subject: PPC Optimization for Top Performance [print this page] PPC Optimization for Top Performance PPC Optimization for Top Performance
Pay per Click (PPC) Optimization is highly complex due to the fierce competition and the ability for nearly anyone to enter the proverbial sponsored listingsflea market. While once more of an exclusive road on Beverly Hills, sponsored listings via PPC marketing is now more kin to a flea market, where anyone can place their ad for a very low entry fee.
The intricacies presented with this open advertising market present challenges for both newcomers and those with years of experience. The experience and SEM savvy required to get and stay on top keeps newcomers from having a long lived stay in the top listings, unless they know the secrets of PPC marketing. Likewise, even those with years of experience can see their profits diminish due to continually optimizing a PPC account while trying to expand their reach to maximize revenues.
Why do people fail when trying to manage PPC?
Trying to do too much too soon. - Don't start out with doing every PPC listing available. Adwords, Adcenter, AOL sponsored listing, Yahoo Search Marketing (now using Microsoft Adcenter). Google Adwords represents about 68% of all searches and also provides the best tools to structure your account.
Risk adverse - People expect to make it big by spending $50/day. To even ramp up your campaign you need to be able to earn a reputation from Google that you are credible and at a minimum become the go to account for your top 3 keywords. You will also not be getting strong statistical information with a low number of clicks to base important decisions.
Poor knowledge of PPC tools - There are numerous tools available. Most of them are fairly straight forward. Google has numerous tools to help define themes, assess markets, refine accounts, determine CPA & ROI and estimate bids. Tools such as ours help determine optimal bids to capitalize on impression and click attribution.
Data analysis - Once people find and use the available tools people do not know how to use the information the tools provide. The data does not give answers and is merely a gauge of performance. Information intrinsic to your business is needed to make bidding decisions. (This is often the area which PPC consultants have the biggest problems. They try to apply cookie-cutter business approaches to your data and it can cost you dearly if you do not help.)
Organization skills - When you started dabbling in PPC, you likely didn't have much hope and didn't spend the time structuring your account properly. A PPC account is like a high performance vehicle needing hard to find parts and care. To work on a performance vehicle you need special tools, parts and planning. Now that PPC represents a good portion of your revenues, you are working overtime trying to keep your "PPC Account" on the road.
Here are a few PPC tips to help you stay on top and keep you from becoming overwhelmed when managing your PPC campaigns. Just imagine being able to spend a couple days without looking at your account without the fear that your campaigns are imploding!
Where to start - Take a look at your products, visualize the markets and demographics you are targeting. Use this information to define your campaigns. Your products plus the market and demographic gives a great way to start structuring your campaigns. Shameless plug - If you need more advanced campaign strategies, visit PPC-optimization-secrets.com.
Define Ad Groups with 10 to 15 keywords. Utilize all match types in an ad group from which you can cull the non-performing keywords later. Hone in on quality score to help reorganize keywords. I use monthly snapshots of information to determine how to optimize my Ad groups.
Have multiple ad text ads per ad group and constantly iterate 2 or 3 ads per ad group. It may take a year or more until you cannot improve any further. Once optimized, revisit every 3 months to try and optimize further.
Constantly grow and refine your PPC account - PPC listings are constantly changing and evolving. Don't be reckless in adding new keywords and networks as they will become hard to manage, incorporate discount or pilot campaigns to act as a sandbox for testing keywords. Once they prove themselves, you can upgrade them to your proven campaigns. This makes it much easier to keep track of those keywords.
Assess performance with analytics and CPA metrics. If you have a big account, managing long tail keyword's performance can be daunting and if the cost hasn't yet exceeded your CPA, then let it be. There is one exception - content networks can suck away your profits. There are thousands of content networks and a couple dollars from each will cost you dearly. Exclude networks that don't perform every 3 to 6 months depending on your sensitivity.
PPC optimization is not a "build it and they will come" proposition. Much like SEO, there is constant refinement needed to harvest customers. The difference is that PPC is less opaque - you have pretty clear information on how to improve your results. The problem is coming up with a methodology to make the right decisions while not requiring 24x7 monitoring of your PPC accounts.
Best of luck with your new found knowledge. Follow me on Twitter to stay posted for more PPC Optimization tips or visit PPC-optimization-secrets.com to review my new ebook and PPC Optimizer.
