I've seen a lot of angry spleen venting over the recentchanges in GoTo.com's pricing policy. Problem is, goingpostal won't change it. That's the way it is. Like Yogi,we've now got to be smarter than the average bear. So, Iwanted to offer some resources for improved Pay-Per-Click(PPC) efficiency.

For starters, I don't want to rehash the obvious. I mean Icould tell you not to touch those one cent bids (well, duh!)as they are grandfathered in until September 1. Or that youshould make your bids work harder with better titles anddescriptions. Or suggest checking out other PPCs to loweryour average cost per bid. Still...

GoTo Gambit #1

Here's a useful tool to see what keywords might run you inother PPCs. Just plug in keywords and a maximum bid foreach. By return email you'll discover where your proposedmax bid would slot you in the bidding hierarchy. Prettyslick, huh? Makes it easy to find the lowest cost PPC deals. http://www.did-it.com/prospector.htm/

GoTo Gambit #2

Put on your thinking cap and come up with relevant two andthree-word phrases. Why? Efficiency. Phrases have fewertotal searches. Bids for those top spots cost less. And theyusually give you better click-through rates.

Stuck? The best tool I've found for coming up with phrasesis the new and improved keyword wizard. Just eliminate oneword suggestions and in a matter of minutes you'll have tonsof search phrase possibilities. http://www.jimtools.com/

GoTo Gambit #3

How much can you afford to bid? Don't know? Well, it allcomes down to three letters: ROI. Return On Investment.There's a handy form that was specifically designed to helpyou find out how much you can bid profitably. http://www.payperclickcalculator.com/

Once you know that, head over to the Goto.com KeywordInterrogator and enter a keyword. It returns a list ofsearch terms along with the number of searches and the Top10 (or however many you want) bids for each. Bid away afterchecking here. http://www.searchengineworld.com/cgi-bin/goto.cgi?action=reset&ti=985821682/

GoTo Gambit #4

Make every click count. If a visitor doesn't buy, do you usea pop-up box to ask them to sign-up for your ezine or a minicourse as a fallback? You would at least get something outof the click.

GoTo Gambit #5

I assume you know which keywords send you the most traffic?Guard those puppies like a junk yard dog! Don't know how?Piece of cake with this next FREE tool. It shows you whereyou can save money by keeping you on top of bid gaps. Thatis, where you can lower your bid and still not lose yourposition. I mean, why over bid it you don't have to? http://www.positionguardian.com/

Or you can pay to automate this task using PPCBidTracker orKeyword Bid Optimizer (KBO). Pricing may favor KBO.Especially with multiple domains. http://www.PPCBidTracker.com/http://www.paidsearchenginetools.com/

GoTo Gambit #6

Ever consider optimizing your site for GoTo's default searchengine, Inktomi? You might want to. That way, if a searchterm at GoTo.com doesn't have enough (or any) bids, it pullsin results from Inktomi. Top positions there could mean freetraffic from GoTo. Don't know much about Inktomi? Noproblem. Get help at this forum: http://searchengineforums.com/bin/Ultimate.cgi/

GoTo Gambit #7

Finally, while not really a gambit, a FREE piece of softwareI can't live without since GoTo's suggestion tool is downtoo much, is Good Keywords. It works great and is a big helpin getting the most from the PPCs. http://www.softnik.com/?gkw/

Hopefully these suggestions will save you time and/or money.And make the pain of the recent pricing decrees at Goto.comeasier to swallow.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Gergye. Is Your eBook as Silent as a Mime? Well, Make It Talk! Digital publisher John Gergye has more ideas like these, as well as a clever way to make your eBook stand out from the crowd! Find out how at
http://www.makeyourebooktalk.com/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?a03