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Dana Todd talked about bringing PPC campaigns in-house at PubCon and the intricacies of staffing and managing them once they arrive.

Do you do PPC in-house? Are you giving it some thought? Share those thoughts with us at WebProWorld.

Mike McDonald passed along his notes on Dana Todd's discussion of PPC management, where she cited 52 percent of companies wanting to make that an internal function instead of leaving it with an outside agency.

Many times the PPC campaign can be a more cost-effective operation if done in-house, but Todd said that does depend on the company's business model. For many small to medium sized businesses (56 percent), keeping it in-house instead of going with an agency has been their process anyway.

Once the decision has been made to move the PPC work internally, Todd said a firm needs two types of staff - analysts and creative - and their duties should remain separate. She recommended bringing on consultants early in the process to help lay the groundwork for those staffers and to avoid trial-and-error mistakes.

(UPDATE: Dana Todd was kind enough to contact me, and asked that I provide some clarification here: "What I was saying is that many of the people who really excel at PPC are sort of a weird right-brain/left-brain combo personality, and it's rare to find that combination in one person. So, many companies are breaking up the basic skillsets - creative work and analysis work - and using existing people to take those duties and work together.")

The business needs to set guidelines for trademark usage and brand management. Also, leadership needs to communicate clear and consistent return-on-investment (ROI) formulas, ie what is 'good' and what is 'bad'. Set goals and ensure results can be quantified.

Bringing in a manager experienced in PPC will probably be expensive, but the person would be worth it as an investment in the ROI of the PPC campaigns. That manager will need to be coming into a firm that can empower the PPC team to get things done without lengthy approval processes and other red tape.

The nimbleness and speed required of effective PPC work can bruise egos and mire the process down as internal politics rears its ugly head. Senior leadership must make those roadblocks understand the value of search marketing and explain to them how delays and infighting actually cost the firm money.

After the people are in place, and the time has been dedicated to developing PPC in-house, the PPC staff needs the resources to succeed at their work. It's critically important for firms to utilize a bid management tool. Poor bid information could see a business bidding against itself for keywords.

Ad tracking software, and proper training in its use, should be another focus for resources. Campaigns will change, sometimes dramatically, and the PPC team needs to have the tools to determine what's working well, what needs improvement, and where each campaign is on an ongoing basis.

Tools help build a solid foundation for the campaigns. Todd recommended developing keyword lists, bidding strategies, categories and ad groups for each search engine. It's a lot of information to organize, and successful PPC management does that best.

Although agencies generally outperform in-house efforts by a couple of percentage points, the cost savings by moving in-house can balance that in the company's favor. Companies that keep the issues and concepts in mind should be able to do well with an in-house PPC effort.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.