Bing Pay Per Click: Account Setup

The Background

Bing is the newly refurbished Microsoft search engine, formerly known as MSN Live and MSN Search. Microsoft launched Bing on 1st June 2009, with a clean and uncluttered layout and a daily image that is rotated daily to provide searchers with a fresh and attractive search experience.

Pay Per Click Advertising

It’s not surprising that since the launch of Bing, more and more advertisers are looking to promote their business on this new and emerging branded search engine. Bing Pay Per Click advertising is run in much the same way as it was previously on MSN Live and Search, via the Microsoft adCenter programme.

The Microsoft adCenter platform has currently remained exactly the same; the only major difference in fact is the search engine that your ads will appear on. You will still see your ads appearing at the top or right hand side of the results page in the same format as before.
Creating your Microsoft adCenter (Bing) Pay Per Click Account

For those of you who are amongst the many advertisers who are only just venturing into paid search on Bing, I thought I would take you through creating your first campaign step-by-step.

Creating your Account

• First you will need to sign up for a Microsoft adCenter Account. This will cost you a one off payment of £5 to activate and from then on, the only cost involved is what you pay per click. Click ‘Sign up now!” to begin the process. There are six individual steps in the process which I will talk you through

• Bing Pay Per Click allows you to target your customers by language, country, region and even city. Choose the most appropriate targeting to suit your entire market.

• You will need to create your first ad whilst signing up for your new account. I would recommend starting off your account with a campaign targeting your brand name terms and then add specific campaigns after you have completed the initial set up. Keep your first advert to promote your brand rather than your product offering.

• Next, you will be asked to enter your chosen keywords. Microsoft offer the same match types as you will be familiar with in Google AdWords; Exact, Phrase and Broad.

• If you are stuck for ideas on keywords to use, Microsoft provide a handy keyword tool to help you search for phrases based on your initial keyword or by scraping a domain for ideas.

• Set your monthly budget for your first campaign along with the default bid (max CPC) for the first ad group

• At the fifth set you will be asked to review your ad campaign details including your keyword list, first ad variant and budget entries.

• You will be required to provide the basic information about yourself and to create a username and password to set up your account

• In the final step, Microsoft request your company details and credit/debit card number that the £5 setup fee will be deducted from. This card will be associated with the account going forward but you will have the option to add/remove cards once the account has been activated.

Congratulations! You should now be an active advertiser using the Microsoft adCenter platform!

If you would like help setting up and managing a Bing Pay Per Click Account, contact Koozai today.

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