Better PPC Management
Josh Prizer
Click Through Rates (CTRs) are one of the key components of the paid search algorithms. Fine tuning those will not only help you rise in the search engines, but they can even lower your costs per click.
Let's look a little closer at some of the things you can do to improve those Click Through Rates (CTRs). There are several techniques and areas to look at but many of these require some continual effort on your part. If you are not up for it, think about hiring a PPC company to do the heavy lifting for you. A good PPC management company can double or triple or CTRs.
The Importance of Targeted, Relevant Keywords
Consider the person typing in the keyword you are advertising on. They want information on that topic. So, make your ad copy speak to them. Put the keyword phrase into your ad copy, if possible. Of course, this may not be easy to accomplish if you have one of those typical PPC accounts that pile keywords into ad groups. But the more you can address the person doing the search, the more your ad will interest them.
Unfortunately, if you have one of those accounts with tons of keywords under just a few ad groups, you may need to restructure your entire account. Again, not a pretty process scrapping all the work you have done. And, again, this might be an area where you consider outsourcing to a professional.
Negative Keywords
With the growing importance of CTRs, negative keywords (keywords you don't want to appear on) also grow in importance. So, when you are doing your keyword research, pay particular attention to keywords you don't want to appear on. By eliminating some of these, you will lower the numbers of "bad impressions" that your ads are appearing under. Lowering those will help pull up the CTRs.
Improving Your Ads
One of the bigger items to look at is your ad copy. Do you have a compelling ad? Is there a call to action or a value statement of some kind? You want to push the right buttons. And while there are a number ad copy tricks that can do this, the best method to improving your ads is split testing.
Split testing is the process of running multiple ads at once and comparing the results. It sounds simple enough, but you also need to do it with consistency to make it effective. You also need to make sure that you don't pull the plug from an ad to early. There are some mathematical ways you can determine this, but if you are not committed to conducting split tests frequently and often, don't expect to see your CTRs rise.
There are a variety of tricks and secrets to optimizing your PPC accounts. Putting added focus on those Click Through Rates is a good place to start. If you are in an especially competitive business and keyword marketplace, consider outsourcing to a professional. If you can't afford that added expense (although a good PPC expert will more than pay for himself), roll up the sleeves and get to work. Intelligent effort pays off.
About the Author:
Josh Prizer is an Account Executive and PPC Expert who works for Zero Company Performance Marketing, a ppc management firm. Go to his site to read more on how to improve your PPC advertising accounts and performance.
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