General Guidelines

It has been a long time since I've even thought about launching a PPC campaign. Recently, we tossed around the idea of doing a PPC campaign and wanted to know if our thought process for success is on par:

- Extensive keyword research for niche based terms. Long tails are less expensive and more targeted and more likely to lead to a sale. Start with 1 term and branch out into similar and relevant terms
- Creating a compelling title and description and adding keyword(s) to the title and description of your ad
- Grouping similar keywords with specific ads, approximately 10-15 words per campaign (not sure that this is a rule of thumb but how I used to do it for tracking, etc.)
- Make sure their is a specific, relevant landing page that correlates to the terms and theme of your campaign. If not, create a new landing page catered to your PPC ads

I'm sure Im missing a ton here but thats what I have this wonderful group for, to fill my gaps. I tried to cover the major components.

Where I am lost is with the budgeting. Can small companies with shallow pockets and crocodile arms be successful or do you need to have a hefty budget and deep pockets to succeed? How does one go about establishing a budget for a PPC campaign today? Whats the trick to being successful and showing a ROI for a PPC campaign?

Im not sure its worth initiating a PPC campaign but the idea has been tossed around and I would like to know what seems to be working now-a-days.

great list. thanks for sharing such information.

By the lack of response, does this mean PPC is no longer something to consider?