Because it is so hard to achieve reliable, consistent results in the organic search engine listings, the alternative is to use sponsored listings, otherwise known as pay per click (PPC) advertising. Such adverts, which are search-re­ lated and content-related, appear all over the web, on numerous websites as well as in many search engines. Many people say that PPC does not work. However, this is because a PPC campaign needs to be run properly - it requires day-to-day management to alter daily budgets, bid amounts, advertisement text, bid-words, etc etc.

Google Adwords and Yahoo-Overture are the really important providers of sponsored listings. Recently Ask Jeeves have developed their own sponsored listings system instead of using Google AdWords and Overture, but it is not yet available for UK customers. Microsoftare currently developing a PPC system so as to reduce dependence on Yahoo-Overture. There are also independent pro­ viders of search-related and content-related advertising such as Miva.

Fundamentally you are bidding for positions in the sponsored listings section of the search engines for certain search phrases which you choose. You produce a small advert which appears whenever the search phrase in question is entered by a user in the search engine. It is an auction for positions for search phrases. The more you are willing to "pay for a click", for a given search phrase, the higher your associated advert is likely to be placed above others when that search phrase is used - depending also on how often it is clicked on by users - naturally search engines favour ads that get clicked on even if they are receiv­ ing less for the cost of these clicks than for other adverts.

Moreover, your adverts appear on many websites based on the actual content of the web pages on which they appear. For example, if you are bidding for the phrase Scottish Herbs this will appear not just on the search engines when that phrase is entered, but also on various web pages which host PPC ads, wherever the words Scottish or herbs, or other related words, appear on those web pages.

This seems in principle quite simple. However, it is a tricky affair to manage because:

• You may have to keep adjusting your bids to rival the competition.
• Your adverts need to be finely tuned in relation to the search phrases which they are related to, otherwise users will not click on them.
• If users do not click on your adverts, the PPC provider may ask you to pay more for some of your clicks, ask you to modify some of your ad­ verts, or forbid you from bidding on certain poorly performing search phrases.
• You have to specify a maximum daily budget and when this is depleted your adverts do not show until the next day.
• The pages on your website to which the adverts are directed must meet certain standards.
• The PPC management interfaces can be quite complex and there are a plethora of options which can be confusing.

It requires a lot of time and attention and experience to handle these matters, especially in the first few weeks of your campaign. However, over time it may well prove to be a much more cost-effective method than search engine optim­isation. Please consult us for further information about PPC as we have expert­ise in this field and can provide a PPC management service on your behalf or offer training to you.