While you’ve probably heard of PPC advertising, online discussion about it can be shrouded in so much technical detail that you could be forgiven for giving it a miss. However, such is the nature of PPC advertising, the more you invest in it, the more you can get out of it.
Naturally, you would be investing money, as this pay-per-click system would entail you paying an ad platform whenever an ad of yours on it is clicked. However, you ought to also invest time to save yourself from making the following common slipups.
Opting for too many “broad match” keywords
When you get up and running with perhaps the best-known PPC platform, Google Ads, you can choose from the keyword settings of “broad match”, “phrase match” and “exact match”. Basically, the further along that scale you go, the more specific the keyword.
While “broad match” keywords will get your ads seen in more places, they might not always be places where people who click on your ads are likely to become paying customers of your business.
Bidding fiercely for top position
Whoever coined the phrase “all publicity is good publicity” certainly wasn’t a PPC marketer. As with going too heavy on the “broad match” keywords, bidding for premier position on the search engine results page might get you exposure, but that alone can be of little benefit.
As you are paying for every click, you want exposure that is likely to convert – and too many people who click on a top-ranked ad could bounce back after realising the site doesn’t address their needs.
Not using geographic targeting
If you sense a theme emerging, it’s that, yes, you ideally don’t want to pay for clicks from people who are unlikely to be interested in your products or services. Therefore, you definitely don’t want clicks from people who, on account of their location alone, can’t buy from your company at all.
Fortunately, you can prevent such people from seeing your PPC ads if you opt for geo-targeting, as Google Ads offers. This can prevent your ads from appearing outside of a specific region.
Not tracking your conversions
You want to know that your ads are working, but how can you be certain that they are? You just need to set up conversion tracking on your Google Ads account. That way, you can easily see which keywords and ad groups seem to bring the best results.
It’s easy to configure that tracking, too. In a support document, Google explains how to specify what type of conversions you seek and how to add coding that lets you track your customers.
Neglecting the landing page
The quality of the ad itself isn’t the only part of the conversion equation. The part of your site to which that ad links also needs attention. Make sure that the landing page aligns with what the ad text promises. We include PPC advertising in our palette of SEO and marketing services, while our web designers can help you to polish the landing page.
