Sometimes internet marketing feels a lot like sitting on a raft in the middle of the ocean, hoping to be found. It’s always a challenge to attract visitors to your site and the products you’re selling. But just as with traditional marketing, online advertising is a great way to make that happen. It gives you a reach that you can’t get any other way, and it allows for incredible targeted marketing opportunities.
To make the most of their online advertising dollars, pay-per-click, (PPC) campaigns are one of the most common models used by businesses today. PPC is an ad model where businesses pay the advertising for each click their ad generates. This a more cost-effective system than paying for an ad that may or may not even be seen. But like any complicated system, knowing it’s broken is one thing; knowing how to fix it is another.
Here are some tips for breathing new life into your PPC campaigns.
Don’t pull the plug
If you’re not getting good results from your PPC efforts, it might be tempting to make a complete overhaul, scrapping the campaign rather than looking at the individual elements. But if you take the time to analyze different aspects of you campaign, you might be able to not only salvage your current campaign, but learn useful ways to get ahead in your future PPC work too. Take the time to dive into the details. If you need a fresh perspective on things, outsource your audit to avoid natural blind spots that come from evaluating your own work.
Don’t Pick At It: It Needs time
Just like your mom told you after your knees scabbed over – don’t try to check things out too soon. If you have recently started or changed your strategy, or if a new team is managing your PPC, give things some time. After a few weeks you can make another assessment that is based on complete, accurate information.
Check your Keywords
Take a look at the keywords you have been using, including an evaluation of your bids. If they are too high or too low, they may not be helping you to achieve your goals. In addition, make sure you’re using the right mix of keywords. Broad match keywords will drive more traffic to your site, but your conversions will be lower. Exact match keywords will get less traffic, but with an improved conversion rate. Phrase match keywords are more balanced.
Check your Quality Score
Google assigns ads a quality score based on your ability to serve customers’ needs. The score includes factors like your ad text, the quality and relevance of your landing page, and the keyword relevance. The better your score is, the lower your cost per click, and therefore the higher your ROI. It’s in your best interest, then, to make your ads the best they can be. Improving your score can take time, but you can begin by pulling reports to analyze. Then, after implementing changes, return a few weeks later to check on your progress.
Are your Ads Correct?
One simple step you can take to improve your PPC campaign is to just look at the ads themselves with a critical eye. Is the text on the ads spelled correctly? Does it look professional? Poorly worded or badly designed ads won’t perform well, even if the right keywords are in place. Also, make sure the actual offers you are advertising are still current.
Configure your Analytics
The first step here is to simply determine if you have an analytics account. If you don’t, get one! The insights you can gain are invaluable. Ensure that your analytics account is attached to the account set up for paid searches, and that you have established metrics to track the performance of your ads. You should be regularly pulling reports to check on a variety of factors, from bounce rate to just how long users are spending on your website. As you look at how well your ads are converting, you can also see whether adding new keywords might be a good strategic move.
PPC campaigns are an excellent way to make the most of your marketing funds. But if your campaign isn’t achieving the result you want, don’t be afraid to dig in and make changes. Then, give it the time required to see if it pays off. Following these simple steps can help you turn your campaign around and make it a triumph!
Image credits: Screenshot taken 11/26/2016 of www.google.com/adwords, Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Commons
