PPC Management Tips

by | Sep 24, 2013 | PPC Management

PPC management is a powerful tool that can help drive high volume and quality web traffic to your website. However, PPC is a competitive marketing platform, and great care and understanding are necessary to ensure successful and affordable PPC management.

Search Engine Traffic

Search engine traffic through SEO or PPC management is the highest quality traffic source available through the internet. PPC management is used to increase search engine traffic through targeted keywords. PPC search engines work by placing keywords up for auction, where the highest bidder ranks the highest on the search engine for the keyword in question. For example: If John bids $1.00 for the keyword “home mortgage,” Sally bids $1.25, and Robert sets a bid of $0.90 then Sally would be ranked #1, and Robert #3. Each time a web visitor searches the phrase “home mortgage” the search engine will be display a list of businesses who bid for that keyword. The highest bidder is listed at the top, and the lowest at the bottom. If the web searcher then clicks a link, the business owner’s link they clicked will then pay the search engines the amount of their bid. In general it can be assumed that the higher you bid the higher you will rank, and the more clicks you will receive.

“Odds are, people will find your website before they find your store…”

Consider PPC Management for New and Established Businesses

PPC management is your least risky and most affordable internet based paid advertising campaign. Along with SEO, PPC is an internet marketing staple. For brand-new businesses with brand-new websites, SEO may take a little while to start producing results. PPC is an excellent jump-start for new businesses, as well as a business growth resources for established businesses.

Most PPC search engines require only an affordable, small deposit to get your campaign running, and you can bid on any relevant keyword you would like. The web traffic quality is excellent and campaigns can be started, paused or stopped almost instantly. You also have incredible freedom to send different people to different parts of your website depending what they are looking for. Back to John: John may reserve the keywords “home refinance” and “home mortgage.” For the best user experience, John can send people to the exact web page that provides the service they were searching for. There is no worry about the potential customer getting lost on a website, distracted or confused. They search, they find, and John receives a business lead.

PPC campaign tracking becomes essential with PPC management, and most credible PPC engines such as Yahoo! Search and Google AdWords provide excellent keyword tracking and analysis resources. They can be combined with your own website tracking as well. Proper PPC management should reach a level of tracking detail such that you know exactly your Return On Investment (ROI) for each keyword you pick. Drop non-productive keywords and focus on the ones making money.

Effective and Affordable PPC Management:

  • From the keyword research tool, find a vast array of relevant keywords for the products or services you are trying to sell. Be creative and thorough. Use industry, product and service specific keywords.
  • Review your competitors PPC listings, particularly the companies paying the most per click. Learn as much as you can from preexisting campaigns and their approach. This will help jump start your PPC management efforts by learning what the well-established campaigns are doing.
  • When providing your title and description for each keyword listing, try to make slight variations so that the keywords can be incorporated within the description.
  • When possible, use a link that takes visitors directly to the product or service page corresponding to the keyword search used.
  • By implement the conversion/keyword tracking resources available from the PPC engine, PPC management will be more productive, accurate and less time consuming.
  • When your PPC management campaign first launches, keep your bids low, and slowly raise them. If you start with your bids too high, you may wake up in the morning and find your entire budget consumed.
  • If you are not ranked in the top 10, your traffic volumes for that corresponding keyword will be limited. But don’t bid so high that the PPC campaign is not profitable. Effective PPC management will focus on bottom line sales, and not simply clicks.
  • Bid smart… While the Tier 1 PPC engines to not allow big gaps between bidders, the Tier 2 PPC engines do. For Tier 2 PPC engines, make sure you are not bidding considerably higher than the advertiser right under you. For example, if company (A) bids $2.50, Company (B) bids $2.47 and Company (C) is at $0.99, the smart bid would be $1.00, and not $2.51. You would rank #3 and wedge out Company (C), but the extra $1.50 per click needed to rank #1 may not be worth it. PPC management should look for areas where you can get the most for your money.
  • Take advantage of seasonal trends, especially if you provide a seasonal product or service. Remember, however, to adjust your seasonal based keywords as the seasons change. For example, if you sell flower arrangements, you might want to consider dropping the keyword “Mother’s Day” after Mother’s Day is over.
  • Check your bids often, competitors will make daily changes, causing your rankings to change. Without diligent PPC management and campaign maintenance, you will find yourself bidding more than you need to be, or out-competed.
  • Monitor your ROI for each keyword. If you’re losing money on a keyword, lower your bid to a level where you profit. Don’t worry if you have to lower your bid so low that you no longer receive traffic, no expense is better than a loss.

“Over 72% of people seeking a local store on their mobile phones will visit the store.”

The only real negative to PPC management stems from the keyword auctioning environment. Many industries, including John’s, are extremely competitive. Bids may go so high that it is nearly impossible to generate a profitable sale. To compensate, we must fall back to our keyword research and find as many relevant keywords as possible. Keywords will vary greatly in popularity over the internet, and consequently their competitive value. The more keywords you can find, the greater chance you will find phrases that are affordable and high converting.

PPC management is strongly recommend for any new business start up, stick with either Yahoo! Search or Google Adwords to start. MSN and 7Search also offer strong PPC management services, and should be considered if Yahoo! Search and Google AdWords prove successful. Other PPC engines exist but their individual performance may vary depending on what you are trying to sell and how competitive your industry is.

Highly competitive industries may require a professional, in particular with large budget are at state. PPC can become complicated, as you balance conversions with budgets, competitors and even click frauds. For national based campaigns, with significant budgets, a professional PPC manager could save your company thousands of dollars per month, while not compromising sales. Learn more about SharpNet’s professional and affordable PPC management services.