Pay Per Click, more commonly referred to as PPC, can be a fantastic Digital Marketing tool for Small Business Owners. When undertaken correctly, this paid form of advertising is one of the fastest ways to increase traffic to your Website, boost your click-through-rate and grow your visitor engagement.
By using tools such as Google AdWords, PPC allows you to display your business or products as an ad in the Sponsored Results section of Search Engines like Google. Given that 91% of people don’t even scroll past the first page of Google, we don’t need to tell you how sought after these top few positions are!
But before you quickly dive into your first PPC Campaign, take heed. PPC can be risky if not executed correctly and you could wind up wasting a significant amount of money with very little results.
So, to help you navigate through the potentially murky waters of PPC, we’ve put together a list of 5 of the most common mistakes people make regarding this powerful Digital Marketing tool and how best to avoid them.
1. Fighting for the Number One Position
1. Fighting for the Number One Position
Being on the very top position of Google is often considered the very best place to be: it means you’re top dog, ahead of the pack, Numero Uno! While it is often very advantageous to be higher up in Google’s search rankings, being Number One might not necessarily be the best thing to focus all your efforts on.
If you’re new to the world of PPC, throwing money at the most expensive keywords just to rank Number One could actually cost you in the long run. While it can be beneficial to spend more on popular keywords, when initially beginning your Campaign it pays to start out small and work your way up until you find your feet.
Furthermore, if you engage the services of a Web Development Company to run your PPC Campaign who “guarantee” you the top spot on Google, proceed with caution! This is due to a number of reasons:
- Firstly, so many of your competitors are using PPC, so competition is very high.
- Secondly, Google is ever-changing and always updating according to the current market. This means that no one, not even those Web Developers who have promised you Number One, know exactly how it works.
2. Lack of Monitoring
2. Lack of Monitoring
One of the main reasons so many Small Business’s PPC Campaigns fail is due to the lack of commitment and monitoring. In fact, only 1% of small businesses sign in to AdWords on a weekly basis, meaning their campaigns are probably seriously outdated and neglected.
Unfortunately, you can’t just set up a PPC Campaign and then leave it to its own devices. The Digital World moves quickly, and in order to keep up, it’s vital to regularly check in, monitor and adjust accordingly.
If you really want AdWords to work for you, you need to commit to regularly logging in and actually working on your Campaign. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to spend countless hours working tirelessly on AdWords every day, even just 30 minutes a week can make a big difference.
3. Ignoring Mobile Traffic
3. Ignoring Mobile Traffic
Pay Per Click advertising has come a long way since it was established 17 years ago, especially when it comes to mobile technology. It used to be very complicated to run a PPC Campaign on mobile, as Google recommended creating entirely separate Campaigns. Now, with much more dynamic enhanced Campaign options, it’s thankfully much simpler to achieve.
However, one of the key mistakes a lot of Business Owners make when they are new to PPC, is forgetting the importance of mobile traffic. This is a big mistake. Mobile users can prove significantly more important than desktop users, as they are typically much faster to convert. They usually want something quickly, much more instantly than their desktop counterparts. Furthermore, many Businesses actually receive a lot more traffic via mobile users than traditional computers, seeing them receive higher conversion rates at a lower cost.
4. Poor Keyword Planning and Targeting
4. Poor Keyword Planning and Targeting
When it comes to creating an effective PPC Campaign, your keywords are everything. It’s very common to see people rushing into PPC without undertaking any background research or keyword planning. This will inevitably lead to the Campaign, well, failing.
Some of the most common mistakes when it comes to keyword targeting include:
- Choosing overly broad keywords: Every industry has its most popular and obvious keywords that bring the most traffic. But sometimes it pays to look at the variations of these, or be much more specific in your keywords. These are referred to as “long tail keywords”. They are typically less expensive than the most in-demand keywords and are more likely to result in conversion, as they’ll more directly appeal to your niche market.
- Too Few Negative Keywords: Negative keywords let you exclude irrelevant search terms from your Campaigns, helping you focus on only the keywords that matter to your customers. This means your ad is more likely to fall in front of potentially interested customers, helping to increase your return on investment.
When selecting negative keywords for your Campaign, look for search terms that are similar to your keywords, but might cater to customers searching for a different product. For example, you may be an optometrist who sells eyewear. In this case, you may want to add negative keywords for search terms such as “wine glasses” and “water glasses”.
Statistics suggests that 20% of AdWords accounts don’t utilize any negative keywords – don’t be one of them!
5. Ruling Out Professional Assistance
5. Ruling Out Professional Assistance
As you can see, while PPC is an extremely powerful Digital Marketing technique, it can be hard to pull off by yourself. Especially if you’re a time-poor Small Business Owner who doesn’t have hours a day to spend learning the intricate ins and outs of AdWords and carefully monitoring your Campaign.
Luckily, there are many professional PPC specialists who can offer a helping hand. Here at Sites n Stores, for example, we have a highly skilled team of experts dedicated to creating the perfect PPC Campaign for your Business. From carefully researching keywords, to adding negative keywords and constantly tracking its progress, our team ensure the most effective Campaign for you.
If you’re looking to quickly increase your traffic and, in turn, boost your conversion rate, give us a call on 1300 796 530 today to see how we can help you!
