SEO: Search Engine Optimization Bible

In keyword PPC, the keywords used can be any word or phrase that might apply to your site.

However, remember that some of the most common keywords have the highest competition for

top spot, so it’s not always advisable to assume that the broadest term is the best one. If you’re in

a specialized type of business, a broader term might be more effective, but as a rule of thumb, the

more narrowly focused your keywords are, the better results you are likely to have with them. (And

PPC will cost much less if you’re not using a word that requires a $50 per click bid.)

Did you know that Google and Yahoo! have $100 caps on their keyword bids? They do.

Imagine paying $100 per click for a keyword. Those are the kinds of keywords that will

likely cost you far more money than they will generate for you. It’s best if you stick with keywords

and phrases that are more targeted and less expensive.

The major search engines are usually the ones you think of when you think keyword PPC programs,

and that’s fairly accurate. Search PPC marketing programs such as those offered by vendors like

Google, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and MSN are some of the most well-known PPC programs.

Product pay-per-click programs

You can think of product pay-per-click programs as online comparison shopping engines or price

comparison engines. A product PPC program focuses specifically on products, so you bid on place-

ment for your product advertisements.

The requirements for using a product PPC program are a little different from keyword PPC programs,

however. With a product PPC, you must provide a feed— think of it as a regularly updated pricelist

for your products — to the search engine. Then, when users search for a product your links are given

prominence, depending on the amount you have bid for placement. However, users can freely display

those product listings returned by the search engine in the order or price from lowest to highest if

that is their preference. This means that your product may get good placement initially, but if it’s not

the lowest-priced product in that category, it’s not guaranteed that your placement results will stay in

front of potential visitors.

Some of these product PPC programs include Shopping.com, NexTag, Pricegrabber, and Shopzilla.

Although product PPC programs are popular for controlling the placement of your

product listings, there are some services, like Google Base, that allow you to list your

products in their search engine for free. These product PPC programs still require a product feed,

however, to keep product listings current.

Implementing a product feed for your products isn’t terribly difficult, although, depending on the

number of products you have, it can be time-consuming. Most of the different product PPC pro-

grams have different requirements for the product attributes that must be included in the product

feed. For example, the basic information included for all products are an item title, the direct link

for the item, and a brief description of the item.

Some of the additional attributes that you may need to include in your product PPC listings include:

 title

 description

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Part II SEO Strategies

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