Just like any other advertising campaign, there has to be a strategy, a method behind the madness. Remember, you are paying money for each click-through and it is your duty to see that cash outflow justifies the visitor inflow. It is estimated that by 2010, online advertisers will spend $ 7 billion dol lars on PPC advertising alone. Therefore, it is important to have a PPC strategy ready before you launch the advertisement.

PPC advertising strategy

A PPC ad campaign normally evolves after several brainstorming sessions. This interaction involves use of pay per click softw are, not just at the brainstorming level, but even after that when a PPC campaign is on. Here are a few tips on strategizing your PPC campaign:

Choose your search engine

You have to determine which search engine best serves your purpose, i.e., which search engine will convert the click-through's into business. Experts opine that Google is right for software, hardware, and services, while Yahoo is good for consumer products, including insurance. Of course, Google and Yahoo are not the only search engines but they are the major ones. So it is best to try out how your keywords work on these engines.

Work on keywords

Once you have decided which search engine is the right one to go for, you should begin working on the keywords. Though you have to select keywords that fit your product or service, you must be careful not to choose the most popular keywords. If you do, then be prepared to see your marketing budget being reduced to ashes in no time. This is because popular keywords are charged very high, maybe as high as $ 15 per click, and that is big money when you multiply this figure with the expected number of click-throughs. There are many ways you can make your keywords: checking up on synonyms or coordinate terms in a thesaurus, looking up the competitor's keywords, using Internet tools, etc.

Get the customers in

Now you have zeroed down to the search engine of your choice and you have the ad ready. The third step is to attract customers and the simplest way to do this is by plugging in a search keyword in the title of your PPC ad. You must take care to see that the title of your ad and its phrases are different and savvier from your competitor's ad. The phrase, which normally follows the title, should have words that enthuse the reader and make him want to act (by clicking your ad). Do not forget: Your phrase has to be audience-specific.

Get rid of unwanted visitors

Many visitors lurk around looking for freebies or free trials. Mentioning the price of your product towards the end on your ad will keep these floaters away. Many casual visitors may click on your ad if the phrases are vague. That is why it is important to pen accurate phrases so that only the right guys come through. Remember, reducing click-throughs is good for your ad budget, and by doing this, you are not redu cing your sales - you are getting more of the right crowd onto your website.

Figuring our return on investment

This is the heart of a successful PPC ad campaign. You must know if clicks to your websites are getting converted into sales. If they are not then you are wasting your marketing budget - it will be better employed elsewhere. Google and Yahoo both have in-built tracking systems that you can use on your website. Or, you can go for external tools. These tools place some kind of a code on your website that figures out if a visitor from a search engine buys something from your website. You need to know this to determine your return on investment, i.e, how much money you are making because of the money you have spent on the PPC ad. If you are making more than what you spend then it justifies an increased PPC ad budget, if you're losing a lot of cash then it makes sense to discontinue the campaign.

PPC campaign software

A PPC ad campaign may drain you like crazy. Sometimes you will find that the amount you have bid on keywords has landed in spot 2 on day 1and you aren't anywhere to be seen on day 2-4, because others have bid more than you. So, you may increase the bid amount, get to no. 2 again, and waste cash without getting any real benefit out of it.

So, what do you do now? The answer is PPC software that helps you monitor your ads and keeps tabs on how your ad is doing vis-à-vis the bid amount and saves you money in the process.

There are many PPC software solutions going around and you are the best judge of what fits your campaign best - many of such software with limited features are free for use and you can download them from a download site. You can read reviews, compare features, and then decide.

The major software are Adwords Dominator, Atlas Search, Bid Buddy, Bid Rank, Dynamic Bid Maximizer, Keyword ROI, PPC Pro, Search Ignite, and Website Story Bid. While some are free PPC software other require payment for additional features.