Tag Archive for: ppc hack

Create the Perfect PPC Campaign in 5 Easy Steps

1.) Define Key Performance Indicators

Not all KPIs are created equal. When starting an advertising campaign, make sure to clearly state which metrics are most important to you. Do you want to focus on conversations, or reach? Do you want higher click-through-rates, or impressions?

For example, if the client is looking for new leads, you want to focus on conversions. If the campaign is generating a ton of clicks but still isn’t showing many conversions, then there may be an issue with your ad and whether or not it’s truly relevant to users. Lower volumes of clicks that actually produce sales are so much more valuable than massive amounts of clicks and no real results.

2.) Optimize Your Landing Page

Develop a simple, succinct, and foolproof landing page. Lead the user through your landing page effectively by giving them fewer options. Restricting actions such as navigating to a different page or downloading different files makes it clear what the correct actions are.

The best way to do this would be to create a unique landing page for an ad. This will also help you to see how well the ad is performing. Keep the landing page short and sweet with a quick contact form or sign up sheet, and you will significantly lower the risk of confusing the user.

Also make sure that the landing page is as relevant as possible to the ad. This will help to improve both the quality score of the ad, as well as its conversion rate.

3.) Boost Your Quality Score

There are so many simple ways to improve your quality score. Google’s algorithm gives first and foremost preference to the user’s experience. This means that it tries to show only the ads that are the most relevant to that user and their recent search. A better quality score equals better positioning on the results page. Oh, and did I mention that all of this is for free?

Here are a couple quick solutions to enhance your ad’s quality score:

  • Add sitelinks
  • Refine your keyword lists to improve relevance  
  • Optimize the landing page

4.) Focus on What Happens Next

The customer’s experience does not suddenly end once they click on your ad. There is always a next step. Did they fill out a form? Did they look at other pages on the website? Did they leave the website?

Try to dive deeper into how users are engaging with your brand, and what types of responses they are receiving. If they did fill out a form, where did that information go? Is it sitting in a file that no one ever checks on their computer’s desktop? Or is it being utilized and added to the company’s email marketing campaign contacts? It is not enough to simply have the information, it also must be used effectively.

5.) Don’t Stop Improving

Even if your campaign is performing well, it can always be better. Keep refining your keyword lists to make sure that all of the terms are extremely relevant to their ads as well as to potential customers.

Making these types of small changes over a long period of time is a strategy referred to as making “micro-wins” and can be explored further in this article of ours. Micro-wins won’t produce phenomenal results right away, but they certainly will over time.