Below is everything you need to know about Pay-Per-Click (PPC) listings. This step-by-step tutorial will guide you through the process of setting up your accounts. Feel free to contact us at any time with questions, comments or to discuss any trends you notice.

If you need more help and are not sure where or who to ask, come to our Affiliate Forum located at www.DentalPlanAffiliate.com. Signing up is a snap and it’s a great resource for asking and getting answers to anything related to DentalPlans.com, Inc.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) tutorial includes:

• PPC Introduction
• Google AdWords Account Setup Instructions
• Yahoo Search Marketing Account Setup Instructions
  
• MSN Adcenter Account Setup Instructions
  

1. To create your listings, first research the rules and guidelines of the search engine you want to use. Here are the links to Google AdWords Resource Center, Yahoo's Listing Guidelines and Yahoo's Resource Center.
   
   
2. Take the time to set up your PPC advertising account and determine under which keywords you would like to pay for clicks. This process involves some research as far as finding the keywords and phrases you will be using (You can obtain a list of the DentalPlans.com keywords from your Affiliate Manager). Whichever search engine you choose will easily show you where your ads will rank for your given budget, which you will then be able to adjust accordingly.
   
   
3. Your PPC listings must be monitored in order for you to maintain your rankings. If a competitor agrees to pay more per click for a specific keyword than you are currently paying, then you will be bumped out of your position for that keyword. For example, see the screen shot for this Yahoo Search Marketing account below. Our current bid is at 0.12 and we are in the second position. We are currently in this second position due to a competitor bidding an amount of 1.00 which was higher than we wanted to pay for that keyword. When this happens, you can then decide to either bid more than your competitor to be back into the number one spot, keep your bid the same and stay in second position or lower your bid.
   
   
4. If your advertising budget changes and you decide to spend less or more money on sponsored PPC listings that month, it is quite simple to go in and manage your account. Google AdWords and Yahoo Search Marketing both enable you to scale your budget up or down with ease, allowing you to almost instantly change the amount of clicks your ads receive.
   
   
5. Another aspect of PPC marketing is the creation of your advertisement (ad). Each keyword or group of keywords must have an ad. This ad is only a couple of sentences which you should create as a call to action for the user. An example of a DentalPlans.com ad is:

   Google AdWords Example:
   Save 10% to 60% off Dental Care
   Dental Plans for You and Your Family
   Join Today and Save! -Aff

Or

Yahoo Search Marketing Example:
Are you looking for a dental plan? Save 10% to 60% on your dental care with one of thousands of dental providers Nationwide. Plus, get 3 additional months free when you join today.

6. PPC listings can be created whether you have a website or not. A good way to drive potential sales to DentalPlans.com is by using your tracking link for each ad. When a user sees your ad in their search results and clicks on it, they will then be directed straight to the DentalPlans.com homepage while you will be getting tracked for their potential sale.