Pay Per Click ads are often an effective way to reach your target customer base without breaking your budget. But creating an effective PPC campaign isn’t always easy. Often a bit of trial and error is required before your ads start to gain traction.
Unfortunately, trial and error in advertising means money is often spent with nothing tangible to show for it. I’ve seen countless businesses start a PPC campaign, fail to get results quickly and then simply abandon the campaign entirely.
Many times, a lack of results is due to one simple mistake. Let’s take an in-depth look at what causes this mistake and how you can prevent it:
The #1 Problem with PPC is….
Clayton Johnson say’s “The problem is getting too weird with your keywords” What do he mean by that? Let’s first back up and look at how your keywords affect your sales.
Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? This is a marketing mantra which states that about 80% of your results are determined by only 20% of your actions. In other words, small actions can lead to big results.
What does this mean for keywords? A small minority of your keywords will lead to a majority of your conversions. Most of the keywords you bid on aren’t going to make a tremendous impact on your SERP. In fact, most of the keywords you’re bidding on won’t have an impact at all.
How does this happen? In many cases, businesses simply get greedy. They bid on the keywords they know they need – but then they bid on a few extra keywords just to try to get an edge.
But this can quickly backfire! These extra keywords might get some extra clicks. They’ll also bring in a lot of unqualified clicks, too, which ultimately wastes your budget.
Here’s how to target only the keywords which will help your campaign while avoiding the ones which will drain your marketing dollar:
Avoid Broad Match Keywords
Just because these are the default choice doesn’t mean they’re the best choice. Broad match keywords will rarely drive qualified traffic to your site.
Most conversions are going to come from exact match keywords. They have limited search volume, but this is where many sales will come from.
Ditch Keywords Which Don’t Convert
Here’s an easy way to identify which keywords are under performing. First, log in to your AdWords account. While viewing All Campaigns, go to the Keywords tab. Finally, go to Details, Search Terms and then All.
This is the keyword data you want to export to a spreadsheet. Then you can filter the results. You’re looking for keywords which haven’t produced any conversions in the last six months. If you really want to remove keywords, you can shorten that time period to three months.
A Quick about Brand Keywords
Keep your brand keywords even if they’re not converting. Bidding on your brand keywords helps increase your quality score. Plus, your brand keywords help you connect with customers who are already aware of your brand.
What Happens Now?
When you get rid of the non-converting keywords, you’re going to see a drop in traffic and a loss of leads.
This is okay! I promise. Remember: You’re only eliminating traffic which wasn’t converting in the first place.
You want to focus on the limited number of keywords which will lead to conversions. This has a few benefits:
- A smaller number of keywords is easier to manage
- Keywords which convert will lead to increased sales
- You’re no longer wasting money on keywords which don’t do anything
Bidding on extra keywords is usually going to cost you money without bringing in any meaningful leads. By following the strategy above, you’ll be able to focus on PPC ads that convert.
What lessons have you learned about how to manage your PPC ads? Share your thoughts below: