Google Ads is a popular platform to launch Pay-Per-Click campaigns. But without adequate experience and knowledge inPPC advertising, overspending is a constant risk. Unfortunately, many business owners do not even realize they are spending way too much on PPC ads. No company wants to waste money. Don’t worry; it is never too late to start learning how to maximize one’s ad dollars.
Look at the Account Structure
Account structure is comprised of a marketer’s ad copy, keywords (including negative keywords), ad groups, and the campaign itself. The number of campaigns businesses need typically depend on their time management capabilities, target locations, preferred ad platforms, as well as the products and services they offer. The more campaigns a company runs, the more it has to manage and adjust according to consumer trends and behaviors.
One PPC campaign can house multiple ad groups. These groups are often set up to target specifics sets of keywords that will trigger one or more ads. To control where your PPC budget goes, it is important to segment keywords into tightly themed ad groups. Instead of targeting broad keywords, e.g., your brand name, design the account structure with a particular segmentation. This method allows businesses to gauge their performance and optimize their ads with greater ease.
Avoid Excessively Bidding on a Competitor's Brand Name
When a company bids on a competitor’s brand terms, they may increase traffic if potential visitors search for that competitor’s products or services via search engines. Do not put all your eggs in one basket because this is a high-risk maneuver. Competitors may retaliate by bidding on your brand name and start poaching potential clients. It then becomes increasingly expensive for you to convert on your own brand. When individuals search for a brand online, chances are they are interested in buying from that store. If they go, “Oops, I seem to have found the wrong company,” not many users will click on your ads. Low CTR (click-through rate) hurts PPC ad performance!
Review the Ad Copy
Good copy maintains the scent of the intent from search engine keywords to ad to landing page. If your ad copy misses close synonyms or keywords in the description and title, this mistake may result in a lower CTR and Quality Score. Searchers may skip your company in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). All of these events ultimately translate to higher costs and wasted budget.
Calculate Your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
ROAS is a popular metric among retailers who need to run lead generation campaigns. To calculate Return on Ad Spend, divide the revenue generated from your PPC campaigns by the total spend on your Google Ads account. Businesses know that they are earning profits when the ratio – Revenue: Ad Spend – is higher than $1:1. Do not forget to increase benchmark ROAS accuracy by factoring customer lifetime value and other non-ad spend costs.
Track Conversions from PPC Traffic
A conversion occurs when a visitor performs a desired action on your website via any marketing channel such as PPC, social media, and organic search. It is one of the primary performance metrics in the digital marketing world. In addition to driving one’s business, conversions account for a company’s return on investment (ROI). How do you count a conversion? For example, B2B companies convert visitors when these prospects fill out a contact us form or make a phone call. In the case of e-commerce businesses, they convert when customers buy something.
Tracking conversions through your online stores are crucial to benchmarking ad performance. Ensure that your Google Ads account is set up properly to track these metrics. It is important to note that conversions cost money as certain industry-specific keywords cost more to bid on. To make smarter bids, perform thorough keyword research and find out how much each term typically costs. The process of making reasonable conversion rate estimates help businesses create more accurate monthly budgets than before.
PPC advertising is an excellent way to reach the right target audience and bring in qualified traffic. Keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all PPC marketing strategy for businesses. Outsourcing these complex tasks to paid search specialists may be an option you can consider. Browse SmartSites’ top 70 best PPC marketing campaigns to see if they have the experience to help you.