Anybody else remember the days when there was NO MONEY AT ALL in online advertising? I do and this was way back in 1993. I first hooked up with the internet and discovered a decided lack of advertisements and wondered how anyone could make money with this. Well, I never came up with the strategy but clearly someone else did. The good folks at Google came up with the idea of Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising and, boy, did it make a lot of money for Google or what?

Pay Per Click is all about placing ads on your blog or website and then rolling in revenues when people click on the ads. Based on that description, it really is no wonder PPC has become so popular.

But, don’t think it is automatically easy to make money with this. You will always have competitors out there looking to earn money as well. Are they taking food off your plate?

Nah, don’t look at it that way…..

Don’t lament the presence of competition. Competition is never anything that should be feared. In fact, it should be looked at in a positive manner because increased competition can instill the traits needed to be successful. This is something complacency will never deliver.

So, do not look at increased competition as something to be wary of. Instead, look at it as a means of improving your current marketing campaign. No matter how much competition you face, if you PPC tracking stats show high conversion rates, your business will be succeeding. Really, it does not matter how many people are competing with you in the PPC world. What matters is how solid your own advertising campaign is. If you want to maintain the high stats your ad tracker may currently show, then competition may make you motivated to perform better. Let’s take a look at how this can be achieved…

The first step will be to make sure you ads are truly effective. It matters not how many other people are competing with your ads if the ad copy on your ads is truly eye-catching. If your ads have the proper advertising copy and attention getting headlines, they will deliver results. Remember, a properly composed ad will always win out over a weakly produced ad and a single well written ad with defeat a series of weak ads. This is guaranteed.

Being diligent in your keyword selection research will be another important factor in dealing with PPC competition. If you are selecting the right keywords in your PPC ads, your ads will appear more frequently in relevant searches. (PPC tracking will reflect improvements when traffic increases) This will definitely give your ads an edge over its competitors. Yes, it can even give you an edge over a great many ads because many of those ads may not show up in searches if their keyword selections are weak.

Of course, selecting relevant keywords will require you to perform research regarding which keywords are the most relevant. In the past, this would have required a lot of legwork. These days, there is a number of subscription services that keep track of keywords entered into the search engines. Affiliating with such a service in conjunction with your standard ad tracking program can definitely help you enhance the success of your campaign.

It is also extremely helpful to stay on top of current industry trends and news in order to make sure your current ads are among the more cutting edge ads proliferating on the net. The vast majority of advertiser will become involved in PPC marketing, but they will not stay on top of successful new trends. This is a strategic error you should avoid. Instead, it would be a much better plan to stay on top of the top trends in the industry. This way, your ad campaign never becomes stale or outdated and continues to deliver top results.

This will certainly give you the greatest edge of all over your competitors and allow you to remain a top performer in the PPC marketing world.

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Richard Pryor used to say “If you are going to go all out, then you need to go all out.” In other words, he was advising you and me not to take half-hearted efforts. This advice can be applied to anything in life and, in particular, it needs to be applied to business dealings. For PPC marketers like you an me, we need to do all that is needed to succeed in PPC.

When you offer a product or service, success or failure will often be based on the quality of the advertising campaign. This means the ad campaign must be innovative and eye-catching as well as cost-effective. Most people understand the former two points, but it is the latter point that is crucially important. You can’t spend more on an advertising campaign than what you reap in sales or your ad campaign will be a self-defeating one. The low associated cost is a major reason why pay per click advertising is so popular. It is inexpensive and generally delivers huge results as most PPC tracking programs will show. But, not all PPC marketing campaigns are equal. That is why it is important to point out a few helpful tips regarding the proper way to market a product or service via PPC ads.

Here is another little tip I learned the hard way: Patience is always helpful when taking part in a PPC marketing campaign. It is best to avoid the novice mistake of assuming that simply placing PPC ads on the internet will lead to huge profits overnight. Often, successful campaigns are achieved over an extended period of time. PPC marketing works but it is not (usually) a quick path to getting rich. Simply follow your ad tracker and look for progress. Even if progress is occurring slowly, as long as it is happening you are on a good path.

It is pretty important not to continue with a marketing campaign if it is not delivering noticeable results. If a great deal of time has gone by and the sales figures reflected in ad tracking are not impressive, then you should take steps to modify the campaign. Changing the keywords could be one example or completely re-writing the ads could be another.

I can be a stubborn person at times and try to push for my pet plans. I learned the hard way this is not a good idea. Take my advice, when a particular campaign is not delivering results, scrap it!

If you are experiencing a great deal of click-throughs and no one is making a purchase, altering your website might be wise. Never lose site of the fact PPC ads are designed to draw people to a website. It is on the website that the final decision to make a purchase is made. A great PPC ad that leads to a poorly composed website will not deliver much in terms of benefits. So, never lose sight of maintaining a quality website to support a PPC campaign.

Here is my most important piece of advice: the advertising copy in the PPC ads needs to be compelling and direct. With PPC ads, you will only have a few short sentences to catch the reader’s eyes and convince them to click through to your site. As such, professional quality copywriting is a must when launching a PPC marketing campaign. Similarly, the right keywords must be selected when composing the PPC ad copy. Without the right keywords, the ability to connect the ad with those exploring the search engines will prove elusive. When you do add quality keywords, you will probably notice an uptick in the conversion stats on your ad tracker. Clearly, this would be good news.

Those that may have difficulties composing such text on their own should consult the professional services of a PPC consulting company. Such professionals can certainly help craft your ads in such a way they deliver results.

I am a firm believer that success with PPC marketing is possible provided you understand a few basic components of what is a good PPC marketing campaign. Once you understand these components, the success you achieve can be pretty significant. Trust me on that one!

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From my own experiences I learned that a decent pay per click marketing campaign can deliver excellent results. I have read about and have been inspired by many great entrepreneurs who have earned incredible amounts of money from their successful PPC campaigns. I also learned that success is not about simply signing up with a PPC service is all one has to do to achieve success. No, I figured out it is necessary to stay informed about all those pesky logistics during the entire marketing campaign. This is where ad tracking tools comes into play. It is these ad tracking tools that deliver the clear analytical data required for a successful campaign.

Tracking can be considered a key component of any marketing campaign. This is true of both online and offline marketing since all marketing success requires trial and error. No matter how well planned a marketing strategy may be, you will never know how successful it truly is until you launch the campaign. Now, if the campaign does not deliver on initial expectations that do not mean it is necessary to completely scrap it. You simply need to look at the areas where the campaign is faltering and where it is succeeding. From this, you can improve the weak points in order to have a more successful campaign.

While I am not always the biggest fan of details, I finally realized it is necessary to examine the analytical information that is reflected in ad tracking tools. This is a key point because it is these ad tracking tools that allow marketers to look at vital information such conversion rates and visitor information.

If you are like me and only recently learned the term conversion rate, it refers to the number of people who visit your site and actually make a purchase. So, if 15 out of every 100 visitors were to make a purchase, the conversion rate would be 15%. Those wishing to raise their revenues would have two options: increasing the number of visitors to the site or increasing the conversion percentage of those who do visit. (Actually, they could do both as well) However, such a plan will not be possible without clear analytical data that details the various components of conversion figures. Among these components, detailed information on landing page statistics is among the most important.

Landing pages are where a visitor will “land” when they visit a site through a PPC ad. Landing is a pretty appropriate term since you are jumping into an important venture head first. Where you land often dictates whether or not you will succeed but I digress….

Since a website could have several different pages that the visitor can land, you could have a multitude of landing pages within the same site. If certain landing pages are performing well and other are performing poorly, you could always direct the bulk of the PPC ads to send visitors to the successful pages. This is a simple strategy that can deliver excellent results and it is only possible thanks to the data found on quality ad tracking tools.

Of course, there are many other components that are integrated in an Ad tracking software program. This is a good thing because the more analytical information at your disposal, the greater the chances are of crafting a brilliant and successful PPC marketing campaign.

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Click fraud is a lot of things and one of which is a crime. That’s why it drives me up a wall when people try to take advantage of a good system and enrich themselves in a less than honest manner. Then again, they may think they are smart but they really are doing something foolish. They are risking a lot because the civil and criminal penalties possible. That is why I follow the straight and narrow and you should as well.

Problems surrounding click fraud have been proliferating since the very beginning of pay per click advertising. Unfortunately, not every person who engages in an entrepreneur is an honest person. That is why they may take liberties with clicking on ads not to learn more about the advertiser and his product. Rather, they are clicking on their own ads with the express purpose of enriching themselves through ill-gotten clicks. Never fall into this category if you are a PPC marketer! Often, when such a profiteer is discovered through PPC tracking programs, the person pay per click account will be dissolved. As a result, they will lose any potential payments. However, this could prove to be the least of their worries as it is also possible to fall into in legal hot water for click fraud if such fraudulent business practices involve a great deal of money.

When I sign on with a Pay Per Click company, I follow the rules. I would suggest everyone else do the same things. Remember, when you agree to the terms of agreement to a Pay Per Click company, you are signing a contractual agreement. Upon this agreement, you will be required to follow the established rules and conditions and avoid any barred behavior. If you do commit any fraudulent behavior, you have breached the contract and lose any claim on monetary rewards. Additionally, under certain circumstances, willful violation of the contract could also lead to criminal penalties as may be the case with blatant click fraud. And yes, ad tracking software can often expose such fraud and the results can be used as evidence against the perpetrator.

Here is something that I found quite surprising and it is certainly info that will make you realize the importance of staying on the straight and narrow:

In some jurisdictions such as the state of California, committing click fraud is a felony. That means anyone who is caught pilfering money through a click fraud venture could be prosecuted and sentenced to a prison term. The duration of the sentence will vary depending upon how much money was illegally procured. However, it is safe to say the more money a fraudster appropriates illegally, the longer the prison sentence will be. Usually, the ability to succeed in a large scale click fraud case will center on using computer scripts to automatically click on ads. When ad tracker based evidence of such a venture is entered into court, juries will doubtfully look positively on such a defendant. After all, the defendant has taken many clear steps to purposely commit an act of fraud to acquire undeserved payments. As such, it is doubtful leniency will be offered.

If you earn income through a PPC venture and it is later discovered fraud has occurred, it is possible for the PPC company to file a civil lawsuit to recoup the improper payments. However, it may be possible for the PPC company to seek punitive damages as well. This could lead to an enormous judgment against those who have committed serious volumes of monetary fraud.

Then, there is another aspect to click fraud legal issues that some may not be aware of. The advertiser can sue the PPC company to recoup the payments is made due to the result of third party click fraud. For example, in 2006, Google agreed to a lawsuit settlement of $90 million with a company called Lane’s Gifts and Collectibles. This occurred after the company proved it paid out millions of dollars to Google for ad clicks that were committed by fraudulent activity. Needless to say, companies such as Google will certainly pursue those who commit fraud aggressively because Google can find itself in legal hot water when fraud occurs.

I realize there are those who may be able to get away with committing click fraud for the short term. However, once they are discovered, the legal issues that can derive could be pretty severe. That’s why I stick with the straight and narrow and it is also why you should as well!

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One of the first things I discovered about PPC marketing was that not everyone who clicks on an ad will make a purchase. It was my mistake to think that all of my loyal visitors would make a click from my sight. After all, not everyone who visits a department store buys anything. And yes, there will also those that will click through who never had any interest in making a purchase. They just want to look at your website for informational purposes and you have to pay for these clicks regardless. I would get annoyed and irked over this type of activity but I learned not to take things so serious. The way to overcome the problem is to maximize your potential as far as converting customers.

This I can deal with, but what I cannot stand is someone is purposely committing click fraud. Luckily, I figures out the key to dealing with these folks.

Who are these characters?

There are the ones who purposely click on your PPC ads solely for the purpose of driving up your costs and reducing the number of ads you place on the internet. This also depletes the money in your account reducing the amount of time your ads are floating on the internet. Such problematic people need to be stopped from further eroding your business’ ad campaign. The way to do this is to review your campaign’s analytical data and look for suspicious details that would indicate such a problem is occurring.

How is this possible? It can be achieved through the use of tracking tools that can display information in a clear manner. A close overview of highly detailed and accurate statistical data will show when and where a click fraud problem is emerging. From this, it becomes possible to take the steps required to cease such fraud and abuse and protect your business. Once again, proper ad tracking tools can help deliver such help.

Here is something I figured out: People who commit malicious click are no different than any other type of person – they are creatures of habit. That means they will have a tendency to be very predictable in their behavior. Upon looking at an analyzer tool or PPC tracking program, you can pinpoint a number of their common traits in order to take proper steps to deal with them.

For example, the data on your click through statistic will notate the time of the clicks, the date, where the person was referred, and even URL and IP information. If the same IP has clicked on 10 ads on the same day this might be a clear indication of click fraud. If a pattern of this type of behavior starts becomes evident in your PPC tracking stats, then it may be likely you are dealing with malicious click fraud.

Logging such data becomes helpful when it comes time to report the information to the PPC host. Simply stating you believe you are a victim of click fraud may not be enough to receive a refund. You may need to prove your case. Presenting the host with detailed analytical data can definitely help sway opinions on your favor. This may allow you to receive a return credit for the money you were charged due to fraud.

But, the key here is that you must stay on top of all your statistical data and analytical reports. If you fall behind and do not notice the click fraud when it occurs, it can prove difficult to fix things after they are too far gone.

Follow this advice and you will learn what I learned: you can defeat those trying to commit click fraud.  They can be outsmarted if you know how to deal with them.

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