Should You Use The Content Network?
The Content Network is Google’s network of advertising websites on which they place ads. You can actually select your websites when running a PPC campaign by narrowing your Content Network focus to keyword-based, placement targeted, or both.
A keyword-targeted campaign on the Content Network is just as its name implies. You select the keywords that you want to target and Google will place your ads on web pages that are optimized for those keywords. There are advantages to doing this, but we don’t recommend this strategy for all customers across the board. Whether or not you wish to target by keyword depends on a number of factors and if you think that your targeted keyword could be used on a number of sites where your targeted visitors won’t traffic then it will just waste your time and money. That’s what you want to avoid.
With placement targeting you can choose the specific sites you want you ads to run on. For instance, if you sell cowboy boots then you’ll want your ads to run on sites that might sell cowboy hats or other western wear, or you may want your ads on sites that attract a large traffic base of country & western music listeners.
The Google Content Network offers many more opportunities for advertisers and can often lead to more conversions and more targeted traffic.
Google Adwords Can Do More Than Just Keyword Search Targeting
While natural search is a great way to increase targeted traffic, believe it or not, some people don’t search the internet that often. Consider the lesser acquainted browser, familiar with the Yellow Pages or other convenient source of advertisement in one location. Should this tech-deprived person decide to use the internet to find their restaurant, dentist or school of choice, they will probably look to an official source.
Most people know about the sponsored ads that show up in Google searches, but did you know that ads driven by Google Adwords can show up on official, high-ranking sites as well? When I say “official” I am referring to sites associated with large, well-known companies, like Amazon, AOL, Time-Warner, etc. Google already owns a significant portion of the ad space on these sorts of sites and, when appropriate, will show your Google ad on their pages. Depending on relevance, bid and various other factors, Google will rotate ads in certain spots on certain pages hosted on one of these high-ranking websites. Not only will your ads be visible to thousands of people a day who regularly browse the site, but they will likely be on the site looking into information relevant to your business. This is the Google Content Network.
Some might consider this mass-exposure to be a problem for local businesses, but this is not the case. Just as Pay Per Click ads can be set up to target geographical areas, so can these ads, which can be image ads as well.
Interested in setting up an Adwords campaign? It may be a lot cheaper than you think. Also, you can setup a campaign on Yahoo! or MSN as well.