Top Tips for PPC Beginners

Gone are the days of simply choosing a few keywords, writing an ad and setting your campaign live.  Google Adwords has come a long way since its inception and contains many features to assist advertisers achieve their objectives and maximise their return on investment.

Embarking on a PPC campaign can be very involved even for the most experienced advertiser, never mind those who are just starting out!  To guide you through the PPC maze and help you get started, we have put together these top tips.

(1)    Do your research

 Before you start your PPC campaign, take the time to undertake research to ensure your campaign will be as effective as possible.  Google’s Keyword Tool is a great place to start!  It will give you an idea of the search volumes for your chosen keywords and phrases, as well as giving you an approximate CPC(cost per click) which will gives a good guide on the budget required.   For example, you may find generic terms are pricier than the niche “long tail” terms, but research will help you determine what is achievable within your budget.   Tools including SEMRush, Spyfu and KeywordSpy can also give great insight into competitor PPC activity and approximate advertising spend.

 (2) Make a plan

Think about your campaign objectives and organise your ad groups effectively by keeping your ad groups tight with a targeted set of related keywords and focussed ad text.  Don’t fall into the trap of trying to achieve your objectives quickly, by adding a huge amount of keywords and ads into one ad group; it will prove much more time consuming to manage.  The result of good planning will soon become clear; better campaign performance, higher quality score and higher click through rates (CTR).

(3)    Optimise your campaign landing pages

PPC is all about relevancy; the keywords, the ad text and the landing page.  It may be tempting to link your ads to your website’s homepage but this simply leads to a frustrated visitor who can’t find what they were promised from your ad.  Think about the content of your ad and drive people through to a landing page with highly relevant content and a prominent call to action, for example “Contact Us” or “Buy Now.”

(4)    Track Conversions

 One of the joys of PPC advertising is the ability to measure the exact return on your ad spend.  Be sure to set up conversion tracking to measure how many conversions are received as a direct result of PPC activity.  Whether it’s a lead, a sign up or a sale, conversion tracking allows you to see conversion rates and calculate the all important cost per conversion, giving you the ability to calculate if PPC is a viable sales/marketing channel for your business.

(5)    Test and Refine

The best way to ensure you get the most from PPC and achieve your objectives is to constantly test and refine your campaign.  Try adding different keyword variations, phrases and ad variations, measure the impact and refine.  If something isn’t working, change it – it doesn’t cost you any extra as you only pay when someone clicks on your ad! 

We hope our top tips help you get started with your PPC campaign.  If you need some advice or want to chat through some ideas, get in touch with our team of Digital Marketing experts today.