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Time and time again, this “set it and forget it” mentality is what ends up leading to PPC failure. Just as the overall health of the human body depends on the condition of and interaction between its individual systems and organs, the strength of a PPC campaign is fully dependent upon the successful management and integration of its individual components such as budgets, bids, keywords, ads, landing pages, geo targeting, match types, and ad scheduling. Because PPC is such a complex process, individuals with little to no experience are rarely able to take advantage of the many specialization tools and options available, therefore falling far short of their original goals. Thus, the optimal way to achieve positive PPC results is to leave it up to a professional.
Generally speaking, the top PPC position requires the highest cost-per-click (CPC). And while the general rule of thumb is that higher positions yield higher click volumes, the increase in potential traffic is rarely worth the increase in CPC. By bidding for lower placements, there is a much higher chance that your budget will stretch further throughout the day and your ads will be displayed more frequently, ultimately yielding you more clicks.
Not only do PPC ads have tight size limitations, but they also have special requirements related to content, grammar, and punctuation. Additionally, users tend to react differently to PPC ads than they do to other ad types due to the unique nature in which PPC ads are displayed. Because of this, writing strong PPC ads requires the use of techniques and best practices specific to PPC that differ from those typically used in print or direct mail. And it does not just stop at writing ads once and letting them go – conducting ongoing testing of different ad variations is crucial to discovering and utilizing the most effective ad text.
By simply plugging in a bunch of obvious keywords based only on your own perception of your product(s) and/or service(s), all you are doing is severely limiting your chances to maximize your click quality and your reach to truly qualified potential customers. Keyword research not only provides important information on potential traffic, but it allows for the discovery of very specific keyword variations that are less costly and have a much higher chance of converting into an actual customer.
PPC’s job is to drive the most qualified visitors possible to your website, but it is ultimately your website’s job to “close the deal.” This is why it is absolutely essential for you to focus as much or even more effort on the effectiveness of your website in selling your product(s) and/or service(s) as you focus on your PPC campaigns. Need help getting your website up to par? At no extra charge, let us analyze your website and make strategic recommendations for maximum PPC efficiency based on our past experiences.
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One of the great things about PPC is that it can always be improved upon. The best way to ensure that you are making the most of your PPC efforts is to conduct strategic tests – on different keywords, ad text, landing pages, positioning, and bids. You will find that when a campaign component (keyword, ad, etc.) performs higher than your expectations, there is always a way to “tweak” it to make it achieve even better results.
Especially for businesses that offer multiple types of products and/or services on their website, the landing page that typically has the highest chance of generating a conversion is the internal page that specifically describes the product or service indicated in the search keyword. You should always be making sure that the user who clicks on your ad is able to find what he or she was searching for in the least amount of clicks possible.
It is nearly impossible to determine the success of a PPC campaign without making an effort to track its results on the back end. In addition to using Google and Yahoo’s conversion tracking tools and your website’s analytics programs, it is also beneficial to find out how your customers are finding you. Include a “how you found out about us” field on your online sales or contact form, use a website-specific contact telephone number and/or email address, and train your telephone sales team to find out how callers came to find you. The information you collect from these practices will be extremely valuable when the time comes to evaluate your PPC efforts.
You might think that the organization of the campaigns and ad groups within your PPC accounts does not matter when it comes to achieving optimum clickthrough and conversion rates. Believe it or not, how you structure your account can critically impact the relevancy of your keywords and ads, which can in turn affect their conversion rate, quality score/index, cost-per-click (CPC), and position. When building your campaigns, it is always a good idea to make certain that your keywords are placed in ad groups based on very specific commonalities.
Keywords that are highly targeted to your product(s) and/or services(s) are more likely to generate conversions and cost less per click. Always do your best to include keywords that are as relevant as possible by including brand names, product numbers, geographic locations, and even product features like size, color, and fabric/material.
