8 Tips To Get The Best Out Of Your Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Campaign

Over the last decade, the online paid search space has seen a ton of positive changes and advancements in the targeting, delivery, and measurement of paid advertisements. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising has become one of the most reliable and effective digital marketing models that allows you to monetize your website and drive traffic to it. PPC has become an essential element of a comprehensive SEO strategy since it delivers some amazing benefits like improved visibility, better identification of new leads, and increased conversions. However, the topmost reason for small businesses to seek SEO services in Kuwait and use PPC is its ability to produce immediate results. Unfortunately, although easier to implement than organic marketing, small businesses often make mistakes that fail to maximize and instead sabotage their PPC campaigns. This is because despite its easy execution, PPC requires careful planning and preparation to ultimately deliver a successful campaign across any and all marketing platforms. In this article, we aim to give you tips and strategies that will help you get the best out of pay-per-click advertising.

What is PPC?

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a type of digital marketing model and method of buying website traffic (as opposed through earning traffic organically through SEO) through an auction-style system in which advertisers pay a fee each time their ads are clicked. The advertiser that bids the most for a targeted keyword or phrase gets the highest exposure on the search engine results page (SERP) when someone types in that specific keyword or phrase. The goal for advertisers is to create ads that target those keywords, drive traffic to their website, and generate leads or sales.

Some of the most popular and effective PPC platforms that can be utilized through Kuwait digital marketing services are Google Ads, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads, AdRoll, and RevContent.

How does PPC work?

There are two types of pay-per-click models:

• In a flat-rate model, the advertiser and publisher together decide on a fixed amount to be paid by the advertiser per click or impression.
• A bid-based model allows advertisers to compete against each other for keywords or phrases that are most relevant to their target audience. The advertisers appear on SERPs in order of highest bid and relevance.

Should my business try PPC?

PPC can be expensive for competitive keywords, requires expertise to be implemented effectively, may expose you to stiff competition for ad space in your niche, and has the possibility of leading to ad fatigue, wherein users start ignoring your ads. Nevertheless, PPC’s pros outweigh its cons. When executed correctly, it immediately generates traffic and leads, provides detailed metrics for better traffic and campaign optimization, and gives you greater budget control over your daily/monthly ad spend. Moreover, PPC allows advertisers to target specific audiences based on their demographics, interests, and search intent. PPC, when implemented with the help of a Kuwait online marketing agency, can give you an edge over your competition.

If you too wish to maximize your efforts and your budget, read on to find out about the PPC strategies and best practices that you can start implementing today.

PPC Best Practices

1. Avoid “broad match” keywords

   Google Ads allows you to choose how closely related you want your ad to be associated with a search query. There are four main match types:

   • When you choose “broad match” keywords, your ad will appear for your chosen keyword as well as any similar or relevant variations of the keyword phrase in any order. Although this can increase your exposure, it can also attract irrelevant traffic and clicks, which can cost you money.
   • With phrase match, your ad will only appear when a user searches for your key phrase using your keywords in the exact order you entered them. However, it can include words before or after your chosen phrase.
   • For a more specific and restricted keyword match, choose exact match. Your ad will only appear when the user searches for the exact keyword or phrase, but still allows your ads to match to searches containing synonyms, plurals, and other keyboard variations. Exact match keywords produce less traffic but have a high conversion rate, so it can help you reduce unwanted costs.

2. Use negative keywords

   Negative keywords allow you to specify where you ad should not appear. This helps eliminate irrelevant ad placements.

3. Create landing pages

   Before you begin your PPC campaign, ensure that your landing pages are up and running and are working in conjunction with your ads. Remember that you are paying to have prospects click on your ad. If that click takes them to an unrelated or generic page on your website, they are likely to bounce, costing you money. A click on an ad stems from a desire to find out more about the ad. Capitalize on this human desire by creating customized landing pages that are representative of the ad content. Other ways you can optimize your landing page is by using clear and compelling language, simple design with lots of white space, easy-to-digest information and visuals, and fully resolved technical issues. Some top graphic design companies in Kuwait can help you create a compelling landing page.

4. Tailor your audiences

   Another way to save your marketing dollars and get your ad to the right people is by uploading a customer list on google. This way, you will not waste clicks on people who have already bought from you. You can also layer audiences i.e., increase your bid for subgroups within your target audience that are more likely to convert.

5. Display vs Search Network

   Display Network and Search Network are the two main components of Google Ads. Search ads will appear on Google and on search engines that have partnered with Google. The Display Network, on the other hand, will let your ads appear on thousands of websites that are included in the Network. Depending on what is more effective for your specific niche and target audience, you can choose to run your PPC campaigns in either one or both the networks.

6. Select a bidding strategy

   Your experience with PPC, your budget, and your goal will determine the kind of bidding strategy you pick for your campaign. In order to choose the right bidding strategy, you’ll have to examine metrics like CPA, CPM, CPC/CPV, etc. You will also have to choose between manual and automated bidding. If you have never done PPC before and have a lower budget, it’s advisable to go with manual, as it allows you to set a limit on your cost-per-click. Automated bidding on the other hand, lets you optimize your bids, reducing the amount of time you’ll need to put into managing the campaign even though you might end up paying a little more. Stay tuned for our article on the different kinds of bidding strategies you can use with automated bidding, depending on whether your goal is to increase conversions, visibility, or traffic.

7. Retarget

   It’s important to keep in mind that most visitors to a website they find through a PPC ad do not immediately purchase the product/service offered by the business. To encourage already interested customers to make a buying decision, you will have to employ retargeting techniques, made easier with the help of internet marketing agencies, that allow you to continuously maintain your product/service in customers’ minds.

8. Test your ads

   Once your ads are live, that’s when the real work begins. Now you will have to track your ads, measure performance, and make necessary changes in order to improve results. With A/B testing, you can run two almost identical versions of the same advertisement at the same time. You can make modifications to the copy, the landing page, the keywords, the audiences, the bidding strategies, etc., and find out which version performs better. Once the better ad is determined, make the changes and see the conversions roll in.

PPC can be a great boost to your business, especially if you’re looking to improve your website’s traffic and conversions. Although PPC isn’t all that difficult to implement, it requires a good deal of planning and research, and great results are certainly achievable when these essential tips are adopted. Need help with setting up PPC ads on Google and Facebook, and want immediate and guaranteed results? At Design Master, a long-standing professional SEO company in Kuwait, we can help you achieve your business’s marketing goals. Let our marketing and SEO experts in Kuwait customize a multichannel strategy for you that utilizes SEO along with PPC, to give you an even better chance of succeeding.