Many factors can determine the success of PPC ad campaigns. From keywords to ad design, every component is important when designing PPC campaigns. Below you will find a list of tips to help ensure that your PPC ad campaigns are as successful as possible.
1) Finding the Right Keywords for Success
Determining which keywords are the best for your product or service is perhaps the most important step in the PPC ad campaign process. The more competitive keywords are the more each visitor’s click will cost you. However, don’t give up if the keywords you want are too expensive. Use Google’s free keyword tool, or WordTracker to find relevant keywords that are not heavily bid on by others. This is a good strategy to use for finding your marketing niche.
2) Individual Ads Equal Higher Click Through Rates.
Do not use one ad for all your keywords. Instead, separate you keywords into groups of similar words, and write individual ads for each group. These more specific ads will get better placement, and will be shown in bold if they include the specific search terms used.
3) Stand Out or Be Left Behind.
Write convincing ads that make you stand out. In the world of PPC advertising, you have to show surfers that you are better. Get their attention by being the best. You have to help your ad viewers realize that they want you, because if you don’t, they’ll find someone who will.
4) Use Landing Pages.
Web users want instant results when searching for products they want and need. Do not send PPC traffic for a specific product or service to your homepage. Instead, develop optimized landing pages for each ad group, so that impatient web users can instantly click and buy without navigating through other pages.
5) Dishonesty Costs You Clicks.
Don’t make false promises in your ads. Ads should be true reflections of the products or services that you can and will deliver. Making lofty promises in your ads may get clicks, but potential customers will soon discover that your services don’t match your advertising, and they’ll take their business elsewhere.
6) Search Related Domain Names.
If you have the option in your PPC campaigns to display a search related domain name, but point the ad to an optimized landing page, then go for it. When the actual search terms appear in your domain name, then it will appear in bold. Bold type helps with CTRs.
7) Weed Out What You Don’t Want.
Google’s new negative search term feature allows you to eliminate specific words from keyword searches. For example, if you’re looking for people who want to buy coffee, but not people who are looking for “books” about coffee, then you can eliminate the word “books”. This results in more highly targeted PPC traffic for you.
8) Experiment!
Consider changing one variable at a time, and performing A/B split tests to see which of your ads get the best results.
9) Click Through Rates Aren’t Everything.
Many website owners focus too much on developing high click through rates and spend too little time optimizing their ads and keywords. If you don’t take the time to find to develop a highly targeted campaign, then you may receive many clicks, but few results. Paying for clicks you don’t want is a waste of your advertising budget.
10) Keep Your Options Open.
While Google certainly is the leader in the PPC advertising world, keep in mind that there are other options available. Yahoo! And Microsoft both offer similar services, and often entice new advertisers with great sign-up deals.
