There’s no such thing as a perfect PPC account structure, but it’s likely that you can improve yours. Since every account is different, every structure should be structured differently. Bear in mind that there are (fortunately) some constants, such as always be segmenting, make keywords tight, and performance control should be as simple as possible. How well your account is structured impacts how easy it is to manage it, so don’t make things harder for yourself.
A local mom and pop diner is going to have a totally different approach than an e-tailer and shipping across the country. To get started, focus on those long-tail keywords (or “themes”). Focusing on short keywords means you’re not being competitive since there’s so many other websites using the same words, such as “buy smartphone” if you’re managing a national smartphone dealer site. However, going long-tail with keywords like “compare 2014 smartphones on sale” helps with your search engine optimization (SEO).
What does SEO have to do with PPC?
A lot. If you’re not optimizing your own time and efforts (or showing your employees how to), then you’re wasting company dollars. Pay per click ads depend on (surprise!) clicks to get you and your client paid. The biggest payoffs benefit everyone, including the consumer who’s best matched with the ads, and should be your goal. According to Google, optimizing your account structure relies on two pillars: separating campaigns by geography when applicable, and making sure any ad groups and campaigns mimic the site’s layout.
If you don’t mirror ads/campaigns to the site, you end up with the exact same ad copy and landing page. Why not consolidate and streamline things? The purpose is with ad copy and keywords, not engaging in duplicate copy (which is a black hat trick and huge no-no). However, there’s another option to this “party line” approach: Utilize the awareness of your customers.
Put your customers to work for you
For some campaigns, it’s best not to group via site structure or product. Instead, use your customers’ levels of awareness for a differentiator of structure. For example, keywords that suggest window shopping are sent to a top of the funnel tactic, and those action keywords that suggest the user is ready to buy are put into a lower funnel since you’ve nearly reeled them in. This might seem complicated, but it’s a great boost to your conversions.
Every customer has to buy. When keywords go to the funnel’s top, they help your customer make decisions. In the middle of the funnel, and it’s your chance to showcase value (you just got them on the hook). With lower funnels, it’s your job to make the job as easy as possible since they’ve already decided to buy.
The no brainers
You can name campaigns however you like, but if you won a billion dollars tonight, up and quit your job, would your successor be able to easily figure out what you were doing? When it comes to naming, begin with the most important part of the project, stay consistent, and make sure all the data anyone needs to know is clear with a single glance.
There are two major types of accounts: E-commerce and lead generation. E-commerce has many more landing pages since there may be thousands of products. You might want to run any number of campaigns including text ads, remarketing, dynamic search ads, or shopping to name just a few. Even with only 20 products, that can easily become hundreds of campaigns (or thousands if you geo-target). Label it all, separate it and stay consistent so things don’t get out of hand.
You’re not going to reach perfection, but you can make management easier. Are you enjoying the best experience with your current structure? Some changes are likely in order, whether big or small.
