Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is the key to success for many online marketing campaigns, but it comes with a hefty price. Setting up a PPC campaign is no easy task, it requires a large time commitment and tedious work. Not to mention, there are no guarantees. In the end, a good ROI makes it all worth while. Here are 10 tips to help you take some of the stress out of setting up a PPC campaign and improve the ROI.
Take Advantage of Negative Campaigns
One of the most overlooked features of PPC campaigns is the use of negative keywords. Negative keywords allow you to hand select words that will not trigger your ad. Negative keywords help you to attract clicks from the most serious buyers and save on your PPC dollars. For example if you are a new car salesman you probably don’t want someone clicking on your ad looking for a used car. In this case, it would be wise to add “used” to your negative list.
Location Specific
Not focusing your impressions by location is one of the easiest ways to drain your PPC budget. Why have your ad appear in California when you are only licensed to sell in the state of Maine. Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo all offer geo-location features to target your market based on IP addresses and/or geo-specific keywords.
Differentiate Your Ad with a Call to Action
Your ad should stand out and differentiate itself from the competition. The ad needs to have a compelling call to action and provide value. You have to provide searchers with a clearly labeled reason to visit your website. Your offer should be as compelling as possible, encouraging searchers to act. For example: Use our FREE quick and easy website doctor to help you determine whether or not your website has what it takes for your business to achieve success online.
Long Tail Keywords
Long tail keywords are phrases that are specific to your product consisting of three-to-four words. Long tail keywords help to target the most qualified customers. Visitors using very specific search phrases related to your product or service are typically further along in the buying process, ultimately leading to a higher conversion rate. Long tail keywords have the added benefit of fewer bids meaning a smaller cost per click. Target those who are ready to buy by including words like “buy,” “price,” and “where to buy.”
Do Not Hope for the Best
A successful PPC campaign requires adequate testing and analysis. Adjustments are almost always necessary throughout the life of your campaign. The metrics provided allow you to analyze and understand your campaign. You may need to setup a series of A/B tests to track what works well for you and what does not. Alter one variable at a time while running multiple ads simultaneously to gather the data you need.
Timing Is Key
Timing can be just as important as geo-targeting. Analyze your metrics to help determine when your ads are at the highest conversion rate. Save your budget by restricting your ad impressions to your most successful time frames. You might be getting a lot of clicks at 2 am, but are you converting these clicks?
A Homepage Is Not a Landing Page
Do not direct traffic to your website’s homepage! If a customer does not find what they are looking for in the first 10-15 seconds they are going to go elsewhere. Direct customers to a targeted landing page geared towards what they are looking for. The landing page should be simple and straight to the point, not cluttered with unnecessary content. Give them a reason to provide you with their contact information. Do not throw away all that time and money by sending targeted customers to an irrelevant page on your website.
Use Keyword Generators as a Guide, Not as the Ultimate Answer
There are several tools available online to help you generate keywords. Some of the most used tools are the Google AdWords Keyword Tools and Microsoft Advertising Intelligence. Keyword generators can be a helpful first step in determining your keywords, but do not rely solely on these tools. Go with your gut feeling. You know your target market more than anyone else.
Quality Score
Your Google Quality Score determines where your ads appear in the sponsored results for a given query. Higher Quality Scores across your AdWords account generally mean that your ads receive more impressions for lower costs.So it’s definitely in your interest to understand the system. You should always be monitoring your quality score.
220 Marketing specializes in Online Marketing and Management for industries such as Insurance Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, and Mortgage Marketing.
