There is so much information available online for marketers to learn about pay per click (ppc) advertising. On the contrary, there are few resources available on setting up your ppc campaigns properly to maximize traffic. Great targeted traffic can be gained online through ppc, but many businesses fail at their campaigns. Here are some steps to help you gain traffic and succeed at your campaigns.

1. Know Your Target Market

If you fail to research and know your target market, you can wind up spending a lot of money frivolously. Think like your target group and find out where they hang out online. Once you are able to infiltrate their domain, you will be getting the traffic you need to effectively utilize your ppc advertising. This can make or break your campaign.

2. Build A List Of Keywords

It is imperative to gather a list of keywords that you can utilize to build and structure your ad campaign. The list of keywords is the hot ticket behind your ppc traffic. This will determine your advertising dollars spent on pay per click. Your main goal with keyword collecting is to find words and phrases that have a low cpc (cost per click), but yet still receive an abundance of searches on the web per day. Just think about what types of things you search for on a daily basis and then build your list from there.

3. Create Your Ads

Now you can begin to create your ads. Choose some keywords from your list and start building ads around those words. This alone can have an incredible affect on your ppc traffic and your conversion rate. It is important to realize that pay per click ads have a short time span to catch a surfer's eyes. Therefore, it is critical that your ads be simple and concise.

4. Know Your Maximum Budget

Pay per click advertising can be quite costly until you gain some experience and know how. Thus, it is important that you know how much you are willing to spend per click. Set the max price that you are wiling to pay. This will keep you competitive in the market and gaining traffic.

5. Closely Monitor Your Clicks

This could possibly be the most important piece of all. Once you start your ppc ad campaign, closely monitor the clicks you are receiving. You might have to tweak your budget or adjust certain keywords to maximize your campaign's click thru rate or conversions. It is also important to monitor your ads to make sure that you are not getting billed for clicks you didn't receive. Don't just start a campaign and leave it out there. The successful ppc advertisers are constantly making adjustments to better their campaigns. It'll take some time and trial and error, but with some consistent work, you'll be happy with the results.