Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is an effective way to bring qualified traffic to your website. If you want your target audience to find your business and convert into customers as soon as possible, PPC is the way to go. Your ads will reach the top of the search engine results page almost as soon as your campaign is launched. Relevant keywords, compelling ad copy and well-designed landing pages will help to ensure the success of your PPC advertising campaign. However, there are more things to keep in mind if you plan to optimize your campaigns to the fullest. Below are several important tips that will help you drive the best results for your PPC advertising campaigns.
Set Your Goals
Before you dive into optimization tactics for your PPC advertising campaigns, you should first define your goals. What exactly are you trying to accomplish with your PPC campaign? Do you want to communicate a branding message, get more traffic to your website, generate sales, leads, downloads, conversions and so on? Once you set these goals, you’ll be able to implement tactics that are tailored to your predetermined objectives. Holding your campaigns accountable to your goals will also keep your PPC advertising streamlined and relevant to the interest of your target audience.
Optimize Landing Pages
Your landing pages greatly contribute to the success of your PPC advertising campaigns. Thoughtful design and applicable messages go a long way. It is important to make sure that visitors get exactly what they clicked for on the PPC ad. Search engines are happy when your landing page content is related to your ad copy and the product or service being offered. Irrelevant content can result in decreased visibility on the results page and discourage your target audience from finding your business. Be sure to write content that will engage the viewer and integrate well with your ad copy to produce a high-performing PPC advertising campaign.
Utilize Site Links and Ad Extensions
Site links and ad extensions provide users with more opportunities to convert on your website. Rather than having one call to action in the headline, site links allow you to include additional calls to action in your ad copy. For example, adding links to top products, sales promotions and other relevant locations on your website will guide users down the funnel. Ad extensions enable you to provide a phone number, address, or other means of getting in contact with your business. Not only do they deliver more conversion opportunities, site links and ad extensions are a great way to test different calls to action in order to entice the user and achieve higher click through rates.
Pay Close Attention to Keywords
Keywords are an integral part of your PPC advertising campaign. There is no need to waste time or money on keywords that aren’t performing, so be prepared to put time into keyword research. You’ll want to find your campaign’s “sweet spot”, where you’re earning as much as possible while paying the least per click. This may take some trial and error when it comes to keywords, so you’ll have to consistently track their performance and plan your bids accordingly. Furthermore, bear in mind that adding negative keywords, which are words that are unrelated to your campaign, is an important step. Review your reports to make sure that these keywords aren’t available to users when searching for your products and services.
Test, Test, and Test Some More!
To get the most out of your PPC advertising, you’ll want to continually test your campaigns and collect as much actionable insight as possible. A/B testing keyword sets, geo-targeting options, promotions, page layouts, call to actions and even button colors will improve the effectiveness of your PPC campaigns. Since the goal is to find prospects who will convert, you should pay equal attention to your website and landing pages as you do your ad copy. Once you start identifying trends in your test results, you can expand upon the data and capitalize on well-performing elements of your campaigns.
Integrate PPC with Organic Search Marketing
Combining your PPC advertising with organic search marketing will enable you to rule the search engine results page. Establish yourself as an industry leader by dominating both the organic results and the paid ads section. This will help you cover your bases, since many consumers trust the organic results more than the paid search ads. Effective search engine optimization (SEO) will improve your rankings in the organic results. When PPC is integrated with good SEO, this can increase your bottom line and lead to a positive outcome for your campaigns.
Need More Help Optimizing Your PPC Advertising Campaigns?
Strategic Marketing is a full-service advertising agency that has developed a proprietary pay-per-click platform that manages your PPC advertising from start to finish. SmartClick serves your PPC ads across all major publishers, including Google, Bing and Yahoo! This powerful solution offers conversion tracking and 24/7 optimization in a user-friendly dashboard. Easily monitor your campaign’s performance, receive automatic keyword adjustments, budget allocations and even record phone calls for quality assurance. Take advantage of all that SmartClick has to offer and start optimizing your PPC advertising campaigns today. To learn more, contact us or call (561) 688-6155