PPC, ("pay-per-click") search advertising, is not the darling of the advertising world it used to be.  But for those who can’t afford to buy ad space on an Alexa-touted websites or don’t have the time to spend spamming Facebookers and Tweeters, it remains one of the cheapest online advertising methods.  It doesn’t work for every business, though.  Here are a few baby steps to take to see if PPC might work for you without blowing your budget. 

Pick Some Kick-Ass Keywords

No one’s going to see your ad if they don’t search for your keywords in the first place – no matter how witty your ad is.  Spend a couple hours brainstorming keywords describing your product or service.  A variety of online keyword selection tools  can help you research your keywords’ popularity and give you other suggestions. 

Set a Budget, er, Limit

Most advertisers are clueless on how much to bid and how much traffic they’ll get.  I’ve run campaigns that generated a quarter of all website traffic.  I’ve also run those that dragged in 5 visitors over 3 weeks.  Proceed with caution.  Set a limit.  The beauty of PPC programs is that you can set price limits per keyword, per day, per month.  Don’t set a $3,000 limit per day if you’re not willing to spend that.  If you’re lucky enough to hit a nerve in a market and the clicks start pouring in, you don’t want to check your account a week later and discover that you’ve shot through a year’s marketing budget in 1 week.  Start small.  You can always increase it later.

Manage Those Metrics

You’d be surprised how many people spend willy nilly on paid search without knowing what they’ve gained from it – if anything.  Every time someone clicks on your ad, you pay.  And those clicks don’t guarantee sales. 

An example:  $5 a click X 1,000 clicks X 0 conversions = you’re out 5,000 bucks.

Install a metrics program (Google Analytics is free) and set up one or more "conversion paths".  Conversions are anything you want them to be – a sale, a registration, mail sign-up.  Check your keyword conversion rates at least once a day.  No conversions in a week?  Lower the bid or drop the keyword altogether.  High conversion rate but low placement?  Consider upping your bid. 

Test, Test, Test

No, you can’t set ‘em and forget ‘em.  The market is finicky.  Say you’re selling "dust mops" and your ad sits in the #1 slot on Google for $0.50 a click on Monday.  On Tuesday, TMZ releases a picture of Lindsey Lohan whacking her girlfriend’s car with a dust mop.  The next day you find yourself priced out of the market and your keyword selling for $5 a pop.  Test a new keyword that will attract those who want to buy dust mops (search marketers call these "qualified" people) – not those who only want to see the damage Lindsey made to Samantha Ronson’s car.  Try a different keyword.  Try a "phrase match" or "exact match."  Test different phrases against each other.  Test different ads to see what performs better.  Test running campaigns at different times of the day. 

Sometimes winning PPC tactics are what you’d least expect.