Written by Derek Iwasiuk
Getting the highest return on investment is important for every business. You will never be able to tell if your business is operating as profitably as possible unless you take note of your return on investment. This is why it is important to keep track of your expenses and returns when using pay-per-click advertising.
With so many features and settings to help you navigate through, running successful PPC campaigns is much easier than ever before. You can make use of this option regardless of the size of your budget. However, competing against your more experienced competitors can be hard. This is more so if you are just getting started. As a small business owner, your budget is limited and so you have to be precise in how you execute your campaigns. This post looks at a few tips you need to use to achieve the best results in PPC advertising.
Start with the main products and services
If this is the first time you are using PPC, it is important that you first focus on your core products and services. Do not target every product in your catalogue else you will end up spending more than you can manage. When deciding on the products to use, ask yourself these questions:
- Which products or services are more popular?
- Which products or services get the best conversion rate?
- Which products or services have the best profit margins?
There is a good chance that one of your products is more popular with your customers and it offers better profit margins. This is the product you need to focus on when getting started with PPC. Alternatively, you can use a combination of your products that sell well and lead to great profits.
The idea here is to focus on the products that are popular with your customers and ones that bring considerable profits. Don’t just pick any product and start advertising it. When the demand is high and the profit margins are high, your return on investment will also be high once you start using PPC.
Understand the ad networks as well as where your ads will be shown
Before you start spending time and money on PPC, it is imperative that you take some time to understand the different ad networks and where the ads will be shown. In the case of Google AdWords, there are many distinct campaign types but only 3 main mediums for showing the ads.
- Search Network. This is where the ad is displayed together with search engine results.
- Display Network. These are static image ads and at times text ads displayed across Google’s Display Network.
- Google Shopping. Individual products are shown in search results and in Shopping Tab on Google.com.
The main error you should avoid when using Google AdWords is that of targeting more than one network at the same time. For your campaign to work well and for your expenses to remain low, you need to target a single network at a go. Choose one ad network per campaign. Combining more than one network at a time will have bad effects.
Take time in Geo-targeting
Are you targeting customers in a specific geographic location? If you are, then you should set your ads to target people in specific regions. For example, if you are a plumber in San Diego, you don’t want your ads to be shown in Texas. Geo-targeting will not only ensure you speak directly to your target audience but also help you weed out the competition that would have been experienced when marketing to a wider region.
You can target searchers geographically in the campaign setting. You can target by zip code, city, county, state or country. It is also possible to do radius targeting where your ad will only be displayed to customers within a certain radius from your location.
By default, the new campaigns target the whole of the United States and Canada. It is up to you to set parameters in your ads so that your ads will only be displayed to the audiences you serve.
Don’t ignore mobile bids
More and more people today are accessing the Internet and making purchases through mobile devices. This means you cannot afford to ignore the mobile traffic when running an online campaign. However, depending on the nature of your business, smartphones may be valuable to you or bring poor conversion rates.
When customizing your PPC campaign, you need to go to the settings then select the Devices tab. You can then adjust your bids accordingly for the right impressions on mobile devices. If mobile devices are not converting well, adjust the mobile bid negatively to save yourself money and vice versa if the conversion is great.
Use exact phrase keywords
Just like SEO, PPC will also rely on the selected keywords. This means you have to pick keywords that are unique to your business and to your campaign. The best keywords to use are the long tail ones, which are more specific. By choosing exact keyword phrases, you will be able to ensure your ads get displayed to relevant searches and that you don’t pay more for irrelevant click through.
Focus on what the most relevant search queries to trigger your ads. Doing this will ensure that your conversion rate is high and your return on investment is great. This strategy will also ensure that your tight budget is stretched as much as possible.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
Just because you want people to click on your ads does not mean you make them extraordinary. Your ads’ text needs to be simple and direct to the point. This helps your audience know what they will get once they click on the link. The ad text should also contain relevant keywords. The headline should be limited to 25 characters; the description 1 and 2 should not be more than 35 characters each.
Following these tips when executing your PPC campaigns will increase your chances of success and reduce your expenses while at the same time boosting your return on investment. Don’t rush things. If you don’t understand something, ask for help.
Bio
Derek Iwasiuk runs a national digital search engine optimization firm headquartered in Minneapolis. He also spends a lot of his free time educating the minds of thousands of young SEO’s and top agencies. To gain from his in-depth SEO experience, you can check out his articles at Engage the Crowd or follow him on twitter @Diwasiuk.
