Pay-per-click account management (Google™ Adwords or otherwise)
is a challenging role because of the complexity, real-time action,
and consistent evolution. We’ve all made our mistakes with Google™
Adwords, however, one mistake could cost you $1000s in higher
CPCs (cost-per-clicks) or higher costs in capturing each lead or
sale
Right now, I’d like to focus on the Google™ search network, and the
top 10 mistakes companies make. Here, they are:
1. Bidding for the number 1 position.
2. Solely geo-relating campaigns by Country.
3. Using only broad keyword terms.
4. Excluding the exact keywords in their ad title, copy, and
URL.
5. Running only one Ad at a time.
6. Ads set to send visitors to their homepage by default.
7. Oversimplifying the organization of their account
structure.
8. Inability to prove or report a return on investment (ROI.)
9. Bidding on high-priced keywords with low CTRs.
10. Under-educating themselves about Google™ Adwords.
Don’t worry if you’re making one of those mistakes, expert help is
just below…
How to “Do-it-Yourself” – Fixing a Costly
Mistake
Here, I reveal my jealously guarded 10 ways to successful Google™
Adwords PPC (pay-per-click) account management. Fixing your
mistakes will result in increased clicks and possibly $1,000s in
savings.
1.“We’re number two, we’re number two.” Depending on the
number of Google™ highlighted “sponsored links” on your SERP (search
engine results page), your goal is to be the highlighted sponsor
link (paid Ad) positioned right above the organic searches (non-paid
listing) or the first sponsored link on the right side of “sponsored
links”. Stay in the positions of 2 to 5 (which are often more
profitable than number one) or an average position of 2.5.
2. “Local customers.” Always try to “geo-relate” your
campaign by city, state/province, or nation. By using the “Location
Targeting Options” for a particular city (or state), you exclude
areas of the state or country that are unlikely to buy your product
or service. You also have the advantage of the city’s name (or
state’s name) appearing below your ad.
3.“Exclude tire kickers.” To exclude visitors or searches
unlikely to buy your product or click on your ad, use brackets for
exact [keyword] matches or hyphens “-“ to use negative words. Both
will help exclude keywords/phrases such as “free”.
4. “The keywords are the key.” Always add the keyword to your
Ad’s title and copy because the keyword will appear bolded and say
to the searcher, “Click me, I am relevant to what you are looking
for.” Additionally, the keywords will increase your Google™ Quality
Score, reducing your minimum CPC to active your keyword.
5. “Let the best Ad win.” Did you know you could run multiple
Ads at the same time, and for the same Ad group? By simply adding a
new Ad under the “Ad Variations” tab, you will be able to test what
Ad works best for you.
6. “Give them what they want.” Save your visitors’ time, and
ensure they get what they want, by sending them to the exact page
(landing page) that relates to your Ad’s keyword.
7.“More specific please.” Generally when I create a Google™
Account for a client I have 3 services or products, which I
Geo-relate individually for both local (cities), state, and
international. Thus, I usually start off with 9 campaigns, giving
each campaign and Ad Group a descriptive name to help me manage the
account without memorizing what each of Ad Groups includes. For
maximum effectiveness, group your keyword list into similar items,
either by product/service line or keyword theme, for example:
corporate team building, team building activity, team building
event. You could have 2 to 50 Ad groups per campaign, and an average
total of 100 Ad groups per account (Google™ maximum.)
8. “Results are the name of the game.” To increase and
improve your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), if you haven’t already, I
highly recommend installing your Google™ “conversion page code.”
9. “Focus and finish.” If you implement a more specific
pay-per-click account management structure (suggestion #7 above),
you can bid on competitive words by getting higher CTRs and still
get fairly low CPAs. If you still have higher CTRs (greater than 5%)
and your CPAs are high (greater than $20), then delete the keywords
within the Ad groups, use more specific keywords or delete the Ad
group altogether.
10. “Professional help.” Without any form of payment from
Google™, we recommend you become a Google™ Qualified Adwords
Professional by investing 9 to 15 hours at the Google™ Learning
Center – home of the best e-course this author has ever taken.
Otherwise hire a Google™ Qualified Adwords Professional to save you
the time, money, and frustration.
By applying these suggestions you will increase your CTRs
(clickthrough ratio) through precise targeting. Accordingly, Google™
rewards your higher CTR by decreasing your CPC (cost-per-click.)
The bottom-line is, more sales converting for an overall lower
cost (cost-per-acquisition.)
I sincerely hope you implement the above pay-per-click account
management suggestions because Google™ Adwords returns a
phenomenal return on your investment - when managed properly.
About this author
JP Richards is a Google™ Qualified Adwords Professional & Search
Engine Optimization (SEO) Consultant Sign-up for your
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