Pay-per-click advertising is a powerful force in the world of digital marketing, but PPC campaigns can be difficult to set up and manage. Are you making these common PPC mistakes?
Ignoring Negative Keywords
Negative keywords are the best way you have to specify to Google that a certain search query is not relevant to your product or page. Review your search query reports and Google’s AdWords Keyword Planner to identify the negative keywords that you can set.
Keeping Poor Performing Keywords
Some of your keywords just aren’t going to deliver, and that’s okay. Maximizing the results of your PPC campaign requires some trial and error, but you have to be willing to cut the keywords that aren’t working for you. Find the terms with high CPAs and low conversions, and remove them from your campaign.
Failing to Adjust Keyword Bids
You should be checking your PPC performance weekly, so you know how to adjust the bids to keep the campaign profitable. Those with high CPAs can generally be lowered, especially if the term is in a low position anyway. You might lose a little ground in performance, but your cost will decrease dramatically.
Ignoring Keyword Match Types
Broad match keywords are tempting, but they reach such a broad audience that they don’t always work in your favor. Restrictive match types will result in traffic that is better qualified and more relevant to your offer. Consider using match types like exact, phrase, and modified broad. Overall volume will decrease, but the relevance will likely result in more clicks.
Skipping Long-Tail Keywords
This is similar to the mistake above, in that the more specific keywords tend to be more effective for your desired audience. Long-tail keywords generally have less competition, and are therefore cheaper than the shorter, less specific alternatives. Again, utilize search query reports and the AdWords Keyword Planner to find the best long-tail keywords for your campaign.
Forgetting Branded Campaigns
People searching for your specific brand name are already an ideal audience, so you should be reaching out to them! Plus, the competition and cost should be relatively low compared to some of your other high traffic keywords. Set this campaign up once and monitor it regularly to ensure that it’s delivering consistent results.
“Set It and Forget It” Landing Pages
PPC campaigns don’t begin and end with the keywords – their associated landing pages are extremely important. If you are seeing good results for clicks, but a high bounce rate or low conversion rate, your landing page may be to blame. Make sure they have the same look and feel as the ads, to ensure continuity. Also try split testing to discern what elements are and are not working well.
If you’re doing your own PPC campaign, these are all factors that should be considered on a weekly or monthly basis. If you already have Increase Your Profits handling PPC for you, rest assured that we are constantly monitoring performance and cost. We are Google AdWords Certified, Google Analytics Certified, and we are a Google partner. This means that we are on top of the best practices and latest updates that impact PPC performance. Interested in having us manage your pay-per-click campaigns? Contact us for more information!
Or, if you want to learn more about some easy, effective Google AdWords hacks, click to access our free PDF report!
