On average, companies achieve a return on investment (ROI) of $2 for every dollar invested in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. To surpass this ROI benchmark, enhancing your PPC performance is crucial. This article provides insights into how to elevate your PPC outcomes.Discover six effective strategies to boost your PPC results by continuing to read. For additional PPC advice, reach out to us online or call 888-601-5359 to learn how our PPC management solutions can enhance your business’s ROI and attract more clients through online advertising!Action item: Identify keywords with low or imbalanced impressions, clicks, or conversions. Analyze the search intent behind each keyword and decide whether to eliminate it, adjust your ad to better target it, or add it as a negative keyword.Underperforming keywords can undermine the effectiveness of any PPC campaign. It’s essential for your company to review your targeted keywords, pinpoint those hindering performance, and remove them.Indicators of a low-performing keyword include, but are not limited to:
Low impressions
Low clicks
Low conversions
Typically, you’ll encounter keywords displaying a combination of these issues. For instance, a keyword might attract clicks but no conversions. Alternatively, a keyword might receive numerous impressions but no clicks.Before deleting these keywords, research their search intent and consider optimizing your campaign to target them more effectively. For instance, if your business sells robot vacuums and aims to compete with iRobot, targeting keywords that include the brand’s name and vacuum models (e.g., Roomba 960) can drive traffic to your product page, which serves as your landing page.However, some keywords like “irobot roomba 960 vs 980” generate impressions but fail to convert clicks. Analyzing the search results for this keyword reveals that shoppers are interested in comparing iRobot models, not alternative brands. They seek content that compares the two models to inform their purchase decision.Correspondingly, ads for this keyword focus on model comparisons. Yet, your content does not align with this intent, offering a product page that outlines features, benefits, and uses instead.Removing such keywords from your campaign can enhance PPC performance by concentrating on the most relevant and profitable keywords. Additionally, consider incorporating negative keywords.A negative keyword instructs ad platforms not to display your ad for that term, even if it garners impressions and clicks. For example, if your company aims to promote fashion sneakers, adding “running shoes” or “running sneakers” as a negative keyword can prevent your ad from appearing.These adjustments to your PPC campaign can improve performance.Action item: Transition from automated to manual bidding for campaigns running 30 days or more, assuming you can manage PPC weekly. Utilize campaign data to set competitive bids for keywords and closely monitor their performance.Companies that actively manage their PPC campaigns should adopt this PPC strategy, focusing on bidding tactics. While automated bidding options are available, manual bidding offers your business greater control.Should you opt for manual bidding to enhance PPC performance, regular campaign checks are essential, ideally daily or weekly, to avoid over- or under-bidding that could harm ROI. Begin this optimization strategy by concentrating on campaigns with at least 30 days of data.With one month of data, you can gather valuable information to inform bid decisions. For instance, you’ll know the average cost per click, acquisition, or 1000 impressions. Use free calculators for these calculations:
Cost per click (CPC) calculator
Cost per acquisition (CPA) calculator
Cost per impressions (CPM) calculator
After your research and calculations, switch to manual bidding in Google Ads:
Select your campaign
Choose “Settings” from the right-hand sidebar menu
Click “Bidding” and “Change bid strategy”
Select “Manually set bids” from the “How do you want to get conversions” dropdown menu
Click “Save”
After updating your settings, select “Keywords” from the right-hand sidebar menu. Then, update your max bid for each keyword and save your changes. Ensure to set a reminder to monitor your campaigns in the following days.Action item: Identify ad campaigns with weak landing pages and create tailored landing pages for them. Focus on speed, responsiveness, and informativeness. Use landing page builders like Unbounce or engage a landing page design firm.Landing pages are pivotal to PPC performance on platforms like Google Ads.For optimal campaign performance, ensure your landing pages are relevant, fast, and functional. A landing page is where users are directed upon clicking your PPC ads.Target campaigns with the worst landing pages to maximize the benefits of this PPC tip. These campaigns stand to gain significantly from a dedicated landing page, leading to improvements in impressions, clicks, and conversions.For instance, if your ad campaign for residential landscaping services redirects users to your company’s homepage, this can be overwhelming. A better landing page would be dedicated solely to your residential landscaping services, providing information like operating hours, rates, and deliverables, along with trust signals like client testimonials or images of your work.When creating a landing page, consider the following questions:
Is the page relevant to your ad?
Does the page load quickly?
Does the page load correctly on various devices?
Is the page user-friendly and navigable?
Does the page copy complement the ad copy?
Tools like Unbounce, Lander, or Mailchimp can assist in creating an appealing landing page, even if you lack design and development expertise. Alternatively, you can hire a landing page design service.Avoid settling for a subpar landing page, as it can negatively impact your PPC performance.Action item: Replace underperforming ad copy with fresh content. Craft copy that addresses user problems, uses numbers, and incorporates targeted keywords. Monitor your new ad copy for performance, a process simplified with responsive ads.Effective ad copy can make or break your PPC campaigns.Therefore, experimenting with new ad copy is a vital PPC strategy. By testing various headlines and descriptions, you can uncover new ways to engage your audience and prompt action. If you use responsive ads or responsive display ads, testing ad copy becomes effortless.Supply Google with multiple headlines and description variations for these ads, and Google will test these variations and combinations to determine the best performer. When using any type of responsive ad, ensure your headlines and descriptions can be mixed and matched effectively. For instance, avoid having a headline like “Free Shipping on Your First Order” with a description like “Get free expedited shipping on your first order today!”When writing ad copy, consider the following tips:
Use power words like “free,” “simple,” or “guaranteed”
Incorporate numbers, such as the number of satisfied clients or shipped orders
Address users directly with the word “you”
Add targeted keywords
Target emotions or problems, such as simplifying household cleaning
Set reminders to check your campaigns after updating ad copy. Depending on your keywords’ search volume or your audience size for remarketing campaigns, you can quickly gather performance data on your ad copy.Action item: Review your account structure in Google Ads, specifically your ad campaign and ad group organization. Streamline your account structure by creating new campaigns for existing ad groups.Even seasoned PPC professionals can find their ad accounts become disorganized over time. Regularly auditing and updating your account structure is crucial for enhancing PPC results, as this optimization tip can significantly improve your PPC outcomes.Google Ads, for example, uses the following account structure:
Ad account
Campaigns
Ad groups
Ads
Keywords
This PPC tip focuses on campaign and ad group organization, where most accounts become disorganized. You might find, for instance, that some ad groups merit a dedicated campaign. For instance, if your business focuses on women’s products, you might decide to separate ad groups within that campaign into distinct campaigns.This could involve creating ad campaigns for women’s shoes, tops, and pants. Regularly assessing your account structure can maximize your PPC performance.Action item: Consider a professional PPC audit if you’ve optimized your PPC campaign and haven’t noticed an improvement in performance. Many PPC agencies offer free PPC audits to provide a fresh perspective on your campaign.If you’ve tried all these PPC tips and still can’t improve your PPC results, a PPC audit may be the solution. A professional review can help your business discover tailored strategies to increase PPC performance.While you can conduct a PPC audit in-house, it can be challenging if you’re already frustrated with campaigns due to a lack of results. With a PPC auditor, however, you can gain a fresh perspective and a second opinion.If you’re still determined to perform a PPC audit yourself, watch the video below to ensure you don’t miss any essential steps.In some cases, you can even receive a free PPC audit. WebFX, for example, offers free audits to companies investing $1000 or more on pay-per-click advertising each month.Take control of a low-performing PPC campaign now by exploring your options for a professional PPC audit.With these PPC campaign optimization tips, your business can achieve better results from online advertising, whether on Google or Bing. If you’re seeking professional PPC management assistance, WebFX offers the expertise, resources, and team to deliver improved PPC advertising outcomes. In the past five years, we’ve helped our clients generate over $10 billion in revenue.That’s why 91% of our clients choose us as their long-term partner for digital advertising and online marketing. Enhance your PPC results by contacting us online or calling 888-601-5359 to learn more about our PPC services!
