A successful PPC campaign is often overwhelming, expensive, tedious and time taking. These are the reasons why most people quit this strategy if they fail to yield results at first attempt. But here is the ten step guide to master the art of PPC:
Long-tail keywords
Long tail keywords refer to three or four word phrases specific to your product or services. This is a great technique as searchers use specific search phrases and thus it results in a higher conversion rate. Long tail keywords are also important as they are not very popular among PPC novices. As the number of people bidding on long keywords is low, so is the cost. As a best practice, include words like ‘price’, ‘where to buy’ or ‘buy’ to grab real shoppers.
Call to action
You need to have good call to action to pull the audience into click-through in the competitive market. This will make your ad stand out. Run a promotion or offer free shipping. Use terms like ‘Free Download’ or ‘Learn More’ to draw customers. Motivate searchers to act and give them a glimpse of what to expect if they click.
Dynamic keywords
Dynamic placement of keywords is very important. When searchers find the exact keyword they are searching for, the chances of a click increase manifold. PPC managers must have experience to handle this task efficiently and effectively. You need to decide which keyword has to be used on what occasion and when to change the focus of the keyword.
Negative Campaign
This does not mean that you have to bash your competitors openly through the copy of the ad. Rather, utilize negative keywords for PPC advertising & management as they are underused. Negative keywords allow you to select words that will not trigger the ad. If negative keywords are updated and used correctly, you will be able to trace down the serious buyers and save on the PPC spends.
Landing page
Remember, a homepage is not a landing page. Don’t put all the hard work and efforts by sending the targeted customers on home page that is not targeted. As a best practice, create simple landing pages that are coordinated with your PPC ad. Don’t lose the visitor and potential sale by adding unnecessary content.
Geo-Location
Does it make sense to have an ad running in the UK, when you sell insurance cover only in the US? Decidedly not. This will only mean wastage of money because your campaign was not focused. Search engines offer geo-location features that let you target the market on the basis of IP addresses, so be sure to utilize this feature.
Google Quality Score
Remember your Google quality score determines the ranking of the AdWords account and the placement of the ad on the search page. Try to maintain a high score by simply following the rules set by Google AdWords and provide for quality advertisements.
Timing
For a successful PPC campaign, it is also important to allow for time targeting. Analyze the metrics to know when your ads yield highest conversion rate. If you witness maximum of clicks at 5 pm, but not converting in sales, restrict ad impressions in this time slot to save money.
Test run
Setting up a PPC campaign is not enough. It is very important to do some in-depth analysis and testing and analysis are required. Metrics are important to understand the campaign and results. Test multiple ads concurrently; allow only one variable at a time. Remember to run the tests long enough to collect proper data.
