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What Should You Know About Search Engines and Pay-Per-Click?
By Chet Childers (c) 2005

Here's a fact for you, 85 to 95% of websites are found through
a search engine. You may have the most incredible website on
the Internet, but it will receive little or no traffic without
search engine visibility and ranking. Can you imagine a
billboard in the Sahara desert? Who sees it?

So, how will searchers find your website? What types of search
engines could they use?

Search engines fall into two categories. The first is referred
to as natural, organic or standard. The second is called pay-
per-click, paid inclusion or paid placement.

Natural, organic and standard are interchangeable terms
describing a search engine that bases its search rankings on a
ranking algorithm. The algorithms involve a number of criteria
and parameters, all relating to the content of the website, the
website's size, the number of incoming links to the website, and
the content's relevancy. You will hear terms such as keyword
relevancy and keyword density to describe various components of
the algorithms.

For the standard search engines, you, your webmaster or hired
search engine optimization specialist could spend considerable
time optimizing your website to achieve top rankings. The goal
is for your website to appear on the first or second page of the
search engines' results when your target user searches keywords
or keyword phrases.

The good news is rankings on standard search engines are free.
The downside is the tremendous amount of time and effort
required to achieve exceptional search engine rankings. Let's
confess to each other that top rankings on standard search
engines can be tough and timely to achieve!

The term pay-per-click describes a search engine that bases its
search rankings on a "bid for position" basis. Simply stated,
you "bid" a price to be in a specific position of the search
rankings for a particular search keyword or keyword phrase. For
example, the #1 position on the search phrase "pay per click"
recently required a bid of $3.55 per click, whereas the 15th
position required only a bid of 55 cents. As a result, your
differential website advertising costs between position #1 and
#15 can be considerable.

With pay-per-click search engines, your ability to bid high can
dramatically impact your website's search engine ranking when
the search results display website domain names or URL's for the
search keyword or keyword phrase. The benefit is your website
gains visibility with the searcher, but you are not charged the
pay-per-click "bid" until a searcher actually clicks on your
website domain name or URL displayed in the search engine
results. The selection of your website in the search engine
results is called a click-through.

In general, click-through rates range from 1% to 5% of the
number of impressions. What is all of this? A click is when a
searcher selects or "clicks" your pay-per-click ad. An
impression is one display of your pay-per-click ad on the search
engine results. So, the click-through rate is a measure of the
total number of ad clicks versus the total number of impressions
in a period of time:

Click-Through Rate % = Total Number of Ad Clicks / Total
Number of Ad Impressions x 100

Let's do the math for our #1 position bid of $3.55 per click.
In September, 2004 there were 21,535 searches for "pay per click.
"First, let's assume a 1% click-through rate. The top bidder
spent $764.49 (21,535 x 1% x $3.55). Now, at a 5% click-through
rate the top bidder spent $3,822.45 (21,535 x 5% x $3.55).
Budgeting and controlling marketing expenses with such a broad
range of potential costs could be tough. Plus, such costs could
be the tip of the iceberg. We still must consider derivatives of
the keyword or keyword phrase. So, was being #1 worthwhile?
That depends on your website's cost per visitor, conversion rate
and profit margin of your product or service.

 From what we've covered so far, you should realize you can
achieve a top or high ranking through a pay-per-click search
engine. But, a high ranking will cost money and these costs can
be volatile. Meanwhile, the standard search engine remains free.

However, pay-per-click offers one significant advantage. It
enables you to achieve website visibility with a high ranking
instantaneously or overnight. If you want to draw traffic to
your website fast for any reason, pay-per-click can make that
happen. Remember, maximizing the standard search engine process
takes time!

Let's summarize the pros and cons of pay-per-click marketing:

Pros

*  Improves your website's ranking and traffic quickly.
*  Tests the marketability of your product or service swiftly.
*  Determines the ability of your web site to convert visitors
    to a call to action or make a purchase promptly.
*  Identifies which keyword phrases will provide the best
    conversion rate rapidly.
*  Provides complete control of the search engine campaign, both
    position and cost.

Cons

*  Cost

Many individuals criticize pay-per-click because of the costs
involved. But, have you really thought about the cost issue?
Unless you or someone in your organization has expertise in
search engine optimization, you'll probably pay several thousand
dollars in fees to a search engine optimization specialist to
improve and optimize your website to achieve higher rankings in
the standard search engines. So, my question to you is. Are
the standard search engine rankings really free?

At the end of the standard versus pay-per-click search engine
debate, it's like the old saying, "There is no such thing as a
free lunch." Or, it's like the old commercial, "You can pay me
now or you can pay me later." The reality of the debate is you
must evaluate your specific website situation and utilize the
search engine approach that maximizes your website promotion
goals and investment.

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Chet Childers is a successful Internet marketer utilizing both
pay-per-click marketing and search engine optimization to
increase website traffic. His clients' websites promote products
such as window treatments, furniture, medical uniforms, swimming
pool tiles, capital equipment, computer software and much more.
To learn more, visit http://www.ThePayPerClickMarketer.com
and enroll in our free e-course.
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