8 Pay Per Click Management Fundamentals
Step 1) Define a goal – This is goal, not goals. Pursuing multiple goals makes you mediocre at them all. Pick one key performance indicator that trumps all others. When we manage your Paid Search Account, we will recommend that the goal be centered on your return-on-investment (ROI). Once this clear vision in place, all the impressions, clicks, ad position, click-thru rate, and other data become part of one central focus and good optimization decisions can be made.
Step 2) Use Conversion Tracking – The tools we provide are free and should be used with no exceptions. Sweet Spot Marketing will monitor keyword level conversion tracking to help separate perception from reality. We will report to you which keywords are best for the bottom line as this is the most powerful metric in PPC marketing. Click-thru-rates (CTR) and ad position can provide a basic understanding of how your ad is perceived, but nothing proves concept more than conversion tracking.
Step 3) Use niche keywords – Sweet Spot Marketing will build out a robust list of keywords that are very relevant to your company’s product or services. We will do a granular keyword analysis specific to your industry. If you have several competitors already bidding on the same high volume terms, we will make the necessary adjustments to keep you out of the bidding war and incorporate some long tailed search terms more niche to your industry. These terms may not be searched as often, but by adding these keywords to a PPC campaign, Sweet Spot Marketing can not only help you gain traffic at a cheaper cost, but also lower your overall cost per acquisition. This results in increased ROI.
Step 4) Understand the importance of negative keywords – Negative keywords are seldom discussed but Sweet Spot Marketing feels that in many cases, is the most important. A negative keyword is a type of keyword you can put into your paid search campaign that will tell the search engines not to display your ad. Probably the best example to help explain this is the scenario that you were a retail store that only sold Televisions. Negative keywords that you would consider are TV Installation, Television Remotes, Television Repair, Owners Manual, ect. All of the things that you do not offer that could be related to your existing keywords. Words like Free, or Free Trial are also good negatives to add to any PPC campaign. This approach will keep the clicks you do not want away from your site and allow your budget dollars to be directed towards the clicks you do want.
Step 5) Test your ads – Sweet Spot Marketing will implement multiple ads to appear when someone does an internet search for a relevant keyword that best describes your company’s product or service. Whether it is a simple A/B test between ad titles or a completely new ad, we are always testing. We will analyze which ads are best and deliver higher returns on investment for your pay per click campaign.
Step 6) Don’t get lazy – Sweet Spot Marketing takes the time to properly construct your account. We keep keyword groupings to a minimum, which enables more custom ads to help increase relevant traffic. This also enables quicker bid and position monitoring for continual optimization. PPC Marketing is not a set it up and let it go type of advertising. To have an effective and profitable Paid Search Advertising program, continual monitoring and analysis must be done to deliver the best possible returns for your PPC advertising dollar.
Step 7) Stay on target – Search engines today are promoting expansion beyond direct search results. The fact that you have to opt-out of the content network in Google Adwords speaks to just how much pressure some search engines are putting on advertisers to fill up this space. Sweet Spot Marketing’s experience has seen that this avenue will generally bring in thousands of impressions, which may be good for branding, but often is not your best avenue if you are seeking sales or leads from your website. Sweet Spot Marketing will consult with you to make qualified recommendations based on what is best for your company’s goals and budget in mind.
Step 8) Follow through –You can have the best keywords and great ad text, but it doesn’t stop there. The next step is to meet your customer’s expectations by driving them to the proper page on your site. Typically we do not recommend that your PPC ads drive people to the home page of your site. This forces your visitors to click on more links to find the relevant information they were searching for. Think of it this way, if you were searching for a new vacuum cleaner and clicked on a SEARS ad, would you expect to arrive at the home page, or the page that provides information and pricing about vacuum cleaners?
Like many things, good fundamentals equal positive results. There are many moving parts to an effective search engine marketing campaign. Sweet Spot Marketing believes that by combining a fundamental approach coupled with a Google Certified Account Manager, we will help make your internet advertising campaigns go from good to great.
Call us today at 888-505-7111 or complete the Contact form on the right to have a Sweet Spot PPC Specialist provide you with a no obligation review of your online marketing goals.
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Testimonials |
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"I'm completely blown away at the fast response, quick turnaround and the ease of business that Sweet Spot provides."
"Once again, I am very impressed. I have used multiple PPC firms over the years and Sweet Spot Marketing has produced some of the best progress I have seen."
"The experts at Sweet Spot aren't just a part of my company, they are partners with me, and that is important to me as a small business owner."
"I talked to Sweet Spot, and they recommended a few small changes to my website, within 2 weeks, I saw measurable results, and I knew this was the marketing firm for me."
"Sweet Spot went out of their way to explain Search Engine Optimization so it's not so much of a foreign language to me. I have and would recommend them to any business interested in expanding on the web." "We are totally impressed with Sweet Spot Marketing’s customer service. Our SEM account was set up quickly with measurable results coming in right away. The reports were on time and in a format a “non-tech” person could actually read!" |
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