Tony Nicholls
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is key to most online marketing campaigns today, and it’s often expensive and overwhelming. If the tedious nature and large time commitment required to run a successful — or even unsuccessful — PPC campaign has got you down, you are not alone. However, a good ROI makes it all worthwhile. Over 40% of our company’s new business comes from PPC, and we’d like to think we could help you too. Here are our 10 tips to help improve your PPC campaign in hopes of a gaining a greater ROI and making the whole process more enjoyable and fruitful.
1. Run a Negative Campaign
No, the idea is not to openly bash your competitors through ad copy. Instead, utilize negative keywords, one of the most underused features offered for PPC campaigns. Negative keywords allow you to choose words that won’t trigger your ad. For example, we use “conferencing venues”, “powwow water”, and oddly “pow wow bison” amongst many others, which clearly are nothing to do with us. When used correctly and updated often, negative keywords help pare down your clickers to serious buyers and save your PPC dollars.
2. Location, Location, Location
Why have your ad viewed or, even worse, clicked by someone in Madrid when you only sell insurance in Paris? PPC dollars are wasted because unsophisticated users don’t focus their impressions by location. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo all offer geo-location features, which allow users to target their markets based on IP addresses, geo-specific keywords or both.
3. Make an Offer They Can’t Refuse
With so much competition, you need to differentiate your ad. Are you running a promotion? Is shipping free? Offer value and then capitalise on it with a call-to-action. Use terms like “Learn More” and “Free Download” to draw in customers. Encourage searchers to act and let them know what to expect on the other side of the click.
4. Be Dynamic
Dynamic keyword insertion allows you to create more relevant ad copy by placing the exact phrase searched into your ad. When the potential customer sees the exact term they searched, they are more likely to click. While dynamic keyword insertion is very useful and can increase your click through rate tremendously, it is not for the PPC novice. If poorly executed, dynamic keyword insertion can result in ads that appear unclear and irrelevant and can drain your budget quickly.
5. Utilize Long Tail Keywords
Long tail keywords are three-to-four-word phrases that are specific to your product. The reason this works is that visitors using very specific search phrases are often further along in the purchasing process and can result in a higher conversion rate. Someone looking for shoes might search for “boots,” and then have it narrowed down to “black knee-high boots” when she’s ready to buy. Another benefit to long tail keywords is their lack of popularity among PPC novices. With less people bidding on your keywords, your cost per click decreases. Add high intent words to your long tail, such as “buy,” “price” or even “where to buy,” in order to grab those on the verge of a purchase. If you need further examples, we use terms such as “how to conference call”, “setting up conference calls” and so forth – try and think what your potential customer might search for.
6. This Is a Test
Don’t just set up a PPC campaign and hope for the best — proper testing and analysis are required. Metrics allow you to better understand your campaign and results, so set up A/B tests to track what works. Remember to test multiple ads simultaneously, but only allow for one variable at a time and run your tests long enough to gather proper data.
7. Timing Is Everything
In addition to geo-targeting, PPC campaigns allow for time targeting. Analyse your metrics to determine when your ads are at their highest conversion rate. If you are receiving hundreds of clicks at 3 am, but making no sales, restrict ad impressions during those hours to save your budget.
8. A Homepage Is Not a Landing Page
We repeat … a homepage is not a landing page! Don’t throw away all your hard work by sending targeted customers to a non-targeted homepage. Create a simple landing page that picks up right where your ad left off. Don’t lose your visitor — and potential sale — by confusing them with unnecessary content. For example, have a look at our landing page for the ongoing ‘Love/Hate Travel campaign’ http://www.powwownow.co.uk/Love-Hate-Travel
9. Get to Know Keyword Generators, but Not Too Well
Keyword generators prove helpful in getting you started when mining keywords. Some great tools are the Google AdWords Keyword Tools, Microsoft Advertising Intelligence and tools by Market Samurai. However, do not rely heavily on keyword generators — often a human touch is what you need to target that human searcher. You know how you typically search, so go with your instinct.
10. Google Quality Score: Recognize
Your Google Quality Score determines the overall ranking of your AdWords account and helps determine where your ads will place on the search page. Keep your score high by following the rules set up by Google AdWords and continuously providing quality advertisements. Stay on top of your Google Quality Score, as an unexpected drop is a red flag.
These 10 steps cover the basics of increasing your ROI for PPC campaigns, hopefully your spirits and click rate are soaring as a result. If you have any further suggestions or comments, then please leave them below.
Shaz Manelli
