Budget Forecasting Continued - Tackling Overture - Pulling it All Together
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The Keyword Seector Tool and the bid tool have given you keyword counts, maximum bid amounts and positions for the keywords in your ad. You now have enough information to forecast your monthly budget. Here's an example of how to put it together in a meaningful way using a spreadsheet.
| | Count | Estimated Clicks | Estimated CPC | Position | Estimated Cost per Month |
| Keyword 1 | 2197 | 44 | $1.51 | 1 | $66.35 |
| Keyword 2 | 221 | 4 | $1.26 | 1 | $5.57 |
| Keyword 3 | 96 | 2 | $0.51 | 1 | $0.98 |
| Totals and Averages | 2514 | 50 | $1.09 | | $72.90 |
The following defines the values for the rows in the above chart.
- Count - The number of monthly searches performed in Overture for the respective keyword as reported by Overture's Keyword Selector Tool.
- Estimated CPC - This is the amount you're willing to pay per click for the position you want. This amount will always be one penny above the maximum CPC of the advertiser in the respective position for which you are bidding. So, for example, if the advertiser bidding on Keyword 1 has a maximum bid of $1.50 for the #1 position, your estimated CPC would be $1.51.
Payment Options with Overture
The payment options available to Overture advertisers are much more flexible than Google's. The Money Manager tab in the Overture DirecTraffic Center enables you to select Budget On and Budget Off features. The Budget On feature lets you set a daily budget and a target monthly budget. Once your campaign reaches the monthly budget, your ads go down until the next billing period unless you put more money in your account. Overture will notify you via email when your budget is nearly tapped out.
The Budget Off (Non-Stop Traffic) option enables advertisers to specify a monthly budget, but if that budget taps out before the billing period then Overture will automatically charge your credit card, which they keep on file. This isn't as scary as it sounds. Overture will send you email alerts that notify you when your card has been charged and you can set the amount to be charged (e.g., $25.00). This way you can't go drastically over budget unless you want to.
Next: The Big Picture - Snapshot of Your Entire PPC Campaign >>
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