Pay per click (PPC) advertising may be one of the most effective ways to acquire new customers, but it can also be very costly depending on the keywords you decide to target for your business. WordStream recently conducted a study that discovered some of the most expensive Google AdWords terms can cost you up to $50 (almost £33) per click – and these are probably completely out of the question for many small businesses on a budget.
However, if you do decide to compete with the best of ’em for some of the most sought after terms, you’re going to need a good PPC strategy. Below are some of the ways you can keep your PPC advertising expenses down whilst aiming for an improved ROI:
Narrow down your keywords
You’re probably going to see a pattern in some of these points, telling us that the most important thing is to ensure your chosen keywords appeal and are relevant to your chosen target audience. Opt for between three and five word phrases that match exactly what you’re promoting, rather than going down the more general route. Your keywords should be as specific as possible to draw the right audience in. For All Seasons Bikes, I pushed Electric Mountain Bikes as a major keyword and then narrowed down dramitcally.
Utilise negative keywords
This is a great way to help you get rid of any irrelevant phrases that might work against you. Make sure your ads are only being seen by your target audience, and when it actually matters. To do this, use negative keywords to exclude any particular keywords or key phrases that probably won’t win you any conversions.
Landing page optimisation
The fact that you’re paying for visitors to get to specific landing pages means you’re going to want to make those landing pages as optimised as possible. Run some A/B tests to see which layouts, offers and fonts etc. get the best results – it’s not an exact science, but it will certainly make a difference.
Improve your quality score
Finally, this one certainly can’t hurt. Your CPC (cost per click) is usually calculated based on a variety of factors, which include your quality score. The higher your quality score, the more you can potentially reduce your costs. You can work on improving your quality score by trying out small, very targeted keywords, and writing detailed and compelling landing page and ad content (something you should really be doing anyway as it can help maximise your conversion rates).
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