Although Google and Yahoo claim that managing a Pay Per Click campaign is easy, we beg to differ. Sure, opening an account, picking a few keywords and setting up a budget is a breeze. But making more money than the campaign costs you is a real challenge.

This article gives you great insight into some advanced techniques we use for our own clients. Three out of five people who start a pay-per-click campaign lose money, and every single one of our clients makes money; so we must be doing something right. Pay attention and get ready for the most useful article you’ll ever read about managing PPC campaigns.

 

Focus on the segments of the market you can serve

Make sure you are very specific about how you can solve a need. For example, one of our clients is an English school in Denver. They offer accent reduction courses for foreign executives who want to sound more American. When they managed their own campaign, they lost a lot of money using the keyword “accent reduction.” The reason was that people wanted to get rid of their accent in many different ways (tapes, CDs, computer software, teleseminars, and personal phone consultations), but our client offers courses on the subject. We did three things: we started using keywords like “accent reduction class” instead of just “accent reduction,” we changed the ad to something like “accent reduction class in Denver, CO,” and we used negative keywords (software, phone, book, CD, cassette, etc.) to filter out unqualified prospects.

 

Create a landing page for each of your top keywords.

Find out which keywords are getting you the most traffic. If you have 1,000 keywords in your campaign, it’s likely that 10 of them will get 90% of the traffic. Create a landing page for each of these keywords. Driving all PPC traffic to your homepage is probably the most common mistake people make.

 

Optimize your campaign for CR (conversion rate), not CTR (click-through rate).

CTR is the number of times your ad is clicked per 100 times it is displayed. CR is the number of visitors who reach a goal on your website (place an order, download your whitepaper, sign up for your newsletter, or whatever you expect them to do). CTR is a very important metric for two reasons: Google will show your ad in a higher position if your CTR is high, and a high CTR also means you’ll get more traffic. The problem with using CTR as your main metric is that people might visit your site and not convert, which means you’re wasting a lot of money trying to attract them. With Google Analytics, you can set up goals and see the conversion rate and ROI for each of your keywords. If a keyword converts really well, try to increase its bid; if it converts poorly, get rid of it.

 

Use long-tail keywords

A long-tail keyword is the opposite of a general keyword. For example, “cars” is a broad keyword and “2002 Honda Accord” is a long-tail keyword. A specific term doesn’t have as many searches as broad terms, but it costs you much less and brings you many more qualified prospects. Someone searching for “cars” most likely won’t become a paying customer anytime soon. But someone searching for “buy 2002 Honda Accord in Chicago” will.

 

Use locations, makes and models

Let’s return to the example with cars. Bidding for the term “cars” will cost you a lot and give you a high percentage of unqualified visitors. So why not break down the market by the areas, makes and models you serve? For example: Honda Accord Chicago, Honda Accord New York, Honda Civic Chicago, Ford Mustang Austin, and so on.

 

Use negative keywords

Some negative keywords are obvious. If you offer quality web design services, you probably need these negative keywords: free, cheap, affordable and inexpensive. But sometimes you may be missing some less common negative keywords. Set up your analytics with advanced filters to find out the real keywords people are using. This way, you’ll find out that your ad is showing search terms like “web design book”, “professional web design in Miami” (and you’re in Utah), or “how to learn web design”.

 

Use DKI (Dynamic Keyword Insertion).

This is by far the best way to increase CTRs. DKI is a technique that allows you to insert the keyword that the person searched for into the headline of the ad. Ads with the keyword in the headline are highlighted by Google and get much more clicks than ads without it. Here’s how to do it in Google AdWords: {keyword:default keyword}, where “default keyword” is the headline to display if the search string is more than 25 characters long.

Put the benefits on the first line and the features on the second line

Tell people how they can benefit from what you offer. Instead of:

Online Marketing Agency

Social media, search engine optimization,

Pay-per-click, and conversion boosting.

The first ad focuses on what the company does, while the second ad focuses on what it can do FOR YOU.

 

Split test ads

Always have two ads competing with each other. After both get more than 30 clicks, pick the winner and write a new ad to beat it. Don’t settle for a good ad, it can always get better. Often, changing a single word can increase CTR by more than 50%. Make sure you only test one thing at a time. If you test two things at once, you won’t be able to tell which one caused the difference in CTR. Set up your account to display your ads evenly, and never let Google pick the winning ad.

 

Explore other options

Google AdWords is great, but it’s not the only option. Try Yahoo! search marketing, MSN AdCenter and Ask ASL.

 

Use coupon codes

When you open a new account, all PPC services offer you free money to get started. This can be anywhere from $25 to $100 in free clicks. I won’t post a coupon code here because it expires as soon as everyone uses it, but do your homework; search for something like “AdWords coupon code” and you’ll find tons of links.

 

Avoid the #1 Spot

The #1 spot is the one with the most clicks, but also the lowest conversion rate. People often click without reading the ad first, and that will cost you money. Place your ad between positions 2 and 5 to optimize your conversion rate.

 

Include buying words

Words like “buy iPod Touch”, “buy iPod Touch”, “order iPod Touch”, “iPod Touch Store” and “buy iPod Touch online” are searched for less often than “iPod Touch”, but people searching for it are much more likely to buy the item.

 

Geo-targeting your ads

Pay-per-click providers let you choose where you want your ad to be displayed. So if you only serve the Los Angeles area, make sure your ad doesn’t show for the rest of the world.

 

Bid on your competitors’ names and products

Bidding on your competitors’ names and products can be a very effective way to get qualified clicks. Take advantage of their branding efforts and write a creative ad that shows why you are a better option.

 

Write great ads

Some ads are up to 10 times more effective than others. The following techniques work best: use powerful words (guaranteed, killer, proven, quick, fast, easy), ask questions readers can relate to (“Do You Want to Speak English Like an American?”, “Are You Mired of Repeating Yourself?”), and keep your copy simple and straight to the point.

 

Avoid sales-oriented ads

Don’t use capital letters or exclamation points and make your text believable. Ads like “LEARN HOW I LOST 100 POUNDS IN 4 DAYS. CLICK HERE NOW!!!!” are a big “no, no.”

 

Use your ads to pre-qualify prospects.

Since you’re paying for each click, you want to make sure you’re only getting qualified traffic. If your services are more expensive than average, include the price in the ad. If you only serve your city, state that in the ad as well. “Web Design in Austin, TX – Make your business special. – Custom designs starting at $4,000” is a good example.

 

Watch out for common spelling errors.

Spelling errors are great because almost no one bids on them, so they are very cheap. You’ll be surprised how many people misspell words.

 

Don’t start a campaign with bids that are too low

If your bids are too low, your ad will appear at the very bottom of the page (if it appears at all) and you will create a very poor CTR history, which will cost you more in the long run because a high CTR will allow you to reach high positions with a lower bid. It’s always better to start with high bids and then lower the bids when necessary, and not the other way around.

 

Structure your campaigns properly

Don’t just throw all your keywords into one ad group. Split them into different campaigns and ad groups so it’s easier to optimize the campaign later. If a keyword gets a lot of traffic, give it its own ad group. Remember that 90% of your traffic will most likely come from a handful of keywords, so watch this elite group very closely.

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