...th propermanagement, and a clear focus, pay per click search engines canoffer some of the most well targeted and economical advertisingon the Internet.Pay per click advertising works through a bidding process, andthe ads appear prominently on the results pages of searchengines such as Google and Yahoo. The highest bidder for aparticular word or phrase receives top placement, and dependingon the engine, the top three to five bidders also generally alsoreceive placement on the ...

...first page of unpaid search results.Fundamental questions to be addressed when formulating a pay perclick search engine strategy include the following:1). When is the top pay per click bid necessary for highestconversion, and when will bidding for a second or third placeposition create a more attractive return on investment (ROI)?2). How can you keep your PPC bids from cannibalizing yoursearch efforts on other (non pay per click) search engines?3). What percentage of your pay per click budget should go toeach search engine? 4). Does either Google Adwords or Overture work better for yourparticular product or service? Or, perhaps neither one isappropriate from a return on investment (ROI) perspective.It is of critical importance to focus sharply on identifying thesearch terms that convert most frequently for your particularsite, eliminating those that don't perform, and mostimportantly, calculating and maximizing your return oninvestment.The cost structure of pay per click is action-driven and eachtime a user clicks your ad, the pay per click engine deducts theamount of your current bid from your account. Pay per clickoffers a high level of assurance that your ad is reaching theproper target.Pay per click campaigns, however, are not perfect. WithoutCONSTANT monitoring, you sometimes risk incurring advertisingcosts that can spiral out of control, focusing on terms thatdon't convert well for your product or services, or falling waydown in position during a bidding war.PPC advertising can be a great help to a site's success, butonly with very close supervision and a thorough knowledge of theunique characteristics of each PPC search engine.