Data shows that on average, businesses make double their investment through PPC ads.
However, it also suggests that over 40 percent of all clicks go to the top three adverts that appear at the top of a search.
This means that having an optimized PPC strategy is essential for ensuring your ad appears at the top of your customers’ searches. You also need to take steps to make sure that once they click through, you’re set up to make a sale.
This article will cover all of this and more of Google Adwords’ best practices so read on to learn some essential tips.
Google Adwords Best Practices
Google is constantly updating their algorithms to prevents bots and spammers from taking sales away from legitimate businesses.
They are also constantly adding new features for both pc and mobile marketing to enable people to fine-tune their ads. This makes them more effective and reaches the right people at the right time.
A poorly constructed PPC ad will not only cost you a lot of money but it may not even bring in enough revenue to be worth it. Often, the issue is simply with how the ad is put together and targeted so sometimes it just takes a little bit of research to see significant improvements in your click-through rate.
A great way to get started is with the following tip.
1. Map Out Your Customers and Their Journey
The good news is your customers are already telling you everything you need to know about your ads and their effectiveness.
Low conversion rates and clicks tell you there are numerous areas you can improve upon such as your ads or your site itself.
The first thing you should do is consider the end result you want. Is it a subscription? To sell a specific product or service? For them to read one of your blogs?
Whatever it is, you need to then work backward to figure out the shortest and easiest route for your customers to get there.
For example, if an IT company wants to increase sales of their security software, they would want to ensure their ads appear under the relevant searches and their ads link directly to the software rather than the general homepage.
By considering who your customers are and why they may be interested in your business, you’ll be able to create more effective ads.
2. Block Certain Keywords
Because you pay for every click, there is nothing worse than the wrong customer clicking on your ad and then immediately exiting the website when they realize their mistake.
It not only costs you money, but it will skew your data to make it look like your site wasn’t effective.
That’s why a very useful tool is to block certain keywords to prevent your ad appearing in the wrong searches.
Let’s say an online retailer specializes in premium leather shoes for women. They may want to block searches involving the words “cheap” or “men.”
Consider your own business and what searches you definitely do not want to appear in.
3. Gather Data and Optimize
Just because an ad you’ve created is working now doesn’t mean it will continue to do so.
Consumer habits change and sometimes one viral article or post on Reddit can cause searches to completely alter in a matter of hours.
That’s why it’s useful to continue to monitor your ads as well as what other people may be searching for.
To use the shoe company as an example again, a video may go viral depicting animal cruelty in the leather industry. To mitigate this and even get an edge on their competitors, the company could change the ad’s description to include phrases like “animal cruelty-free” or “all materials sourced from ethical suppliers”.
Compared to other sites that just say they have leather shoes, this business would be capitalizing on current events to appear in new searches that outshine their competition.
4. Use Ad Extensions
Another excellent feature to use in Google Adwords is the ability to add extensions to your ads that provide further information to potential customers.
If you have any reviews on your website, you can include some in your ad to reassure people about your business’ quality. Write further details about the product or service you are offering
You can even include your business’ address and phone number making it easy for customers to see how close your store is.
5. Location, Location, Location
One of the most effective ways to make sure you save money, reach the right customers, and drive sales is to target your ads to specific areas and locations. Blasting out an ad targeted to the general internet is not nearly as effective as thinking about where your customers are and targeting them only.
A local restaurant should keep their ads within a logical radius around their store to prevent people from all over the country being exposed to their ad.
Equally, if you’re running ads for expensive or premium goods, then it’s a good idea to find where people of higher incomes live and target those areas instead.
6. Add a Targeted Offer
In the same way, location is important, it helps to ensure you tailor your offers to the right type of customer.
A general discount offer is fine if you’re having a sale, but if you’re looking to bring in new business then you should figure out who you’re speaking to and what offer is more likely to resonate with them.
This is why cable companies tend to offer discounts to people switching over from competitors. They know most people have cable so the offer sounds better if it’s for switching rather than simply to save money. By making customers feel like they qualify for the offer, they are more likely to be interested.
You can even have fun with it by tying it to local events. For example, the leather shoe company could offer a targeted ad in New York during the weeks leading up to Fashion Week offer a discount to those going.
Even if anyone could technically use the discount, because the ad is more targeted, it will stand out from competitors.
7. Perfect Your Landing Page
Your PPC ads are only worth the investment if they lead to a sale and ineffective landing pages are one of the biggest reasons this doesn’t happen.
Why advertise for IT security and then link customers to the homepage? Or worse, link to your security page and overload them with text and information.
Your landing pages should be designed to add value from the PPC ad. A customer is interested so they click on the link, they should then be met with a landing page that adds new information in an enticing way with the option to purchase readily available.
The longer a customer has to spend on your website to get the information they need the less likely they will make a purchase.
Research and Adapt
The most essential aspect to Google Adwords best practices is understanding your customers using the data you have available to craft effective and persuasive ads.
Keep an eye out on trends in your industry and be ready to change your ads to meet the shifting needs of your customers.
Check out other articles for more advice on how to build traffic and grow your business.