Does size matter?

[awcoatl]

I am the web guy for the following business - www.antiquewatchco.com - While we have had a web presence for about 5 years, we've only been SEO'ing actively for the last 13mths.

I have tweaked, and continue to tweak about every 2 months, our key word placement and content. I also welcome any commentary here.

I'm now trying to decide if it is worth a chunk of our hard-earned money to sink some funds into pay-per-click services like Overture. I've pretty much ruled out Google's AdWords (due in large part to posts in the Google Forum here), but am intrigued by Overture.

My question is... Do you guys think the size of ones particular market dictates the value of ppc services?

In other words, the market for antique watch sales and repair is a fairly small one. If one has a travel agency, it makes perfect sense that one would need to PAY to have ones site appear before the other 10,000 travel agencies. However, with our niche, there are really only 5-10 reputable sites out there. However again though, when you Google "Antique Watch" we don't show up in the 1st 10 PAGES of hits. And one more however, 90% of those that do appear are not retail antique watch sites, they're just collector sites or misleading sites that pull you in and actually offer no vintage pieces. Fortunately many of collector's sites and a few of the competitor sites have links to us.

When I look at their key word placement and content, and I just don't see where I've done anything that differently. While I certainly don't mind being placed with competitors, these bogus pages being listed before us is killing me.

I am a paying subscriber to selfpromotion.com. I think it is an invaluable service and I greatly appreciate what the author has created with his service. I keep our page updated and try to keep it optimized.

I'm beyond the point of rambling here. I apologize. I hope my frustration and confusion has become apparent.

Bottom line:
Do you guys think pay-per-click would help us?

Anything else you notice is appreciated. I have posted in these various forums several times and always appreciated and almost always implemented suggestions.

[CLK Group]

Hi Paul,
Though I'm not an expert in pay-per-click, I would think the size of your existing, or potential market, would definitely have a bearing on whether you decide to invest your dollars.

Have you considered a print ad in publications that cater to your market?

Something I have used twice with good results is to issue a press release. You'll need to either come up with a "newsworthy" angle for your business or have your press release crafted for you. These three sites provide good information:

http://www.prweb.com/
http://www.send2press.com/
http://www.xpresspress.com/

[fathom]

If you like Overture - give Adwords a run - most often it is well worth it (but you need to learn the processes involved)... And if you can't make money for yourself using Adwords... "I can".

Notwithstanding current PPC models will not have a long lifespan - they are still very young which means few use them and as awareness to the current setup grows the cost to play grows and profitability depreciates.

On that note: today is the day to learn to play - you should be able (in most instances) to creatse a sizable return.... and in concert with SEO stuff really pays off.