This guy spits it like it is.

You’ve read about the PPC gurus making thousands a day and raking in millions a year. You also know that Google, a multibillion dollar corporation, profits mainly from their revolutionized pay per click program. It’s no wonder why people are drawn into the most direct and controllable marketing machine to date, otherwise known as PPC or pay per click.

Pay per click has revolutionized the marketing world. It is highly likely that your competitors are engaged in it, obtaining more business and profits straight from the Internet.

Taking on PPC for the first time can be very frustrating and difficult. You may have jumped into it by opening an account, stuffing keywords into the adgroup - keywords you thought people would type in. Then you probably created some ads YOU thought were catchy and worthy of an interested click. Right after your campaign goes live, Im sure you were so excited that you were compelled to search on your keywords anxiously waiting for your ad to appear.

You think you’ve done it, thinking PPC is so easy, so you sit back and let the beast do its job. You come back to check 2 hours later, and you notice hundreds of clicks and that you’ve spent nearly 300 dollars! Your heart is racing at this point, so you naturally go and check your inbox, expecting the flood of sales. Yet there are none.

This may not have exactly happened to you, but it’s what happened to me many years ago. In fact, it kept happening to me, until the bill racked up over 3 grand. During these agonizing months, I made a little money, but when I look back, it really was an expensive learning lesson.

Im sure my story isn’t that unique. Go look around PPC forums and ask how much people lose or have lost money in expectations of running a profitable marketing machine. PPC has been my passion for quite some time now and long are those days of donations to the big G. If I were to think back and analyze my major flaws that could have been fixed easily for higher efficiency, they would be the following.

Study and Research.

The first crucial step before throwing away money is to do research. Research and studying is critical in the beginning. Understanding the basics of PPC and search engines is crucial. The Internet is filled with resources on pay per click marketing. However, you must be very critical on the advice given, as many techniques and tactics can be outdated. In essence, when you enter the world of PPC, you could be competing against experienced advertisers and their non-forgiving budgets. You want to be prepared.

Start Slow and Build Small.

Don’t overstuff adgroups with keywords. Look for tight themes within your keyword list. Have small ad groups with optimized ad copy. You want to try and use the core themed keyword in the ad copy. Make sure the destination URL is pointing to the most relevant landing page on your site. For a beginner, you should only try about 10-30 keywords to start. Get a feel for the beast and how it works.

It’s All about Relevance and Testing.

Pay per click is about relevance. You are targeting those that have already expressed interest. The more interest that prospect has coming to your page, the more likely they will do business with you. You want relevance throughout the account - from the landing page to keyword, keyword to ad group, and ad group to campaign.

The ability to test new ad copies, new landing pages, and keywords are what PPC is designed for. You should always look forward to further testing in pursuit of optimization.

Keep these tips in mind while learning and building your skills in PPC. Master PPC and you will feel the power of running hundreds of ads all working 24/7 generating profits for you.

This is the first post of Project: PPC. Welcome to my Blog!