The Overture search term tool was bought out by Yahoo! in 2003 and is now referred to as Yahoo Marketing Solutions. Overture was one of the first pay-for-placement companies out there. Basically this is what pay-per-click evolved from.
The reason the Overture search term tool is no longer with us is the fact that when the Internet changed the way they did things, Overture did not keep up with those changes and if not for Yahoo!, Overture would have gone by way of the dinosaur.
Yahoo has revamped the entire Overture system and made it so much better. Now, not only can you find keywords to use for your SEO but you can also place ads and manage when and where those ads get seen.
As with all pay-per-click ads you only pay when your ad gets clicked on and not for every time it is shown. Pay-per-click is still a very effective way to drive traffic to your website. The more people you attract to your website the more possible it is to convert them into paying customers.
The secret to attracting potential paying customers to your site is to use specifically targeted keywords. You do this by first, figuring out who you audience will be and that is determined basically, by the product you are selling or the service you are offering.
Build the ad you post on to the search engine around your specifically targeted keyword. Use it in the title and make the title intriguing so they want to click through to your website to check out what you are offering them.
To get started doing all of this you must sign up at “searchmarketing.yahoo.com”. Make sure you have your PPC budget all worked out and available to start using. Yahoo will give you a credit just for signing up.
You will be directed to choose the US and Canada or other areas of the world. If you choose other countries make sure you take into consideration the language barrier. Now you will be directed to search for keywords.
The best way to search for keywords is to think about what words your customers would use when they search for your product or service. Then click the box that will direct you to a list of related keywords then price them out.
The pricing area is where you will tell Yahoo what your spending limit is. Once you give Yahoo your budget the tool will estimate a maximum bid amount so you get the maximum number of clicks for the keywords you are using. The tool will also estimate the number of impressions and clicks you can expect at that bid amount.