So I developed a proven method when setting up PPC campaigns that reduces costs, increases CTRs, and drives more traffic to your website while spending less time managing your account.  In fact, I am so confident with my approach, I am able to efficiently and effectively run an entire web business from a single keyword!

How do I do it?  Read on.

Selecting Keywords – If you want to create an affordable pay-per-click advertising campaign, I suggest that you start with a list of only 25-50 keywords for your business.  Use the free Google Keyword Tool and Google Suggest (found under the Google Labs section) to compare popularity and relevancy.  These keywords should be incorporated in your website and define the value proposition of your business.  Put yourself in your customers’ shoes when developing this list.  Ask yourself, “What would I type into a search engine if I wanted to buy something from my website?”  Place your keywords into the Google search engine and see if you find your competitors.  If you do, then you’re on the right track.

Ad Group Set-Up – For the set-up portion of an affordable PPC campaign, try testing only one keyword within one Ad Group per each Campaign.  Put your one keyword as broad match, [exact match], and “phrase match”.  This gives each Campaign an extremely high relevancy factor in the eyes of Google and does not dilute your Campaigns with multiple keywords.

Finally, I recommend that you start by testing up to 30 keywords across 30 Campaigns.  Place your bids high and lower or raise the cost of each Campaign by $.05 each day until you’ve optimized each keyword cost.  Statistically speaking, once you reach 30 clicks on a particular Campaign, you can determine, with a 95% confidence level, whether or not to replace a keyword.  Swap out any underperforming keywords that are not converting well and those whose cost per conversion is too high to generate any profits.

Using these suggestions, you can focus on a handful of keywords and eventually test your way to a successful PPC program.  In my business, I’ve tested over 100 keywords before I realized that only 6 or 7 keywords were converting the best.  Even better, I found a single keyword bringing in 75% of my business.  Now, I’m able to manage a simple and affordable PPC advertising program in less time and with fewer costs due to the use of highly relevant keywords in a singularly focused PPC campaign.

About the Author: With over 20 years of experience in database marketing and search engine marketing, John Pfeiffer helps small to mid-sized companies succeed online with proven and affordable pay-per-click services.  In addition, he is the author of numerous articles and whitepapers on PPC advertising techniques.  John can be reached at http://www.PPCforSmallBiz.com © 2010