On a Limited Budget? Then These Top 9 PPC Advertising Tips Are For You

For online businesses that are out to purchase PPC advertising, return on investment is everything.

Every marketing campaign that makes use of PPC is unique. Nevertheless, the success of most marketing campaigns comes down to the same things:

• Extensive keyword research
• A well-organized and logical structure
• Proper management and maintenance

Even though it is important to set aside enough time and to hone in on each of these areas, the effective running of a PPC campaign is not about working harder—it’s about working smarter.

PPC advertising has so many features that it may seem quite overwhelming to a novice marketer.

Moreover, the fact that your budget may be smaller than that of your competitors makes competing successfully very difficult.

Therefore, success for small marketers and business owners comes down to precision.

Below are a few PPC advertising tips to take into consideration if you have a very limited budget:

1. Begin by focusing on your main products

If it is your first time, stick to advertising one of your main products.

Aspects to consider when deciding which products to focus on include: popularity with customers, conversion rates achieved and profit margins.

Most online businesses have a product that leads in the above aspects, and that’s the one you should start with.

Otherwise, just go with the products that sell well and generate reasonably good profits for your business.

At this point, it may not be a good idea to try and promote all of your products.

This is especially true if you have a wide variety of offerings, because you may stretch your budget too thin to achieve any effectiveness.

2. Separate campaigns and closely integrated ad groups

Google’s Quality Score is among the most essential aspects that determines the effectiveness of a PPC ad campaign.

It’s used to grade your keywords with regard to relevancy. A higher Quality Score means an ad is more relevant to the search query. It also means that you will be charged less to post it.

An effective way to obtain good Quality Scores is by properly structuring keywords and campaigns in your account.

Segmenting ad groups and campaigns into closely integrated themes enables you to effectively match landing pages, ads and keywords to assist in raising Quality Scores.

3. Understand ad placement

There are numerous varying ad types within Google AdWords, but the following three ad display mediums should be your main focus at first:

• Search Networks—the most stereotypical form of PPC—position ads that appear as simple text in SERPs.
• Display Networks position ads across Google’s Display Network. These traditionally static images may also feature animated banners or text ads.
• Google Shopping displays individual products for Ecommerce advertisers in the search results and on Google’s Shopping tab.

A common mistake that new advertisers make is simultaneously advertising on multiple networks.

A better strategy would be to advertise on a single network because positioning two campaigns concurrently may have a negative impact.

4. Consider the geographical location of your target customers

Geographically targeting ads to particular regions for each campaign is a smart Las Vegas SEO move for, say, a lawyer looking for clients specifically in Las Vegas.

In campaign scenarios, you can direct your ads to searchers in a specific geographical area. Also available is radius targeting around particular addresses.

New campaigns automatically cover North America and Canada, so be sure to take this into account before you activate your campaigns.

5. Start off by utilizing exact match keywords as well as phrase match keywords

Start off by using exact match and phrase match keyword development for closely integrated ad groups with tight themes.

While using this strategy may lead to your ads being seen and clicked less, it will boost your click-through rate.

Beginning with the most pertinent search queries that bring up your ads, you’ll enjoy the benefit of good ROI and conversion rates.

Furthermore, tighter targeting will assist you in leveraging your tight budget.

6. Manage mobile bids

People viewing your ads on mobile devices may be your highest priority, depending on your business.

In contrast, smartphone users’ conversion rates on your website may be poor. You can alter mobile device impressions using the Setting > Devices tab.

If you are having low conversion rates from smartphone users, you can make savings on searches that occur on other devices, such as tablets or desktops by reducing your mobile bid.

On the other hand, if smartphone visitors are valuable to your business, doing the opposite can boost your chances of attracting smartphone visitors.

7. Simplify your ads

To begin with, make sure your ads are concise. Keywords in your ad text should be relevant to the group.

To enhance Quality Score and relevancy, match keywords with ad text.

For all your ads, follow this template:

• Headline (character limit: 25) – Pitch your product.
• First line of description (character limit: 35) – Highlight your strengths.
• Second line of description (character limit: 35) – Steer Searchers toward making a purchase.

Using this template will assist in creating concise and useful ads.

8. Set up extensions for your ads

There are a few free ad extensions on Google that you can make use of.

Extensions usually lead to higher engagement metrics such as conversion rate and click-through rate.

Additionally, they are an effective means of acquiring as many positions as possible on a search engine results page.

All Search Network campaigns have these extensions. Below are some ad extensions you might find useful:

• Location extensions – your “My Business” page should be linked to your physical address
• Call extensions – add your phone number directly into your ad text
• Sitelinks – promote four additional links to internal pages of your site

9. Monitor your account regularly

Monitor and optimize your account regularly to ensure its success. Try and set aside at least thirty minutes per week to have a look at your campaigns.

Making small adjustments to campaigns can go a long way in helping you get considerable savings on an already tight PPC advertising budget.

Author Bio:

Sean Spencer manages the Small Business Solutions department of a leading internet marketing agency in Las Vegas. He has immense experience working with Google Analytics, Bing Ads, Google AdWords, and Las Vegas SEO.

Featured image:

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net