Paid search ads are the ones that you see at the top of every search engine result page. PPC can be one of the lucrative marketing strategies. However, if you don’t optimize your approach, you won’t get the best results. Here, we have discussed top PPC optimization strategies that will skyrocket the effectiveness of your Ad.
- Focus on Keyword Research
According to a leading PPC services provider, keywords are the foundation of organic search and PPC. Before launching a PPC campaign, spend time researching the high-performing (beneficial) keywords for your business. When we say beneficial or high-performing, we mean keywords that will bring the most clicks to your ads. How do you know the high-performing keywords? This depends on the KPIs and goals important to you.
For a novice, this can be a daunting task. But if you want to be successful in this arena, an SEM agency can help you. Search engine marketing (SEM) focuses on the power of keywords and how they can boost your enterprise’s visibility online. To be discoverable on the world wide web through the keywords internet users type on search engines is an art form. As such, you may rely on a reputable agency to deliver the most effective strategy for you.
- Start With Brain-Storming
You can start with old-fashioned brainstorming. First, select generic keywords related to your products and services. These keywords won’t be the best choice as competition for them would be quite high. For example, “men’s cowboy boots” is a general search term with high search volume. It also means it has more competition.
You can try for specific keywords like “totes men’s waterproof snow boots.” It is a precise and accurate keyword term with less competition. During brainstorming sessions, try to combine general keywords and adjectives related to your product offerings. This will help you create a list of keywords to target.
- Create a List of Negative Keywords
Just like you decide what keywords to target, it is also necessary to decide on the keywords to avoid. When you add negative keywords (in the negative keywords list) in your PPC campaign, you exclude specific keywords that do not fit your product offering. It will prevent your ad from showing in irrelevant searches, and you save money on wasted clicks.
There are different types of negative keywords—broad match, phrase match, or exact match. Negative broad match keywords keep your ad from appearing if the user types in all the specified negative keyword terms in no particular order. On the other hand, negative phrase match keywords prevent your ad from showing if the search includes the specific keyword terms in that particular order. Using negative exact match keywords keeps your ad from showing if the user types in the exact keyword terms, in that particular order, without additional words.
All these practices aim to find keywords with a high search volume and low competition.
- Right Audience Targeting
One of the things that make PPC attractive to businesses is that they can decide whom their ads are served based on demographics. One question you need to ask is – Who are your ideal customers?
Defining a specific audience will help get the right traffic, maximize conversions, and boost revenue. In the last few years, Google Ads has made targeting options more granular. You get more targeting options than ever. Here are some ways to target your ideal customers:
- Age – This is important if you are selling products to a particular age group.
- Gender – This works well for companies that make products targeted at a specific gender.
- Income-level – If your company feels proud in offering low-cost products, you need to target a lower-income level. If your company provides luxury products, you have the option to target high-income level groups.
- Geographic location – It is one of the practical and popular ways to target audiences based on their location. You can serve ads by country, state, region, city, or specific boundaries you create.
- Perform a Competitive Analysis
If you don’t have an idea or insight about your competitors, you will flounder with your PPC strategies. They will get all the clicks, or you will make mistakes your competitors have already figured out. Thus, you will waste time scrambling to catch up.
There are several ways you can make your competitor a part of your overall online marketing strategy. But, you have PPC tools that help you analyze competitors’ SEM strategy. These tools can show competitors ad keywords, current search ads, media (video/image) ads, and text ads.
With these tools, you can even browse their ad history. It will give you insights into best performing ads based on the length of time your competitor ran these ads. According to the leading PPC services provider, the more competitors you analyze, the more insights you will have.
- Optimizing and Testing Your Ad Copy
Your ad copy is a crucial element in your PPC campaign. It can make or break the PPC campaign. Hence, optimizing and testing your ad copy is an essential step in the overall PPC optimization strategy.
- Optimizing Your Ad Copy
After a thorough competitive analysis, you will have better ideas to optimize your ad copy to ensure you receive the most targeted clicks. Make sure the ad copy is brief – 25 characters for the headline and 70 characters for the description. The text used in the ad copy should attract the users’ attention and convince him/her to click. If you have noticed your competitor has used a specific ad for a long time and has been very successful, you can consider emulating it.
- Testing Your Ad Copy
You can set up an A/B test to test your ad copy. This kind of test allows you to assess two different copies of ads and determine which copy receives the highest number of clicks. When you set up the A/B test for PPC ads, Google will serve the ads randomly to different users. At the end of the testing time, you’ll have precise results and ideas like which ad copy you should move forward with. The beauty of A/B testing is the quick release of insights. In only a week or less, you can tell if your creation is effective. And if it’s not, a few tweaks can give you a different and better result.
- Optimize Your Landing Page
It is a place where users land after clicking the ad. It is an essential factor in deciding whether or not the user will make a purchase. Hence, it is one of the important PPC optimization strategies.
The user can navigate from the landing page if they are distracted by something or waiting for the payday to make the purchase. The point is the landing page should convince the user he/she should buy the product. Here are some excellent ways to optimize your landing page
- A Picture of the Product
If the landing page does not look related to the ad, it is a big turnoff to the user. When a user clicks your ad, it means he/she is interested in your product. Hence, the landing page should include pictures of your product and lots of other information too.
- Price of the Product
The price is a deciding factor in most purchases. So make sure the price is presented in a loud and proud way. It will help the user decide whether the product fits in his/her budget.
The post mentions critical elements of the PPC campaign that need to be optimized for better results. Once you have performed the PPC optimization, your PPC ads will be ready for success.
