What They Don’t Tell You About PPC Advertising

What They Don’t Tell You About PPC Advertising

We have heard the following phrase many times over the past eleven years… “Why spend so much time trying to create visibility of my website using natural SEO techniques when I can just run ads on the Google, Yahoo! and MSN ad networks?”  The assumption here is that setting up and managing a PPC campaign is much easier than creating keyword rich content pages within a website.  Most SEO firms will vigorously challenge this statement.  Well… the truth be known, it is easier IF it is done correctly!

Of course, the operative word is “correctly”.  In other words, if you don’t set up the PPC account correctly you will invest [spend] much more money than is necessary to drive relevant traffic to your website.  Secondly, if you don’t manage the PPC account with an “eye” for details and read between the lines… your PPC campaigns will cost you much more and the ROI will be reduced.

So that brings us to the subject of this document… sharing tips and recommendations on how to properly manage your PPC investment.  These points barely scratch the surface of details that are involved with maximizing a PPC campaign.  Our experience shows that novices can “run” PPC campaigns; however, it requires a specialist to maximize the variables and manage the costs associated with the campaigns.

The following statements and recommendations are the important ones to consider:  

- Use the keyword analytical data to improve page content and keyword usage resulting in higher Natural SEO rankings.  Think beyond just the PPC campaign keyword phrases being searched by those individuals who land on your website and improve website performance. Include natural rankings within the search engines [SERPS].

- Keywords with expensive Cost Per Click can raise your “spend amount” and increase your management fee [most PPC Agencies charge between 15 – 20% of the Monthly Spend].  Review each keyword phrase CPC to determine if you can achieve improved results using less costly and less targeted phrases. 

- Designing PPC ads without modification of the landing pages re relevant content, call-to-action, and focus on conversion will decrease the revenue producing opportunity.  PPC advertisers must deliver a relevant connection between the Ad Text and the Landing Page content. This is called Landing Page Quality Score.  The most relevant ads get rewarded with lower costs and higher positioning.          

- Website conversion metrics are needed to record and analyze the paid advertising program’s viability and ROI.  There is an adage in the PPC Management Business… “If you cannot measure it… don’t do it!”  This is prudent advice since the potential for run-away costs are always close at hand when using PPC to drive traffic to a website. 

- Relate the conversion rates, ROI and profit back to “ad pull” plus search engines and keywords used.  This takes the guesswork out of investing money into marketing campaigns that are not delivering the expected results needed for continuation.

- Geo-Targeting will limit “reach” improve your Click-Through-Rate, reduce overall costs and improve the programs ROI.  Set the campaign to only target potential visitors who can purchase your products or use your service.

- Multiple ad groups using multiple ads will produce significantly improved program results.  We recommend using singular and plural versions of each keyword, and as many variations of the keyword as possible.

- Using a “Bid Management Tool” can greatly improve your bid placement, reduce costs, and increase conversion.  We recommend setting constraints for the PPC bids by specifying desired position, setting a maximum and minimum cost per click, Return On Advertising Spend [ROAS] goal based bid rules.  

 - Using the “Time of Day” feature to pause bidding allows for better utilization of spend funds.  Each Ad Group within a campaign can be set to run by days of the week and time of day. 

- ROI needs to be calculated using the Click Through Rate and CPC to determine if the conversion and revenue supports the added expense of occupying the higher PPC positions.  From an advertiser’s perspective, this means that the goal of PPC advertising is to be more relevant than your competition so to drive up quality score, and drive down CPC.

- Use of “Dynamic Insertion” of searched terms into the PPC ad copy will increase CTR.  Use tools such as dynamic keyword insertion to automatically insert the keyword in the title of your ad. This is a great tool to promote individual product names and large lists of keywords.

- Landing Page conversion will significantly increase IF the visitor does not need to leave the page in order to receive exactly what he/she is seeking.  Provide everything needed to make the decision.  The website must be both user friendly and conversion friendly in order to attain our client’s goals in the most cost effective manner. 

- Understanding the different Google Match Types for Keywords is somewhat confusing.  Implementing the proper type of PPC campaign requires intimate knowledge of the way each one works.  There are 3 match types for Google keywords.  They are Broad, Phrase and Exact matches. 

Final Comments…

Like most technical and marketing challenges, defining, managing and reporting on Pay-Per-Click campaigns can be very complex.  In addition, the expense of mismanagement can expose the user of the PPC campaign to large sums of lost ROI.  Looking deeper into the options and configuration alternatives highlights areas where one should seriously consider hiring a specialist to manage the PPC campaign.

Finally, be sure to hire Internet marketing professionals to do the job if you don’t have the capabilities in-house.  Too much is at stake to leave this part of your business to chance!  We are pleased to provide you the insightful comments contained herein.  Please contact us at www.InternetConsultingAndCoaching.com or call us at 631-423-0815 for further discussion on how we might be able to assist you and your team or to review the Full list of PDF documents on Internet Marketing and Conversion techniques.

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