Harnessing the power of PPC

Generally we start with a list of hundreds of hundreds of keywords, and then go over it with you to narrow it down to the ones we believe will actually lead to sales for you. Of course, this is just the the beginning. Based on tracking data (see below), we will continually update this list.

Part of our process is also to generate a number of negative keywords. Those are phrases that would be typed into an engine by people not likely to be customers for you.

Example: your business is auto repair, so you offer tuneups, among other services. We’d probably use negative keywords to filter out people that type in anything containing the words “how to.” People that include those words are generally looking for information on doing it themselves.

One of the beauties of PPC is how much you can break it down into discrete channels. For instance, for the auto repair shop, you might separate the campaign into groups like “tune-ups,” “transmission repair,” “brake service,” and “oil change,” to name a few.

But that’s just the beginning. You could have a separate category for each car company (Ford, Acura, Mercedes Benz), and even go as far as breaking up the companies into models (Fusion, Taurus, Explorer, F-150).

Within each category (or sub-category), you can have multiple ads. By running them simultaneously, you see which are the most cost-effective, and can focus on and refine those.

Besides creating multiple categories of subject matter, you can run custom scheduling (just during work hours, for example), target by location (state, city, zip code, to name a few possibilities), and even reach specific types of users (like those on mobile devices). With knowledge and experience, you can separate the wheat from the chaff, and really zero in on those web surfers most likely to buy from you.

There’s nothing more frustrating for a web surfer than clicking on an ad that seems to address exactly what they want, then ending up at a page that does not relate to that subject.

Example: That person searches for “ford brake service,” but is then directed to a general page about auto repair.

Will that viewer take the time to comb through the site to find what they were originally looking for? Often, they won’t; they’ll just leave.

A better scenario is for that potential customer to be directed to a landing page about brake service specifically, that also contains a list of brands worked on — including Ford. The page should also contain a phone number prominently displayed, as well as a call-to-action:

“Click here to request your appointment for a free analysis and estimate.”

In an ideal world, you want the shortest path to a sale. That means you’d like that web surfer to search for what they want, click on your ad, see your landing page, and contact you immediately. A well-designed landing page often delivers just that result.

To gather all that data, we use a variety of tools. Google Adwords itself offers a wealth of information about the searches and the ads. It dovetails nicely with Google Analytics, one of the most powerful tracking systems available.

Also in the mix are Google Webmaster Tools and SEOMoz (search phrase and placement statistics), Majestic SEO (on and off-site linking reports), and Screaming Frog (site navigation and content analysis).

We have a record of virtually everything that happens along each viewer’s path. We know specifically — word for word — what they typed into the search engine, as well as which ad they saw, and clicked on. Furthermore, we can see the particular landing page they visited, and how long they stayed there.

That’s not all. We then can determine what action they took next, whether they filled out a form, went to another page in the site, or picked up the phone and called. Assuming we had your permission beforehand, we can even listen to the recording of the call!

Based on our analysis of all the data at our disposal, we can take “underperforming” ads out of the mix. We can also delete keywords that are getting clicked on (thus costing you money), but not delivering results in the end.

Conversely, if we see ads or keywords that are delivering positive results, we can increase the amount of times they appear, as well as creating variations of both. Over time, by studying the results and adjusting the campaigns, we are able to deliver more and more “bang for your buck.”

That’s exactly what you want an ad campaign to do.