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12 EASY Signs You Need to Rethink Your Paid Search Strategy via @adamproehl http://bit.ly/31FKuyo Running paid search campaigns, but wondering if you have the right strategy in place? Here are a dozen signs to look out for that may indicate the need to rethink your current approach. 1. You’re Constantly Underspending Your BudgetYou have a budget of $5,000 per month to spend, but on a consistent basis, you aren’t coming anywhere close to that. I’m not talking about a one-month seasonal aberration. There could be multiple reasons you’re underspending, including:
2. You’re Down to Buying Branded Terms Only Because You Don’t See Conversions From Any Other SourceYour paid search campaign is so limited. You or your agency has culled your keyword list down to just branded terms because everything else just seems like a waste of money. Either every non-branded (but relevant) term is way too expensive to justify the cost of a click or it’s priced fairly, but not once clicks or converts. If this is the case, here are a few potential root causes to examine:
And on the flip side to this extreme… 3. You Refuse to Buy Branded Terms Because You ‘Already Rank for That Organically’ … ‘So Why Waste Our Money?’This tired argument is bound to come up when you have a new executive who is new to the world of search. Some of the easiest answers to this question include:
4. You’re Expecting the Same Type of Conversion Results From All KeywordsIf you have this expectation, you’re set up to fail from the beginning. It just doesn’t work this way. The stage of the buying cycle plays a very heavy role in which keyword gets search on. For example, let’s look at “virtual meetings”:
5. You’re Using Cost per Click as Your Sole Determining Factor in Whether You Bid on a Term or NotIt can certainly be a factor, but not the only factor. Remember this is an auction. At auctions, the price is determined by what a bidder is willing to pay. Logically, if someone is willing to pay a higher price, that bidder deems the cost to be worth it. I’m not saying you should automatically be willing to pay what you feel is an outrageous price, but you owe it to yourself to dig deeper and ask a few questions:
6. You’re Only Measuring the Success of Your Campaign on an overall Return On Ad Spend (ROAS)I understand why you would do this. It’s a simple trap to fall into:
Here’s why using only ROAS for a success measurement is a bad idea:
7. You’re Spending Your Entire Paid Media Budget on Text-Based PPC Ads – You See It as Your Only Paid Media ChannelStop! Just Stop! Don’t get me wrong. I love PPC. I’ve made a good living doing it, but if you’re relying on it as your only paid channel to drive revenue, you’re in trouble. Remember that statement back in #1 about search being great for responding to demand but unable to help you build it? That’s all you really need to know if you ever start thinking it’s a good idea to make PPC as your only paid media channel. It’s not! 8. You’re Measuring Your Program’s Success on Impressions & ClicksIt’s fine to measure impressions and clicks to add context to a comprehensive analysis that includes more important success metrics like post-click activity and conversions. If the report you get doesn’t go any deeper than impressions and clicks, what can you actually tell me about the success of your paid search program? Answer: Nothing. You need additional context to both of those metrics otherwise there is nothing actionable with that data. 9. You’re Sending Every Single Paid Search Ad to the Home PageIt’s fine to send some traffic to the home page if it’s relevant to the searcher. Otherwise, don’t do it. In your ad copy, you’re making a promise to that searcher. Whatever it is your ad copy promises (specific info, third-party validation, discount, how-to, case study, etc.), your landing page needs to deliver. That’s asking a lot of a website’s home page. In the Zoom meetings example above, the headline links to the home page (which, again, is fine if that page is relevant to the ad), but look at the four extensions below it. They all point to relevant landing pages that keep the promise they make to the searcher: 10. You Aren’t Using Any Ad ExtensionsHere’s how that Zoom ad above would look without the extensions: The ad seen in #9 looks like it would generally be an effective one. Without the ad extensions, it becomes a lot less compelling, doesn’t it? There’s a lot that goes into properly using extensions. For more info, check out Everything You Need to Know About Ad Extensions from SEJ’s PPC guide. 11. You Haven’t Touched Your Ad Creative in at Least a YearFor the record, I’m in favor of “what works”, not “what’s new.” It’s important to always keep that perspective. As Responsive Search Ads become more widely adopted, the old ways of “one static creative” will be less and less of a standard practice. However, Responsive Search Ads still require inputs. The combinations of outputs that result from a machine learning system assembling the best mix of headlines and copy are only as good as the inputs. How we optimize ad creatives has dramatically evolved in recent years beyond simple A/B testing, but you still need to have the type of mindset where you’re always looking to find the best recipe for success. That means challenging your biases and assumptions to take a chance that you can improve your campaign performance. For more insights into Responsive Search Ads, check out SEJ’s post covering the original announcement. 12. You Don’t Know What You Should Be Paying for a ConversionCalculating the Cost Per Conversion is a simple equation an average second grader could do: Total campaign spend divided by the total conversions tracked (back to the campaign in some form). The hard part occurs away from the Ad Platform interface – calculating what you should be willing to pay for the conversion. This is where the PPC manager will need help from stakeholders. Some of the things that need to be taken into account are:
The point is, understand what you SHOULD be willing to pay for a conversion within your market and you’ll have an easier time setting up your paid search campaign for success! Starting With ThisThere’s more to running a successful paid search program than just the 12 items listed here, but this is a good place to start re-examining your strategy and will ultimately set you on a better path. More Resources: Image Credits All screenshots taken by author, June 2019 SEO via Search Engine Journal http://bit.ly/1QNKwvh June 18, 2019 at 08:58AM
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