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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?
So, 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.
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