It’s no secret that many small businesses have a hard time getting their company websites off the ground. Often it is due to the sheer number of competitors vying for every popular search term.
However, an effectively implemented pay per click (PPC) campaign can speed up the process and enable a startup to improve search engine results placement faster. Yet, for the effort to be deemed a success, it is essential to get the most out of a PPC campaign.
Here’s a look at seven tips every small business can use to improve the effectiveness of their PPC initiatives:
1. Track Performance
It’s difficult to determine whether a PPC campaign is doing any good unless performance is tracked on a regular basis. Standard web traffic statistics don’t tell the entire story.
For instance, evaluating the amount of times a potential visitor sees your company’s ads versus how many times the ads are clicked on can establish the click through rate (CTR). These types of metrics are important when deciphering which campaigns are working and which need adjustments.
2. Utilize Sitelinks
Small businesses often can’t make changes to their PPC campaigns without increasing cost. Sitelinks is the exception. This handy extension allows webmasters to set their PPC ads to display links to a handful of landing pages they want potential visitors to see.
As Greg Yevich, the Co-founder and Technology Director of OperationROI, explains: “On average, the CTR of an ad with sitelinks is boosted by 10-20% … So it appears that sitelinks do exactly what they’re supposed to do: get more people to click on your ad more often… Simply put, sitelinks can help you create better and more effective ads.”
3. Update Landing Pages
There’s nothing that can derail a PPC campaign faster than outdated landing pages. Websites that have a considerable number of individual pages struggle with this problem, since their landing pages get lost in the shuffle. To prevent this from happening, new landing pages should be created for each PPC campaign.
4. Build PPC Campaigns Slowly
Everyone has different expectations when it comes to what their PPC campaigns can accomplish. The reality is that it might take a while before your PPC efforts are successful. Through trial and error, you can figure out what works.
5. Invest in PPC Success
A PPC campaign is only as successful as the amount of money you can invest. A small PPC budget will limit what a PPC campaign can achieve. More money should be devoted to remove any limitations on what a PPC campaign can deliver.
6. Create Seasonal PPC Campaigns
During certain times of the year, you might implement a PPC campaign based on something seasonal (i.e., holiday sales or seasonal sales efforts).
Choosing this approach limits a campaign’s duration. During this time, the campaign in question will likely produce better results than it would at any other time of the year. Capitalizing on market and industry trends can improve the prospects of even the most underperforming PPC initiatives.
7. Choose Evergreen Messages
Develop marketing concepts for campaigns that will never become outdated. This technique allows you to run a campaign longer. The length of a PPC campaign should not exceed six months before the concept (i.e., marketing message) behind it is updated.
This article has been edited and condensed.
Jacob Baadsgaard is the CEO of Disruptive Advertising. He is a passionate digital marketer and entrepreneur with 7 years of enterprise digital marketing experience. He personally managed over 40 million dollars in annual marketing budget and consulted many of the Inc. 100 companies while at Adobe, including groups like: GE, John Deere, Citibank and Home Depot. Connect with @DisruptiveAds on Twitter.
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