You already know about pay-per-click. If not, you haven’t been paying attention. Give us a call.
But did you know that Google has an alternate ad distribution method called “site-targeted”? This is different than using the content network. Standard content network ads are still keyword-based, pay-per-click ads. Site-targeted ads, on the other hand, appear on specific content-focused web sites that you specify, and they are priced on a cost-per-thousand (CPM) model.
When you set up a site-targeted ad campaign, you have several options with which to choose the sites to target:
- Browse categories. This option lets you browse through categories and sub-categories to look for sites that are categorized a specific way. Similar to adding keywords, the site selection screen provides you with a list of possiblities, and you click the ones you want to add to your selected sites.
- Describe topics. This option lets you type in words related to your business and Google will show you a list of sites that match those topics.
- List URLs. With this option, you type in specific web addresses where you would like to advertise and Google tells you if those sites are available to run ads.
- Select demographics. This option lets you select certain demographic options and Google will show you a list of sites whose audience matches those demographics. Possible demographics are gender, age, annual household income, ethnicity and whether or not the audience has children.
Regardless of what option you choose, a list of matching sites will display at the bottom of the screen for your selection.
After you have selected the sites you want to target, you enter a maximum daily budget and your maximum CPM.
The cost-per-thousand pricing model requires you to know and work your numbers in a slightly different way. Click-through rates are probably going to be much lower than search ads. But you really won’t know what your CTR might be until you run start running some ads and see what happens. But if things work out, your net cost-per-click could end up being lower or about the same as standard PPC ads.
For example, if you pay $1.00 CPM and your click-through rate is .25% (1 in 400), then your cost-per-click is $.25. If your CTR falls to .1% (1 in 1,000), then your CPC rises to $1.00.
If you are careful in your selection of web sites you target and manage your CPM wisely, then you can do quite well using site-targeted ads in Google.
For help implementing a site-targeted search engine marketing campaign for your business, contact Work Media at 888-299-4837 or info@workmedia.net.