Something that has become apparent from keeping up to date with the ‘Analyse A Real PPC Campaign‘ series, here on PPC.org, is just how often big companies still make mistakes with their PPC campaigns when analysed There is always room for improvement with PPC campaigns.

It is quite easy to have a narrow vision and optimize certain elements to a PPC campaign, such as the landing page, search advert, keywords targeting etc.. However, what is commonly forgotten is how such a change will affect the whole campaign and the performance as a whole. Taking this into consideration, here are some elements which contribute to making a successful PPC campaign.

Concurrence Between Search Advert and Landing Page

It is vital to the campaign’s success that the content on the landing page follows up directly with the content in the search advert. This is because the web user is following a path to a conversion – if the information is confusing or misleading, it will tend to reduce the chance of the web user converting.

Make sure that the message your search advert perceives is the same as what the landing page wants the web user to do. For example, if you are looking to sell a product, is the search advert enticing the web user to buy a product whilst the landing page provides the option for the web user to buy the product? If so great. If not, the search advert and landing page need to re-align.

The Correct Conversion on the Landing Page

There are many different types of landing pages web users can use depending on what the advertiser wants the web user to do. Is it a purchase you want? Do you want to share information about something new? Do you want to obtain data from web users?

It is far too common to see campaigns that seemingly want one thing from the web user, but have the wrong functionality in the landing page so that is not achievable. Whatever you want the web user to do, make sure it is possible on the landing page!

Use of Ad Extensions

Ad extensions are a great addition to PPC search adverts. They add content to the advert, increase the size of it (helping to give it more exposure by standing out against standard PPC adverts). On top of this, they provide an alternative and, potentially better, route for the web user to convert onto your website (missing out the middle man of a click through landing page). Due to this, try to incorporate an ad extension into your PPC campaign. Through A/B testing, you should see the results improve with the use of one.