Internet Marketing Strategies
Part Seven: Paying For Traffic

By Shelley Lowery

If you've been struggling with your website traffic and your sales aren't what you had hoped for, then maybe it's time to start paying for traffic.

Pay-per-click Search Engines provide an extremely effective means of obtaining highly targeted traffic to your website. The concept is simple. You bid on targeted keywords for as little as .001 per click and receive targeted traffic to your website.

The key to using this technique effectively is to focus on one specific product and select highly targeted keywords. This will help you to weed out all of the window shoppers and attract your specific target audience.

Viewing Search Terms

Most pay-per-click Search Engines will enable you to view exact "search terms" that have been used to perform searches. Use this to your advantage. You can find out exactly what "search terms" are being used for your target market and place your bids accordingly. Try to create a list of as many relevant keywords as possible. The more keywords you bid on, the more traffic you'll receive.

When bidding on keywords, keep in mind that in order to be successful, you don't have to be listed at the top. Although receiving a listing in the top three positions will produce major traffic through Goto.com, most of the time, you must have a large advertising budget to compete.

Before placing your bid, perform a search to find out how much your competitors are paying per click. Try to place your bid so that your listing will appear on the first page to increase your chance of success. By selecting highly targeted, less popular keywords, you'll not only attract a more targeted audience, but you'll also obtain a higher listing for less money.

Your Ad Copy

Your headline and copy are the most important part of your entire strategy. Your headline must grab your potential customer's attention and force them to read on. Your copy should tell them exactly what you have to offer and convince them to visit your site. Try to avoid attracting freebie hunters by mentioning free stuff within your ads. By weeding out those potential visitors expecting to get something free, you will attract a more targeted audience of potential buyers. There is no need to pay for visitors that weren't interested in buying anything in the first place.

Your listing should lead your potential customer directly to your product with no other distractions. In other words, if your product isn't on your main page, then don't direct your potential customers to your main page and make them search for your product. Direct them to your product's page.

Reveiwing Your Reports

Once your campaign begins, make sure you take the time to review the reports provided by the pay-per-click services. These reports will provide you with information in regard to how well each of your keywords are performing and enable you to adjust your keywords or change your bids accordingly.

To increase your traffic even further, don't just stop with one pay-per-click Search Engine -- try several at time. The more streams of traffic flowing to your site, the better.

Here is a list of some of the top pay-per-click Search Engines:

http://www.overture.com
http://www.Bay9.com
http://www.Win4win.com
http://www.Findwhat.com
http://www.7search.com

Visit http://www.payperclicksearchengines.com for a complete list of over sixty pay-per-click Search Engines and reviews.

If you're serious about your business and you're ready to drive a stampede of targeted traffic to your website, then give the pay-per-click Search Engines a try. They're well worth the small investment.

Copyright © Shelley Lowery

About the Author:

Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, Web Design Mastery. http://www.webdesignmastery.com And, Ebook Starter - Give Your Ebooks the look and feel of a REAL book. http://www.ebookstarter.com