PPC, or Pay Per Click advertising, is essential to the survival of any business. While it would be great if all traffic arrived at your site organically, the reality is that the amount of competition in the marketplace makes this virtually impossible.
The good news is that almost anyone can undertake PPC successfully. In fact, some of the best experts started out with no knowledge and taught themselves. Of course, it helps to have a basic understanding of the subject and know the following three easy tactics for success.
What Is PPC?
When you enter a search on the internet, you’ll be given a list of results. You’ll notice that some of the results shown are ads. This simply means that when you click on the link, the company behind it will be charged.
In effect, your business will pay to ensure that it is at the top of the search results page. After all, in most cases, people won’t go beyond page one of the search results. You need to hit them straight away.
1. Understanding Keywords
Perhaps the most important step to a successful PPC campaign is to define your keywords. It’s advisable to get help from a professional Adwords agency.
When someone types your keywords into a search engine, they’ll be shown a link to your website. If they click on it, you’ll be charged. The amount you’ll be charged will depend on the popularity of the keyword. More popular keywords and phrases cost more.
That’s why it’s essential to note the keywords your competitors are using and decide which ones are directly relevant to your business. This means people searching for your keywords are likely to be looking for your service, preventing you from wasting your advertising budget.
2. Choose a Network
There is a myriad of different PPC networks available. All of them can be used effectively to boost the traffic coming to your website. However, it is critical that you choose just one network and focus on it.
You’ll find that this helps you to learn the ropes and become an expert. In fact, becoming an expert on one network is simply a case of using it every day and allowing yourself to make errors. Of course, you have to learn from your mistakes.
You’ll also need to understand the metrics to ensure you have success with your chosen network.
The most common metrics are:
- Click-through rate
In short, you need to know how many times your ads are getting clicked on. This tells you how effective your keyword choices are.
- Cost per click
You need to know what each click is costing you. It’s the first step in making sure it’s money well spent.
- Conversion cost
Perhaps the most important statistic is the conversion cost. This is the amount you’ve spent on advertising divided by the number of sales resulting from the PPC. The lower this figure, the better. If it’s too high, it means you’re not making a profit.
- Return on investment
It’s a good idea to understand how much money your PPC campaign is generating.
3. Use Excel to Manage the Data
The final tactic you must employ is managing your data. Understanding the above metrics is one thing. However, making sense of them is more complicated as numbers can be flying around everywhere.
It’s best to enter everything into Excel. You should be able to transfer data from your network directly into the spreadsheet to make your system more efficient.
This will then allow you to assess it and the money your business is making. In short, managing the data allows you to make adjustments and ensure your PPC is as effective as possible.