Princeton,NJ/ 360prwire/ November 3/
PPC marketing isn’t a new trend, but knowing how to maximize your efforts is crucial for success. If you’re going to be paying a fee every time your ad is clicked, capitalizing on your campaign can increase targeted traffic and the overall return on your marketing efforts. Search engine advertising is the most popular form of pay-per-click marketing, where advertisers bid for ad placement overall.
If you’re looking at Google AdWords, three major keyword matches exist exact match, phrase match, and broad match. If you’re not able to decode what each of these means, there’s a good chance you’re wasting your time and budget on campaigns that don’t work as efficiently as they should.
To help you improve your PPC campaigns, here are five common keyword mistakes you might be making that can cost you valuable time, energy, and money.
Not maximizing your negative keywords
As a default setting, Google will display ads for keywords that don’t apply to your business unless you tell it not to. When every click on your ad costs you money, having the best-targeted audience is the best option. If you know of keywords that aren’t relevant to your company (for example, “free,” “cheap,” or “discounted”), they should be removed as results.
Take advantage of Google’s negative keywords list to exclude any words, phrases, or keywords that won’t bring you valuable customers. If you know that a person has no intention of spending money on your site (for example, they enter “free kid’s shoes”), they’re probably not a targeted audience for your kid’s shoe outlet online.
Not Understanding how Broad Search works
Google has three specific keyword campaigns for every PPC campaign. These campaigns are best used for generic and general keywords, giving various people access to your website. If appropriately used, these differences can significantly increase your return on investment.
The broad search will cast the widest net when it comes to your ad campaign. For example, using the keyword “dog training” will show the ad for people typing that exact keyword. It will also offer alternative search terms. These might include “positive dog training” or “best dog training.” The ad may even show up when people enter in synonyms of your keyword.
Not targeting local keywords with exact match
The exact match functionality will show your ad for anyone who types in the identical keyword (or close variations). The ad doesn’t appear for any other version of the keyword, limiting the impressions the most. With exact match functionality, users that do see your ad are highly targeted. For example, the keyword sugar daddies Chicago is a locally targeted keyword. Users will have to enter in the exact phrase on Google to have the website ad appear. As a result, only users looking within the Chicago area will see your PPC ad.
Failing to use the phrase match setting
The phrase match setting allows users to specify an exact phrase that has to be within the search term. These keywords target specific audiences, reigning in a generalized keyword to slightly more targeted than the broad search. Users will have to enter in your exact term to show the ad in the results. For example, a phrase match of “chicken soup” will still show for similar search terms, including “best chicken soup recipe.” It won’t show the keyword when a user enters “chicken noodle soup.”
Failing to choose the right match type
When first starting out, it’s always a wise idea to start with a broad match setting. As you continue throughout the campaign, narrow them down as appropriate. You’ll want to monitor your reports, which will show the terms searched to see the ad.As the campaign continues, pay attention to any patterns for irrelevant queries or unrelated search terms. If you notice any patterns, consider adding them to your list of negative keywords. As you add negative keywords to your list, the PPC campaign will become more restrictive over time.
If you’re targeting specific geographical areas, having an exact match or phrase match settings on the PPC campaign may make sense. You’ll want to keep an eye on any search patterns or keywords that don’t match the industry you’re targeting. While you don’t want to have all broad match keywords, you also don’t want to use only exact match terms. The general match terms will keep your ad accessible in search results, while the exact match will support the campaign targeted.
Other Ad Considerations for Your Campaign
While your keyword settings are important, there are critical settings that can influence a campaign’s success. Unless you change the settings in your account, Google campaigns are set to show ads continuously all day. This includes advertising throughout the middle of the night or when your ad isn’t likely to produce targeted results. Always take advantage of the ad scheduling functionality within Google ads. You’ll be able to change the bid on your PPC campaigns, depending on the time of the day. By doing this, you’ll be able to increase your bid during busier times, attracting more people to your website, and spend less during times that don’t seem to be producing results. Users can also disable ads altogether during specific times.
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