Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns can be a boon to any business, regardless of size. By targeting the right keywords and phrases, companies can drive highly-qualified traffic to their website and see a significant return on investment (ROI).
However, as with any marketing campaign, there is always room for improvement. Below are 10 tips to help you improve your PPC campaigns and get the most out of your marketing budget:
1. Define Your Goals
Before you launch a PPC campaign, it’s essential to take some time to define your goals. What are you hoping to achieve with your campaign? Are you looking to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales? Once you know what your goals are, you can create campaigns that are designed to achieve them.
For example, if you want to increase brand awareness, you might consider using display advertising. This type of advertising allows you to show your ads on websites related to your business or industry.
On the other hand, if you’re looking to generate leads, you might want to use search ads. These ads appear when someone searches for a keyword related to your business. Then, when someone clicks on your ad, they’ll go to a landing page where they can enter their contact information.
2. Research Your Keywords
Keyword research is an essential part of any PPC campaign. You need to choose keywords relevant to your business that potential customers are likely to search for. Also, consider the different stages of the buyer’s journey. For example, someone just beginning their research might use different keywords than someone ready to make a purchase.
To do keyword research, you can use tools like Google AdWords Keyword Planner, Semrush, or Ahrefs. These tools will help you find relevant keywords and provide vital data such as search volume, competition, cost-per-click, and more.
3. Create Compelling Ads
Your ads must be well-written and persuasive to get people to click on them. Make sure to include a call to action and use strong ad copy that speaks to your target audience. Also, be sure to use your keywords in your ads so that they’re more likely to appear in search results.
4. Use Negative Keywords
A negative keyword is a word or phrase you don’t want your ad displayed for. So, say you sell antique-style furniture. The last thing you want is for people looking for the latest and trendiest furniture designs to click on your ad. Therefore, you might use “modern” and “contemporary” as negative keywords so someone searching for “modern furniture” won’t see your ad.
Adding negative keywords to your campaign can help you save money and ensure that your ad is only shown to people who are interested in what you have to offer. Not only will this help qualify your audience, but it will also help you save money.
5. Target Your Ads
You can target your ads to a specific audience by using demographic information, such as location, age, gender, and interests. For example, if you’re selling women’s clothing, you might want to target your ads to women who live in the same city as your store. Or, if you’re selling products popular with teenagers, you might want to target your ads to people aged 13-17.
You can also target your ads based on where someone is in the buyer’s journey. For example, if you have a product designed to help people lose weight, you might want to target your ads to people searching for information on how to lose weight.
6. Create Separate Campaigns for Each Goal
If you have multiple goals for your PPC campaign, creating separate campaigns for each is a good idea. Individual campaigns will allow you to customize your ads and targeting options for each goal.
For example, if you want to increase brand awareness and generate leads, you might want to create two separate campaigns. For the brand awareness campaign, you might want to use display advertising. And for the lead generation campaign, you might want to use search ads.
This is a good strategy because it allows you to track the results of each campaign and see which one is more successful. It also allows you to adjust your budget and bidding strategy for each campaign.
7. Set a Budget
When setting up your PPC campaign, it’s important to set a budget so you don’t overspend. First, decide how much you’re willing to spend on each ad and set a daily or monthly budget accordingly.
It’s also a good idea to set a bid limit for each keyword. That way, you can ensure that your ad doesn’t get too expensive. You can set your bid limit using the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool.
8. Monitor Your Results
Once your campaign is up and running, it’s essential to monitor your results to see how well it’s performing. Look at factors such as click-through rate, conversion rate, and cost per conversion. These metrics will give you an idea of whether or not your campaign is successful and where you can make improvements.
With Google AdWords, you can also set up conversion tracking. This allows you to track how many people are converting after clicking on your ad. All this data can be extremely helpful in optimizing your campaign.
9. Test, Test, Test
One of the best ways to improve your PPC campaign is to constantly test different things. Try changing your ad copy, targeting options, and bidding strategy. See what works and what doesn’t. The only way to know for sure is to experiment.
For example, you might want to try A/B testing your ads. This involves creating two different versions of your ad and then seeing which one performs better. If you conduct A/B testing, remember to make one change at a time. That way, you’ll know which change is responsible for any improvement in performance.
So, you might tweak the headline of one ad while leaving the other ad unchanged. Or, you might change the call to action of one ad while leaving the other ad unchanged. Once you see which ad is performing better, you can then make further changes to that ad.
10. Hire a Professional
If you want to get the most out of your PPC campaign, you might want to consider hiring a professional. A professional can help you with everything from choosing the right keywords to setting up conversion tracking.
Hiring a professional is definitely a good option if you don’t have the time or expertise to manage your own PPC campaign. Just be sure to do your research and find someone who is reputable and has a good track record.
PPC campaigns can be highly effective in driving traffic and generating leads. But, they can also be very expensive. So, it’s important to ensure you’re doing everything possible to optimize your campaign.
By following the tips above, you can improve your PPC campaign and get better results. Just remember to test different things and monitor your results to see what works best for your business.