A pay per click advertising campaign is a very effective way to drive traffic to your e-commerce website and convert visitors to buyers. However, it is not inexpensive, so ensuring you get the most out of this form of marketing is essential.
Don’t make these common Pay Per Click Mistakes in your campaign.
Pay Per Click Mistake 1 – The Wrong Keywords
Perhaps the worst mistake you can make is not using the right keywords in your campaign. This is not only ineffective, it costs quite a bit of money to develop a campaign around the wrong keywords.
To avoid making this Pay Per Click Mistake, be sure you put in sufficient time and effort into keyword research to determine the best keywords before you begin your pay per click campaign. Use one or several of online keyword research tools, such as that offered through Google Adwords or one consider investing in one of the keyword marketing tools that you can buy (Market Samurai has a great reputation so far).
Don’t forget to consider long tail keywords in addition to those that are most common. These will cost you less, as well as driving qualified traffic.
2. Setting And Forgetting
A pay per click campaign is not a static form of advertising. It requires constant monitoring and analysis. Indications of dropping traffic, lowering conversion rates, or increasing bounce rates are all signs that something needs to be done to revive your campaign, and now. Do not focus solely on the number of click-throughs; instead examine the ratio of clicks to sales.
Consider using split testing to determine what type of ad produces the best results. Update your keywords as necessary. Try writing new copy or changing the landing page. Learn how to use the statistics provided on the back end in order to determine what needs to be changed. Even small tweaks may result in a much better return on your investment.
3. The Wrong Landing Page
Does your pay per click banner ad link to your site’s home page? If so, you may be missing out on sales opportunities and inadvertently causing a high number of bounces. When a user clicks on the link associated with specific keywords and copy, they expect to be directed to a relevant landing page. Usually, this is not the home page.
Don’t frustrate potential customers by making them search for the page to make a purchase or find more information on a specific product. Ensure that where they land is tailored to be relevant to their search and offers the visitor a clear and immediate opportunity to receive further information or buy.
4. The Wrong Contact Information
Does your PPC banner ad include a phone number or physical address? If so, this is just wasted space. People generally do not search the internet to find a bricks and mortar store; they are searching for an online location to get their business done right away. If they wanted a phone number, they’d look in the telephone directory. Try using this space for copy that compels a visitor to click on your link and make a purchase online instead.
Be cautious of wasting your time, effort, and money on an ineffective PPC campaign. With the right keywords, analysis, landing page, and copy, your online advertising dollars will be put to good use and have the potential to produce a high ROI, without making some very costly Pay Per Click Mistakes.
Have a most outstanding day.
Sean RasmussenAussie Internet Marketing
www.SeanSEO.com © 2008 - 2012
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Sean – I’ve got 2 PPC campaigns going at the moment so your words of wisdom are much appreciated. I haven’t tried changing the landing page, so I might give that a go and compare results. Thanks!
Always good to make a few changes and try a little split testing Jan, and see what works best.
Regards – Sean
Jan
I’d be interested on how you are going as I am a bit wary of using PPC ads.
Thanks for the article Sean. Very helpful as I a looking at starting a PPC campaign soon. I think I am just going to stick to long tail keywords to begin with and move up from there.
Great idea to try out the long-tails first Bill, they are generally a lot cheaper and more targeted. Just be sure to do your research first, the Google keyword tool or Market Samurai are great resources for that.
Regards – Sean
Yeah Market Samurai rocks
Very important finding the right keywords. I found a great tool for this on ispionage.com. Also includes long-tail keywords. It is great that it provides word related keywords from a daily refreshed database over the Internet, based on actual search volume, or can find the paid keywords of your competitors, if you can provide the URL. Also can make the keywords lists and adgroups and even build a campaign using 4 easy steps. You should check this up and give it a go. The more tools you know and try the better. Good luck all!
Sounds like an interesting tool, I will have a look at it. Thanks for the tip.
thanks for the information. i will take a better look at my landing pages.
The best tools that I have found thus far are Google’s Keyword tool and SEO book – combine this with with something like Excel to keep and track your keywords and you have a great foundation.
There are probably more sophisticated tools available (like Market Samurai as Sean mentioned), however if your just starting out, I believe that you should focus on getting the basics right.
Hi sean, i agree with u.. to make money with PPC is not easy.
Hi Faisal
Definitely – launching a profitable pay per click campaign is not easy, but it is quite possible. Like anything, there is a learning curve involved. Generally the more you learn something, the better you get. Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to learn is by learning from your mistakes. The important thing is, if you do make mistakes, learn from them and don’t let it happen again
Regards – Sean
These tips in this blog post are so fundamental, but they must be mistakes people are making if you’ve chosen to write about them, Sean. Making mistakes like these on PPC are an expensive way to learn!
I guess my biggest trap would be the “set and forget” as I am still getting my head around all the things that need doing on a regular basis with IM. Haven’t developed all of them as habits yet, but I am getting there. Thanks for the tips, I will be aware of them once I start pay per click campaigns.
Hi Sean,
Thanks for the list of common pay per click mistakes. They seem to be common sense but I’ll be sure to double check these things when I start my PPC campaign.
When you do keyword research, how many tools do you use? I use MS more than anything else. The only time I consider using something else is if I’m having problems finding a keyword that fits my parameters.
MS and the Google keyword tool are the main ones I have used in the past Jazz.