April 30, 2004

(Continued)

Importance of making some ‘road checks’ along the way
Before committing any kind of significant ad budget to any campaign, an experienced search engine marketer will perform a few “road checks” along the way. This single step is critical to the overall success and ROI of your ad campaign, and will act as a ‘test-bed’ for all your online marketing efforts.

One great way to start such a road check is by utilizing Google’s AdWords program. For only $ 5.00 you can set up a new PPC (Pay per Click) ad program, where your listings can appear within less than 30 minutes in most cases. Depending on your industry, and depending on the general level of competition there is in your market, it is suggested that you start with a low bid price, say fifty cents to a dollar.

You might even want to try an initial bid price of less than fifty cents if you think it is appropriate to do so. This is one area where trial and error can actually save you money.

It is extremely important that you accurately monitor all of your road checks along the way, since you want to learn as much as you can from these tests. Failing to do this could seriously hinder your overall ROI later, once your ad campaign starts maturing.

More ways to “test-drive” your ads
As you delve deeper into your test runs, it will become more and more important to check your click-through reports (CTR) provided by your paid inclusion or paid placement search engine. Just log into your Google AdWords account and verify your number of clicks, page impressions, click-through rates and also check your single click fees for each and every keyword or keyword phrase in all of your ad campaigns.

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Article written by Serge Thibodeau,
President & CEO,
Rank for $ales
Copyright (c) Serge Thibodeau 2004

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