//-->
</script>
<script language=”JavaScript”
src=”http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion.js”>
</script>
<noscript>
<img height=1 width=1 border=0
src=”http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/1234567890/
?value=1&label=Purchas
e&script=0”>
</noscript>The code is placed in the HTML of your web site, according to directions provided by the PPC
provider.Another way to track your PPC campaigns is by URL. Using this method, each PPC ad is given a
separate URL, which is used only by that keyword. Then, when a visitor clicks through a PPC ad
and is taken to your web site, you will know which ad is working best according to the amount of
traffic on the specific site.This method does require that you have a way to track your web-site traffic, but you should be doing
that anyway. If you’re not tracking it, how will you know what kind of traffic your web site gets?Before you get too far into tracking your keywords and conversions, it helps to have a plan for
what you want to gain from your PPC campaign. The first things that you’ll need to know are the
long- and short-term goals for your PPC campaign. You need to track both long- and short-term
goals because without both you could find yourself throwing money into a PPC campaign that
doesn’t provide the results you need.Far too often, web-site owners find that they’ve instituted a PPC campaign that does really well in
the beginning but then over time becomes more costly and less effective. If you’re conducting all the
elements of SEO for your site properly, it isn’t worrisome to find that the effectiveness of your PPC
campaign drops after a while — as long as the overall traffic to your site and the number of conver-
sions on your site continue to rise.This means that your organic SEO efforts are working. When this happens, it’s time to consider other
keywords for your PPC campaign. Instead of pouring more money into improving your ranking,
which will decrease the return on investment from your PPC campaign, you might change the
campaign by using different keywords.As you’re monitoring your PPC campaigns, pay close attention that your organic SEO
efforts don’t suffer because of your PPC efforts. Organic keywords are your true ticket
to a high ROI. The more search engines rank you for free, the more effective you can make your invest-
ment in PPC. However, if you’re not careful about the keywords that you use in PPC, the ads that you
write for PPC, and the frequency with which you change your PPC campaigns, you could end up can-
nibalizing your organic rankings. And when PPC replaces your organic rankings, you have to spend
more money for lower results.CAUTION CAUTION
142
Part II SEO Strategies
75002c09_6.qxd 11/7/07 9:39 AM Page 142