Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be a great way to drive traffic and profits, but it can also be a huge frustration. The good news is that with a few smart steps, you can make your next PPC campaign work. You can achieve your goals and succeed with PPC. Here are the top tips to help you achieve a successful and cost-effective pay-per-click advertising campaign:

1. Choose low-competition keywords. One of the biggest mistakes people make is to choose highly competitive keywords. These keywords are expensive. Also, often they are not very targeted. Spend time researching your keywords. Look for targeted keywords with good demand and low supply/competition. You’ll earn more conversions per click and you will also save money.

2. Target your audience/demographic specifically. Consider creating a specific PPC ad for every variance in your audience demographics. Look to target age, gender, location and also need/desire.

3. Use your keywords in your ad. This is another common mistake. People forget to use their keywords in their PPC ad. It has been shown that ads with keywords in them perform better. You get a better return on investment.

4. Don’t forget a call to action. If you want your prospect to take action, tell them what to do next! If you skip this step, you’re throwing away money.

5. Test. This is perhaps the single most important PPC money-saving tactic. Test to see which headlines, promises, calls to action, price and image offer the best return on investment.

6. Look at various PPC services. AdWords isn’t the only PPC service available. Consider other PPC options. They may be less competitive and therefore have a lower price or a higher return on investment.

7. Have a goal for your ad. Make sure it has a purpose, and then make sure your copy and your link support that purpose.

8. Have long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are specific keywords that help you save money. The competition will be lower. Additionally, your conversions will likely be higher because the keywords are more targeted.

9. Send clicks to a specific landing page. This tactic takes a bit of time but it pays off in conversions. Send each targeted ad to a specific landing page. This will help you test results. It will also boost your conversions. The best way to accomplish this is to make sure your promise or keywords are represented in your landing page. A few simple adjustments to your landing page copy should do the trick.

10. Start small. Start with a small budget and analyze results. Once you are happy with the results you’re getting from your PPC ad, you can increase your budget. This way you’re not throwing away money.

PPC advertising can work wonders. Make sure your ad has a specific goal, keywords and audience. Test and track for success and look at all your PPC options. To your success!

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* Be specific.

If you’re selling wedding favors, use specific keywords like wine wedding favors or cookie wedding favors or golf wedding favors. Think of how you search for things and be as specific as possible.

Also, be aware of the difference between someone who types in Xbox and someone who types in Xbox360 Repair Guide. The second search means that that searcher is more likely close to a purchasing decision.

* Offer the solution.

If you know what they are searching for, and why, for example, the Xbox360 Repair Guide, or the Cookie Wedding Favors person, you can gear your ad towards other aspects of the purchasing decision which will give them confidence to buy. For example, the Xbox360 Repair Guide would emphasis that they can do it at home cheap, fast and easy and save money.  For the Cookie Wedding Favors, fast delivery, personalization, classy, elegant, discounts, free shipping, and so on, would all contribute to the purchasing decision.

Keywords are the channel through which you will be driving traffic. Assuming you have a good website worthy of being looked at to start off with, what words would you use to describe your product/s for sale. Start with one product if you have more than one.

Then, brainstorm your keywords. Then be prepared to create a landing page with a short URL that will incorporate that keyword wherever possible. NEVER send your traffic just to your home page if you can customize your marketing message using keywords.

Here are some tips for choosing the right keywords:

* Match your keywords to your ad text.

Your keywords should be closely related to the product or service you’re advertising. Your ad will then get more clicks from people who are interested in what you have to offer.

Many new advertisers enter dozens of keywords unrelated to their ad. They pick the names of popular TV shows or general topics like “videos,” thinking this will put their ad in front of more people.

The result is that yes, there will be a lot of people viewing the ad, maybe even clicking on it, but the fact is that most people who see the ad are looking for other topics.

So if you try this tactic, you will be  wasting money on clicks from people who were not potential, highly targetted customers to begin with. Remember, traffic is meaningless if it does not convert.

Therefore, you will save a lot of time, money and effort by having a few highly relevant keywords specific to your product,  rather than many potentially popular, high volume but unrelated keywords. Match your keywords to your ad content and your site content and products, and you’ll reach  the right audience, the one that really wants what you’re selling.

We have already covered in depth what Pay Per Click is at this site, and why you should consider it as part of your overall marketing strategy.
When you begin, it is imperative that you choose effective keywords for your ad campaign.
Good keywords are critical to the success of your ad. Choose the right keywords and you choose the right audience for your ad. Choose the wrong ones, and you will be paying for traffic, but not converting that traffic.

The right keywords will help you connect with the most potential TARGETTED customers, which in turn should help you earn more sales, and get the best return for your advertising investment.

You choose keywords for your ad when you first create your account with Google. You can also add new keywords or edit and remove existing ones after your account has been set up.

Before we get started on keyword selection, make sure you do NOT select the Starter Edition as Google calls it. You may be tempted by speed and ease, but seriously, better to start out small, with very tightly focused, well-organized PPC campaigns in a properly set up account, than watch your money vanish and literally have no clue where it all went. Even if $20 a day sounds like a small amount of money for PPC, that is $600 a month, $6000 a year, so you want to get the most bang for your buck.