Paid search advertising is a strategy in which businesses and websites pay for their ads to appear at the top of a search engine results page (SERP). The most common form of paid search ad campaign is pay-per-click (PPC). PPC ads appear above the organic results and are marked as ‘Ad’ to indicate that they are paid for.
Paid search advertising is an excellent way to reach people looking for a specific product and service. It’s also one of the best ways to cut your marketing budget, as you only pay when people click on the ad.
But as with any other advertising strategy, the return on investment (ROI) of a paid search advertising campaign can vary depending on the strategies used. Discover the best ways to maximise paid search advertising strategies below:
1. Revisit your ad group structure
A good structure is essential for a successful ad campaign. First, you need to understand the campaign goals and objectives. Once you have your campaign goals in check, you can then create ad groups in line with the marketing goals, themes, and products. A good ad campaign should have about seven ad groups and about two ads per group. However, the ideal numbers will still vary depending on your campaign goals and the diversity of your products or services.
With a good structure, you can improve your quality score by increasing your relevance for a particular keyword. A good structure ensures that the keywords are more relevant for a particular landing page, optimising the click-through rate. Additionally, a good ad group structure will ensure that you don’t compete with yourself for search terms. Many businesses make the mistake of having different ad groups compete for the same keyword. However, a well-structured campaign will guide you on which keywords to use for each group.
2. Target the right keywords
Keywords are crucial for paid search ad campaigns, as they determine what phrases your ads will appear on. Targeting the right keywords for your products or business can help your ads beat the competition. You can use a keyword research tool to find the most relevant keywords to bring the best ROI.
You can also use negative keywords. These are phrases that prevent your ad from being triggered for search terms. For example, for an ad group ‘running shoes,’ you can add ‘formal shoes’ as a negative keyword so that your ads won’t display for the keyword ‘formal shoes.’
Negative keywords can save you money by preventing ads from appearing on nonrelated search results, and therefore to people who aren’t interested in your product or service. They can also boost your quality score by enhancing the search intent and relevance to your landing page.
3. Write compelling ad copies
Creating an ad copy that resonates with your audience can drive conversions. The first step of a great copy is identifying the needs and the problems of your target audience. This will help you connect with them and speak directly to them. Make sure your copy is catchy, concise, and clear for readers to take action.
Secondly, incorporate the targeted keywords in your ad copy. Matching your ad copy with the keywords helps improve the click-through rate, as the ads are displayed to people interested in your products. For example, Google allows advertisers who match keywords to ad copy to underbid and pay less than the competitors.
4. Optimise landing page
Your landing page is where most of the action happens. When users click your ad, it should lead them to the landing page. Here, they will determine if they’ll take the action or not. Therefore, you should optimise your landing page for conversion.
The best way to optimise your landing page is to make sure that it’s relevant to the ad copy. It should include relevant call-to-actions (CTA) and a clear contact form. The page design should be intuitive and clear. You can also test different versions of your landing page using A/B testing to find the best version. One mistake in paid search ad campaigns is directing an ad to the home page and the home page doesn’t compel the visitor to perform a certain action. Therefore, ensure that your ad leads to the landing page that contains a CTA or contact form.
5. Measure results frequently
Finally, you should measure your ROI frequently to determine if your paid search advertising campaigns meet your goals. You can use tools like Google Analytics, which measures granular data like demographics, bounce rates, and pages per session. Additionally, you can use heatmaps to determine user behaviour. A heat map can tell you where a user is by checking the mouse activity of taps on a phone. When these tools are combined, they offer a more detailed view of the user’s profile and behaviour.
With this information, you can change, tweak ads and landing pages, and maintain them depending on their performance. If you’re using different versions of paid advertising, this can tell you which you should opt for.
Conclusion
Paid search advertising is an excellent way to generate traffic for your business. As a business can struggle to rank organically, paid search advertising can help you bid to rank for specific keywords. However, as this is an investment, it’s expected to have a good ROI.
By following the tips discussed in this article, you can easily make the best of your PPC campaign and get the best results. You can check this page for more information about maximising ROI in your paid search advertising.