Pay-per-click is here to stay. We might as well just get used to it. Google has really captured a large part of the market with Google Adwords. Within the past year web sales have really soared with people making use of Adwords campaigns targeting specific goods within the affiliate marketplace. Several ebooks such as Google Profit and Google Cash have attempted to unleash the power of pay-per-click for affiliates worldwide. But business owners are the largest group to incorporate pay-per-click into their full advertising budget. Because it is here to stay it is wise to learn how to use it.

Adwords functions similar to other pay-per-click services where you bid on keywords targeting your ad. If a visitor searches on \"swiss watches\" for instance, and you have bid on the phrase \"purchase swiss watches\" your ad will show up in the search results. The position of your ad however is strongly dependent on how much you bid and how targeted your ad is to this particular key phrase.

Everything within Adwords functions around the \"campaign\". Once an official user you can create unlimited campaigns. Before going any further, research what it is that you wish to target. Is it a particular item that a merchant is selling and your promoting? Is it your own product? An infoproduct? Or, are you trying to attract potential subscribers to your mailing list? You must first determine which keywords and/or key phrases you will bid upon. I frequently use the Overture search tool at

http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ .

Overture has said in the past that it may consider offering this service only to members but for now it is still free. Once you have researched your keywords you are ready to get started.

(1)First open an Adwords account. Simply go to

https://adwords.google.com .

Their is a small one time signup fee of $5.00. Your username and password information will then be emailed to you.

(2)Next, log into the adwords system and select create a new campaign. Name it something that is descriptive so that you can create multiple campaigns and not get confused.

(3)You are now ready to create your ad. Pay strict attention to the guidelines set by Google. If you are promoting as an affiliate, you must say so in the ad. The easiest way that is accepted by Google is to simply ad \"aff\" at the end of the ad text. Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind.

     (a)Make sure your keyword or part of your key phrase is in the ad headline. This is a must to keep your ad targeted.

     (b)If possible put your keyword or key phrase in the text of your ad.

     (c)If you are promoting as an affiliate, it may be best to direct link to the owners website through your affiliate link.

Now finish your submission and start tracking your campaign. Google states that your ad will go online immediately but I have seen it take 10-15 minutes. The most important thing to do at this point is track your ad success over the next few days. If you are ranked low try increasing your bid a little at a time. You can also try targeting other keywords not frequently used. If something isn\'t working then change it. This is the power of Adwords. You can advertise and perform market research at the same time.

-----------------------------------------

Dan J. Fry is an independent researcher and owner of e-Kinetic.com, a site devoted to providing resources for smallbudget home businesses. He has a PhD in Physics, two daughters and two cats. Subscribe to his free E-Zine on home businessresources at e-kinetic@GetResponse.com or by visiting his site at http://www.e-kinetic.com . He can be reached atcomp@e-kinetic.com.