

Bid on approriate keywords. I don't buy into the "more keywords you bid on the better" belief.  I go for fewer, but longer-tail keywords since my ad budget is not as large as many sites. Also, you can drive more traffic to your site but it will not always be relevant when you use numerous keywords. Start with your core list of keywords and build on those as you grow

Don't scare off your customers! Stay away from flashy images, wild videos, bright colors or music on your landing pages. These can get an instant reaction from users to click the back button and run away from you! (and wasting your money).  Instead, keep your landing page focuses and with clear message.

Cater Your Ad Copy to Different Buyer Needs. As we know, buyers are motivated by different factors. Try different buyer needs in ad copy to see where you get the most bang for your buck.  For price-sensitive, try ads with prices (new studies show NOT to use dollar symbol [$]). YOu may even want to try ads without prices. For buyers looking for deals, try special offers in ad copy. Try time-limited offers (among others) to encourage buyers to make a purchase more quickly than they would have without an offer.

Good luck and happy PPC ad copy writing!  And don't just PPC, Blog to Great !