8 Ways to Get the Most out of Your PPC Campaign


Successfully optimizing a PPC campaign is a necessity to sustaining performance over time. Analyzing how a PPC campaign is working should reveal areas that can be improved. Organizational goals are usually never reached without repeatedly optimizing a PPC campaign. We know it can be overwhelming to tackle a PPC campaign like this and so we put together 8 ways to get the most out of your PPC campaign.

 Know your Keywords

 Choosing the wrong keywords wastes time and effort. Keywords are what drives ad assignments on search networks. Always ensure you have the right collection of keywords and create customized ads to those specific keywords. These are the lifeblood to any PPC campaign’s success so don’t just scan over a few keywords that you think might fit your website. Do your research. Limit these keywords to maximum 20 per ad group. Building an effective collection of keywords can jumpstart any PPC campaign. It’s just a matter of finding the right collection for your organizational goals.

 Identify Negative Keywords

 Sometimes, unusual searches might trigger your ads. Therefore, you want to consider the searches that may mistakenly bring up your ad and do what you can to limit the appearance of ads on these searches. Build a negative keyword list to maximize your PPC opportunities. Constantly, you want to be refining this list to ensure that you are showing up where you want to show up according to the unique, specific keywords attached.

 Google Display Network and Negative Keywords

 The relationship between the Google Display Network (GDN) and negative keywords is somewhat controversial, with many recommending to never use negative keywords on these ads. The difficulty, some argue, is that this limits the reach of some ads. Many people advocate for negative keywords, particularly as they pertain to PR, topics, and social commentary. Know the ways in which your keyword could be negatively featured.

 Limit Ads per Ad Group

 Depending on your business goals, it is recommended to use two or three ads maximum per ad group. Develop a proper ad testing strategy i.e. creating three ads, allowing Google to use them and them replacing the poorest performer. Keep in mind metrics such as the ads with the highest conversion rate, lowest cost per conversion, and highest CTR, when judging what is working and what is not.

 Ads appearing on Games and Apps

 Ads are appearing more and more on mobile apps and games. Sadly, this traffic does not typically convert. This is why we recommend not pursuing this route of ads. Think about it. Anyone playing a game is not going to want to stop to click on an ad and if they do, they are unlikely to convert.

 Geotargeting

 Always ensure that your ads are being targeted towards the correct geolocation. A surprising number of PPC campaigns end up failing due to a lack of geotargeting or geotargeting the wrong location. If you are seeing clicks from outside your geotargeted location, narrow the current geotarget or exclude locations that are seen as inappropriate.

 Audit Conversion Actions regularly

 There are key areas you always want to be evaluating when it comes to maximizing the success of your PPC campaign. If conversion tracking is not working, switch it up. If primary conversion is not your business’s primary KPI, it should be. If the conversion tag is on the incorrect page, fix it. If there are too many conversions being tracked, evaluate why.

 Allocate Budgets to high performing Campaigns

 A budget is only so big and your financial resources should always be diverted towards the better performing campaigns. That said, if you are seeing benefits in brand awareness elsewhere, you may want to consider diverting a percentage of your resources towards these types of marketing campaigns as well.

 Closing Thoughts

 Keeping in mind these components to a successful PPC campaign will ensure you have the knowledge you need to plan and implement accordingly. Get the most out of your PPC campaign and achieve long-term business success. There are other ways in which you can optimize PPC performance however these basics are more than enough to get the needle moving in the right direction.

 Thus far, people have never stopped searching. There will always be someone out there in need of your product or service. You just need to find them. There are always opportunities to improve a PPC campaign by regularly and consistently optimizing your approach.