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In times past there was no trouble getting an upper position in those highly searched, general keywords like 'china', 'business', 'running' and 'headache' for a nickel a click. When you did a search on Google for one of those terms, you would get only 1 or 2 results, indicating to you that you could bid a minimum price for your clicks.

But as an advertiser you had a difficult time getting these general terms to convert, particularly before the advent of phrase- and exact-matching were in use. When someone entered a keyword there could be any one of a number of different specific things on his mind that he was looking for. The chances that he would click on your ad was slim and there was an even a slimmer chance of his buying your product.

Now the rules have changed in the world of PPC management. There's no longer a minimum CTR, so maintaining a certain number of clicks isn't an issue. And advertisers are much smarter now than they were even two years ago and are turning these generic terms into profitable information marketing opportunities.

So now it is worth the trouble to bid on general, non-specific, big-traffic keywords. But what is the secret to making them work?

Here are the secrets:

Run trials, test copy ideas, and try again, writing ads until one works. This can take a long time, and you may fail a number of times before you find a winning formula. But you'll win by attrition, if you can keep testing and testing until something works.

Utilize the full benefits of negative keywords.

With your ads you want those who you don't want clicking to be disqualified. When you offer "Golf Instructions: Free" you will get unsuitable folks clicking. However if you offer "Golf Video $49" those who are serious and likely to buy will be the ones clicking.

Market information, not just products. Send people to a landing page that collects opt-ins, and offer a free guide, a tutorial, or an e-mail course of some kind, which will establish you as an information source, create longer-term customers, and grow your visitor value to where even the most generic clicks are worth getting.

Managing PPCs - The New Rules

The keywords on your list each have their own market.

Every keyword represents a mindset that people have when they type it.

Behind everything explicit that your customers type in when they're searching, there's some want, need, question, or assumption, they have (but may be completely unaware of).

The markets for your keywords will vary in size large, small and in between.

For each keyword the competition will also vary.

Some keyword markets produce more dividends for the winners than others.

An excess of competition for some keywords will cause the bid price to rise unnaturally above actual market value.

On the other hand there will be some keywords that, though they make up a better more reactive market, and are available using good keyword tools, are generally neglected.

You sell when you match that implicit conversation that your customers have with themselves.