27 Oversights That Will Kill Your PPC Campaign

The question of whether or not to run pay per click (PPC) campaign has been answered many a times. PPC delivers the highest ROI and its benefits supersede the ones offered by other forms of online marketing.

While PPC is the best tool in an advertiser's arsenal, it can sometimes prove to be the opposite if performed incorrectly. In this series of two newsletters, we would be discussing common PPC mistakes that may cost you money.

Common pitfalls - the impediments to your success

Settings up a pay per click campaign is easy and businesses with little or no beforehand knowledge can do it all by themselves. But because PPC is 'believed to be easy' to setup and manage, many businesses end up losing money. While search engines have done a fantastic job at making their PPC interface easy-to-use, the campaign still needs to be optimized to derive maximum ROI.

Pay per click is a sure and easy way to advertise your business and make money, but it is also the easiest way to lose money if done wrong. Mentioned below are 15 (out of 27) common PPC mistakes that, if avoided, could save you thousands of dollars of advertising budget, and help you optimize your PPC campaign.

1. Running a campaign on default settings: Most businesses are unaware of the fact that default settings are meant to maximize revenue for search engines and not for them. Customizing these settings as per their requirement can help them in running an efficient campaign.

2. Bidding broad while ignoring phrase and exact match: Running your campaign on broad match (default setting) would help you target a wider keyword spectrum but can potentially deliver less targeted traffic. To derive optimum performance, it is always advisable to use a blend of broad match, phrase match and exact match.

3. Fighting for the numero uno spot: There is no doubt that the #1 position will garner most clicks but PPC is not about volume, it is about maximising ROI. Empirical data show that lower Ad position such as #3, #4, and #5 (featured on top left corner) cost less and deliver better conversion - increased ROI in short.

4. Sending users to your home page: Few advertisers take the time to choose the appropriate destination/landing page. Dismal conversion rate is given in such a scenario because homepage content is too generic to convert visitors into customers. People leave as soon as they land because they cannot find what they came looking for - a loss, both in terms of money and prospective clients.

5. Employing a solitary landing page: Home page is not a suitable landing page, but having one dedicated landing page instead is not the perfect solution either. You would need to have multiple variations of the landing page that are tweaked to be in sync with the Ad copy and offering therein.

6. Lack of landing page relevance: Most PPC campaigns are set such that every Ad and keyword send users to a particular landing page. While there is nothing wrong with the approach itself, it is imperative to ensure that the landing pages are tailored on the basis of keywords that send visitors to that page. Search engines give due importance to the said relevancy and its lack thereof can result in negative implications.

7. Using a single Ad group for all keywords: Putting all keywords under a single Ad group guarantees a low quality score and a decreased level of control. Categorizing sets of closely related keyword under different Ad groups will help you to manage the campaign at a granular level and monitor campaign efficiency rather effectively.

8. Using generic Ads in individual Ad groups: Using generic Ad for each Ad group is a recipe for sub optimal performance. It is essential to have targeted Ad copies for each individual Ad group. Ad copies that do not entice searchers will result in low click through rate (CTR) and poor Ad performance.

9. Turning a blind eye to geo targeting: Employing geo targeting is a must for businesses that cater to a specific market (based on location and languages), but is equally important for businesses that service global audience. While local businesses can use it to target their focus market, global businesses can use it to deliver customized Ad copies for different sets of global audience.

10. Not segregating content from search: Most advertisers are unaware that PPC campaign can be split into 'search network' and 'content network'. By running separate campaigns for both the networks, you can track and analyze both the campaigns better. Historically, search network perform better than content network but if you wish to tap both of them, it is advisable to run separate tailored campaigns for each one of them.

11. Bidding identically on search and content network: The AdWords platform allows you to set different bids for search and content network respectively. In most cases, you can bid lower on the content network and still manage to get a significant number of impressions and good click through rate (CTR).

12. Unattractive Ad copy: Searchers will click on your Ad only if your Ad copy is enticing enough to elicit a click. Every time you are about to write an Ad copy, you should check the Ad copies of your competitors and then write Ads that are both unique and relevant.

13. Ad copy without keywords: While keyword stuffing is not what you should be doing, a complete absence of keywords in Ad copy is not healthy either. While writing Ad copies you would need to embed your targeted keywords in Ad title and description. This will increase Ad relevance and deliver better CTR.

14. Failing to bid on your brand name: Assuming that prospective clients will remember your website URL if they remember your company name is foolishness. Many people will search for your company name to navigate to your website, and since brand terms cost less and have the best conversion rate, we see no reason why you shouldn't be bidding on them.

15. Avoiding competitor's brand keywords: Many advertisers fail to fully capitalize on brand keywords by failing to bid on their competitor's company name or brand keywords. Searchers looking for your competitors may well become your customers if they can find you for your competitors' keywords.

Note: Make sure you read AdWords Trademark Policies to stay clear of any trouble.

16. Lack or absence of appropriate testing: You will be amazed by the kind of improvement you can achieve, both in terms of CTR and conversion rate, by doing simple tests such as A-B split testing.

Writing a few variations of the same Ad and testing their performance can have a huge impact on CTR. Employing the best performing Ad copy can significantly bring down the cost per click. In addition to this, it is imperative to test landingpages to check their conversion potential. Having a good CTR would be worthless if your landing page fails to convert visitors into customers. Not to forget that testing Ad positions and their corresponding ROI is equally important.

17. Testing too many parameters at once: While testing is important, but going overboard can prove to be counterproductive. In other words, testing too much at once will not produce the desired results.

It is always advisable to test one variable at a time and limit the number of variables to be tested. Suppose you wanted to test 3 different titles, along with 3 different first lines and 3 different second lines. If you test one variable at a time, you would end up testing 27 different Ad copies in total. It will not only consume time but money and is therefore not recommended. Testing three variations of the same Ad copy for performance is a much better option, especially in the case of limited budget and time.

18. No or suboptimal tracking: Performance tracking is paramount and its importance cannot be stressed any more than it already has been. Without performance tracking, you could be wasting a lot of money.

You can easily track visitors coming to your PPC landing page and associate these visits to exact keywords and Ad copies that produced each visit. You can also track if any of these visitors performed the desired action (conversion). There is an abundance of web analytic software that can help you track visitors, and at the same time are easy to install and use.

Targeting keywords and utilizing Ad copies that convert better can help achieve a better return on investment - the ultimate goal behind any marketing campaign.

19. Measuring the wrong KPIs: Which one would you rather prefer; a 10% CTR with 2% conversion rate or a 5% CTR with 3% conversion rate. Simple calculation would reveal that with 1000 impressions, $1 cost per click (CPC) and $50 value per conversion, option 2 ($75 earned for $50 spent) is better than option 1 ($100 earned for $100 spent).

Measuring the correct performance metrics is the most crucial contributing factor to the success of your PPC campaign. Getting it wrong is not an option.

20. Confusing CTR for conversion: Taking click through rate (CTR) for conversions is where many of us go wrong. While CTR is a key performance metric, it is not an absolute performance metric. We say this because high CTR does not guarantee an increase in conversion rate.

High CTR can be easily achieved by bidding for high search volume keywords and using trigger words like "Free" in the Ad copy. Looking solely at CTR is a false indication that an Ad is performing better.

21. Building a big fat list of ineffective keywords: While setting up a PPC campaign, many of us get tempted into adding as many keywords as possible without sparing a though to its usefulness. Building a long list of irrelevant and generic keywords would not serve any revenue goal.

No doubt they can drive large volume of traffic but such visitors would leave just as quickly as they arrive because they will not find what they came looking form. You would need to tailor the keyword list to be in sync with your offerings.

22. Failing to leverage dynamic keyword insertion: Dynamic keyword insertion (DKI) can work like a magic if done right and catapult the click through rate. Dynamic keyword insertion helps you to show searchers the relational relevance between their searched term and your Ad.

If you were to search for "hotel in Seychelles" and find an Ad exactly matching you query, you are mostly like to think "Wow they have exactly what I want" and click on the Ad. It increases the likelihood of click and conversion.

23. Wasting money on negative keywords: Google and other search engines allow you to run a search query report which allows you to see all keywords that triggered an Ad. If you are running Ads on broad match, it is imperative you scrutinize the search query report and prepare a list of keywords that are triggering your Ads but are not relevant. You will then add them to the negative keyword list to stop your Ad appearing for irrelevant searches.

You don't want to be attracting irrelevant visitors to your landing page especially when you are paying money to get them there.

24. Overlooking seasonal aspects: Targeting keywords and adapting Ad copies to match the seasonal fervour is a less practiced but highly effective strategy. Christmas special, summer bonanza, etc. Ads not only stand out from the rest but are also known to trigger higher CTR and generate more sales.

Seasonal PPC management can contribute significantly to the campaign's quarterly results if not monthly.

25. Filtering out non performing networks: Every search engine, be it Google, Yahoo or Bing (formerly know as MSN), has their own network if websites to which they distribute your Ads. However, not all of these websites would send quality traffic your way and the only way of knowing it is analyzing the placement performance report.

This report will help you to single out and block non performing/spam websites in the network. Additionally, it can used to select best performing websites and you can run a targeted CPM campaign.

26. Under utilizing valuable online space to display number: This one is controversial and people may be equally divided in their opinion on whether or not to do it. Generally, people are not too tempted to call till they have found a bit about you and the only way of doing it is checking out the landing page. If this be the case then, displaying your contact number in the Ad copy is a waste of valuable space which can be utilized better.

However, this particular facet may work both ways and needs to be tested on a case by case basis.

27. Ignoring day parting: If you can afford to run your PPC campaign 24/7, this is not for you. However, most of us run on a budget and therefore day parting is a great way to effectively manage your budget.

If you are in B to B industry then you could potentially maximize your budget by running your campaign during business hours and business working days. It is also recommend if you are targeting a time zone other than yours.

The list by no means claims to be the "holy grail" of PPC mistakes. There many small and silly mistakes along with complicated ones that you may or would come across while managing PPC campaigns. However, this list mentions the mistakes that are seen time and again. We sincerely hope that this list plays a pivotal role in helping you keep your PPC campaign in excellent shape.