Ensuring pay per click is effective

Misuse issues have given pay-per-click something of a bad name, but a good company knows how to avoid the pitfalls and make sure your pay per click is effective, writes David Clarke.

With the advent of internet marketing there has been a rise in pay per click advertising, where your company pays a certain agreed amount to an advertising company every time someone clicks on the link to your business.

Some companies will try to generate fake clicks on your site to try and make easy money.

Similarly, your competitors may click on your link and increase your bill without bringing you any genuine customers.

This has given pay per click something of a bad name.

A good advertising company will know how to avoid these pitfalls and make sure your pay-per-click campaign is effective.

Below are some measures you can follow to make sure your investment brings you business rather than loses you money.

Choose a company with Google certification - A Google Adwords certification indicates that a business is competent and familiar with the way the pay-per-click (PPC) system works.

Look at testimonials for the company and use your instincts to find out whether they are genuine or fabricated by the company itself.

Speak to other businesses - find out what experiences other businesses have had with pay per click and learn from their mistakes: take on board the advice you receive and make sure you don't waste your investment.

Ask to see other examples - look at previous work undertaken by the pay-per-click company you're using.

Make sure you enquire about their other clients and the kind of results they have achieved.

Make sure you are satisfied with the information you are given.

It may also be sensible to check if the company is familiar with the work you do and whether they are suitable to your business.

Check the professional conduct of the company - there's nothing wrong with holding the advertising company you use to a very high standard of quality and etiquette.

Go through the contract and look at all the terms and conditions.

If your standards are not upheld, don't be afraid to move on to another firm.

Consider the competition - always consider more than one advertising company and have a variety of options available.

Avoid companies that promise fast results; this generally indicates that they are not taking the time to test whether their results are effective.

Good companies lead by example - you can easily check the creditability of a company by typing their name into a search engine.

Any reputable organisation's name should appear in the adwords section on the right hand side of the page or very close to the top of the organic listings.

Be specific to customer requirements - good advertising companies know how to direct your customers to the part of the site which relates to their search, not just to your homepage.

You could risk losing a potential customer by not being immediately specific to their needs.

Monitor your pay-per-click progress - check back for updates from your advertising company on a regular basis.

One of the benefits of pay-per-click is that every result can be measured.

Your provider should be aware of this and therefore keen to adjust your listings to make them more effective.

Author David Clarke is a a partner at DBS.

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