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Google Adwords vs. Yahoo!
Who Should I Go With?
If you are new to the world of Cost Per Click (CPC) and internet marketing as a whole, deciding where to spend your advertising money is tough. Maybe the first two ideas that come to your mind are Google Adwords and Yahoo! Search Marketing. Not a bad choice – these two networks are the largest and (presumably) the best.
Price vs Quality
Price and quality are among the most important factors one must take into consideration when choosing an ad network. Check the projected CPC for the keywords you plan to use in your campaign for both Google Adwords and Yahoo! Search Marketing. If there is a considerable difference, then try the cheaper alternative first. While cheap is often more expensive in the long run, there is a difference between paying $0.50 and $2.00 per click. A click can be more expensive in one of the networks simply because many advertisers bid on it or because there are just a few sites where your ads can be displayed. Many advertisers make the mistake to select the more expensive alternative, hoping that it is better. Well, it is not necessarily so.
Read the Terms of Service (TOS)
The next step before starting your campaign is to read the TOS. Read them carefully! You will be surprised how many restrictions you can find there! Make sure that you are eligible to apply for an account with Google Adwords or Yahoo! Search Marketing and that you don’t (and won’t) violate their TOS. If you violate their TOS, you can expect to be kicked. Google is especially strict about it and there are advertisers who have been banned for violating the TOS.
See If Google Adwords/Yahoo! Search Marketing Works for You
After you open an account with either Google Adwords or Yahoo! Search Marketing, do not rush to spend a lot of money right away. Start moderately, just to test how it works for you. The fact that everybody praises Google Adwords or Yahoo! Search Marketing does not mean that it will work for you as well.
Most often it is your niche, not the advertising network that makes or breaks your campaign. There are niches, which are tougher and no matter what you do, your CTR (Click-Through Rate) will be low. Technology is one of the niches, which is notorious with low CTR (as low as 1%!) and even the best ad network can’t make users click on your ads.
In addition to your niche, geotargeting is another factor you need to consider. If you are interested in international traffic, Google Adwords is years ahead and in this case you should try it first.
Consider Alternatives
If you are not getting enough clicks, maybe you should change the network. Try some other CPC (Cost Per Click) networks. There are many of them and some of the smaller ones could turn to be a more viable alternative. If this doesn’t work either, maybe CPC is simply not working for you, so you may try CPA (Cost Per Action) and see if its ROI (Return On Investment) will be better.
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