Among the different techniques of internet advertising, PPC or Pay Per Click is the most effective and targeted. PPC programs like ‘Google Adwords’ and ‘Yahoo Search Marketing’ can bring you immediate results and drive targeted traffic to your website. But using PPC advertising is not easy. Unless you know the tricks of using PPC, it may cost you a fortune without bringing the desired results. The following tips will help you to successfully use PPC in your advertising campaigns :
(a) The most important point to consider is the proper selection of keywords. Avoid general search terms as these are likely to have a large competition and are expensive. Always look for ‘Long Tail Keywords’ (containing three or four words) which have less competition and are less costly. There are various keyword research tools such as, ‘Wordtracker’ which may be used for this purpose. The ads may be divided into different ad groups and the performance of each group should be monitored separately. Only those groups which are profitable should be continued.
(b) The language of your ad should be simple and grammatically correct. Do not use any unnecessary punctuation, symbols or capitalization. The ad should be easily understood by the average web user. The ad copy should be such that it would make the visitor want to click the ad to know more. It should highlight the benefits of using the product or service being offered. The use of the words like ‘discount’,’free offer’ etc. will help to attract customers.
(c) The content of your ad should match with that of your website or landing page. Any claims made in your ad must be supported by the landing page.
(d) When you write your ad copy, be careful of any copyright issue. Any violation of the same will get you penalized. Do not use any offensive language in your ad, as it is completely prohibited by Google.
(e) Instead of spending all the money at a time, you should set a daily budget for your PPC advertisements. Only spend what you can afford to lose.
4 Comments
Jeet
June 17, 2009 at 15:42I will add a couple of points to this.
1. Ensure ad copy also has keywords for which ad is being shown. (might have to create multiple ad versions and ad groups)
2. Check landing page’s quality score, if it’s less than 5, it might make sense to have another landing page for some of these keywords.
3. Don’t use discount / cheap / free etc. if you are selling a premium service or a luxury car :))
Zak
February 28, 2016 at 15:37Hi Jeet,
Thank you for your added tips!
Mike
June 18, 2009 at 04:09Hey, nice post, really well written. You should post more about this.
Hitch
June 18, 2009 at 13:20That is so good to know! I am glad people care enough to do something helpful in this situation.