Pay-per-click ( PPC )
advertising guidelines

Some of these pay-per-click advertising guidelines are downright obvious. Others may be quite surprising. Doesn't matter. Wherever you start from, here is the path to follow.

Body text and headline text must be short enough to fit in the space allowed for each.

Body text, headline text and keywords must all relate to the page to which the ad links -- its content, or theme, or purpose. That purpose must be immediately evident upon entering the page.

If you offer something specific such as a monthly special, then the page must contain a description of that same special. Claims made in your ad must be supported by what is described on the page. That applies especially to words like "free" or "limited time only."

Some claims -- see the service's guidelines -- may be supported by evidence given within one or two clicks away from the target page.

Keywords should reflect what's in the pay-per-click ad itself. The title and description must also be clear -- not inaccurate or misleading.

Remember that the broader the keyword, the more results you will get, but the lower quality they will be. Refine your keywords to zero in on people most likely to buy your product. "Ski" gets more responses than "ski boots," but if you only sell ski boots -- not tours, lodging, etc. -- then you are wasting your time. See also the CPR review, above.

Select keywords which most closely reflect the query which someone will type in at the search engine to find you. Would it be "lakeside cottages" or "vacation cottages?" Both? Then that's two different ads.

Find out if the service's guidelines allow you to closely specify your keywords. At Google, for example, ski boots will show on inquiries for "ski" or "boots." Meanwhile, [ski boots] -- with brackets -- will only respond to an enquiry which uses only those words, nothing else. On the other hand, "ski boots" -- with quotes -- will allow an entry which includes "ski boots" plus other words, such as "used ski boots." You can prevent a word by preceding it with a hyphen (-). If you want to offer ski boots but not used ski boots, then the keywords would be -used ski boots.

You have a pay-per-click business decision to make:

1) Get viewed by as many people as possible, and accept "wrong" clicks as simply the cost of doing that business. Or...

2) Be more precise in the people who get to see the link. The numbers will be lower, but they *might* be more likely to be interested in what you offer.

The answer is in the keywords you use. Do you emphasize local services? Say so, or you may expect wasted click-throughs from some guy out in Outer Hodunk. Easy isolation -- use your locality as one of the keywords. "Winnipesaukee lakeside cottages."

Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy. NH is nowhere near NJ even if the keys are adjacent on your keyboard.

Spelling, spelling, spelling. Use your spelling checker. It's not "Winipesahkye."

Spelling/accuracy also applies to the URL you put in the ad. Double-check it. That includes testing the page itself to make sure that it works. It may not be "under construction." Avoid extensive capitalization in the URL.

Forget using a pop-up ad on the target page, or your ad may be disqualified.

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No Web tricks may be used. For instance, the [back] button must operate on the target page.

What is your point of difference? Clearly state your product offering and/or your company name. The more unique your offering, the more targeted your response.

State something specific, descriptive and informative. "Good cooking" is not the same as "fireside cooking." Do not even attempt to be all-inclusive. Use this as targeted advertising, or you'll waste a lot of money.

The Web sites must be your own. If you are an "affiliate" (you send people to other sites) then you must say so in the ad. Some services may not allow affiliate ads.

Be careful of your style -- avoid superlatives such as "best." Also avoid other waste words... instructions like "click here," generic terms like "home page" and offensive language. That's not a bad idea, actually, because these "fluff" words take up space uselessly. The more concise you can be, the better!

Speaking of style, since some people use typography to sneak in added emphasis, reviewers are trained to check for this, and your ad could be rejected. Be sure to practice a conservative style. For example:

Reduce apostrophes... It's not DVD's but DVDs. They weren't the '90s but the 90s.
Use capitals only where they reflect common usage of a term or the true nature of your site... CD-ROMs are allowed. But if you are Bob throughout your site, then you are Bob in the ad, too, not BOB.
In a list, do not use a comma on the next to last item unless it would be unclear otherwise.
Instead of a double dash (--) use a single hyphen ( - ) with a space before and after it.
An ellipse may be only three dots in a row (...) with no spaces before, after or during, use no more than one ellipse in your body text, and none at all in your ad title.
Use no more than one period or question mark at the end of a sentence, and never use exclamation points!
You you may not use quotation marks to gain "emphasis."
Quotes may only be used on titles of books, etc.
You cannot use a slash (/) instead of a comma.
Symbols such as & and $ may not be used as shorthand for the words they replace.
Similarly, do not use +++ or *** for emphasis.

Certain categories -- jobs, cars, rentals, gambling, etc. -- and ads not intended for a family audience -- must meet special requirements.

It's time to verify your work. You've said what you want to say. You've put it in your own words. You've structured it to meet search engine requirements. But is it what people are looking for? Here's a great double-check. Overture.com offers a term suggestion tool to help you plan pay-per-click advertising. Google offers a similar keyword selection tool.

Independent support applications

Several third-party companies offer bidding tools to help you retain a competitive bidding position. At least for North America, Overture has approved several (we have not seen such a list yet for Google), and these include BidRank, Dynamic Keyword Bid Maximizer, Epic Sky, GoToast, PPC BidTracker, PPC Pro, Send Traffic, and Sure Hits.

Next: PPC cost and effectiveness

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Pay-per-click ( PPC ) advertising guidelines

Independent support applications

Pay-per-click ( PPC )
advertising guidelines