E-Commerce, Pay per Click (PPC) Campaigns

Leading Search Engines like Google and Overture allows the definition of campaigns where your ad is displayed on search engine pages when a certain search phrase is entered and searched for. Each time the ad is clicked the visitors is directed to your site. Per click you pay an amount, which varies based on factors like the position of the ad and the popularity of the search phrase. These types of ads that direct traffic to your site are also called Paid Searches. Normal search results on search engines (found by the search engine by crawling the web) are also called Organic Searches.

Configuring eCommerce Campaigns

When configuring the PPC campaign at the Search Engine you specify the URL to be called when the ad (or impression) is clicked. In this URL you should specify the required query parameters to let SurfStats recognize the hit line as an eCommerce transaction.

Please see Configuring eCommerce Transactions with SurfStats Products to get a general understanding of eCommerce transactions in SurfStats products and a list of available query parameters.

To set up a PPC campaign at Google go to Adwords at Google. You would need to log in or create an account if you don't have one. Click Create New Campaign or select an existing campaign from the list. On the Ad Groups screen click Create New Ad Group or select an existing Ad Group. You can then define a list of search phrases (called keywords on-screen). When one of these search phrases are entered by a visitor your ad will display on the search page. Add or select a search phrase (keyword) and click the Edit CPCs/URLs button. In the Destination URL field you need to specify the URL that you want Google to direct the visitor to and let SurfStats recognize it as an eCommerce transaction. For instance to direct the visitor to the web page ssl_prod.asp at http://www.surfstats.com/ when the search phrase (keyword) live statistics is entered for the GoogleSSLive campaign, product SurfStatsLive, product category of Live Statistics Products, at a cost of $0.45 per click you would specify (in one line):

http://www.surfstats.com/sla_prod.asp?zztype=ppc&source=Google&campaign=GoogleSSLive&product=SurfStatsLive&prodcat=Live Statistics Products&detail=live statistics&cost=0.45

Please note:

• The detail parameter is the value that SurfStats will use for the search phrase. If you do not specify a detail query parameter then SurfStats will use the search phrase from the referrer info.
• The cost parameter is an estimate. At this stage SurfStats cannot import the actual cost data. For a start use the Maximum CPC. As soon as actual data is available adjust the cost parameter by setting it equal to the Average PPC. From time-to-time use Show Statistics for from the Google screen listing the keywords to determine the Average PPC.