Pay-per-click (PPC) is one of the most effective online advertising models fit for businesses of all sizes and profiles.
Paid ads are rolled out instantly so you can generate quality leads and sales much more quickly than if you hired an SEO agency for organic traffic.
Also, you only pay when a user clicks on your ad, so running a PPC campaign is definitely worth your while and your money. So much so that businesses that invest $1 in PPC advertising earn $2 on average.
However, without continually optimizing your paid ad campaigns to perform better and earn more clicks, you are essentially missing out on the opportunities to maximize your conversions.
In this article, you will find out why PPC optimization is imperative for the success of your campaigns. We will also discuss the most essential PPC best practices and other high-value pay-per-click optimization strategies.
Table of Contents
What Is PPC Optimization?
PPC optimization is the process of modifying various aspects of your paid search ad campaigns in order to gain more clicks and improve overall performance.
To optimize your PPC campaign performance, you should refine elements at both campaign and ad group level. The major aspects you need to evaluate and improve are usually your target keywords, ad content and landing pages.
To have the best-optimized PPC campaigns, it's best to rely on services of the best pay-per-click agencies.
Why Optimizing PPC Campaigns Is Key To Your PPC Success
Even though your current ads may perform well and get clicks, you can always squeeze more “juice” from your PPC campaigns by making them more clickable and targeting your audience at a more granular level.
Your paid ads should match your target audience's search intent which may change with the new market trends and the evolution of your customers’ pain points.
The constant PPC ad optimization is an imperative component of any digital marketing strategy because:
- Your audience’s needs and behavior may change
- The original ad campaign setup may not be fully efficient
- The ad’s copy and messaging need to be adjusted to your landing page’s
- Your ad frequency should be enhanced or decreased
By optimizing your PPC campaigns, you can make your prospective customers want to click on your advertisement, surpass your competitors and boost your conversions.
3 Essential Best Practices Of Pay Per Click Optimization
There are many elements that go into improving your paid advertising, so PPC optimization may seem quite overwhelming.
However, if you stick to the basics and address the major aspects first, you will surely upgrade your PPC performance in the long run.
1. Properly Optimize Your Keywords
At your first PPC campaign rollout, you already select the most valuable keywords for your business - the most beneficial terms and phrases that earn you the most clicks to your ads.
For the initial round of PPC optimization, you should analyze the performance of each keyword and eliminate the ones that are not performing well.
This provides you with the space for targeting specific search terms that are less competitive and may bring more clicks to your ads.
To find those long-tail keywords that have a high search volume and low competition, think about adding adjectives to the generic terms of your product offerings.
For example, if you’re selling “women’s knit jumpers”, instead of targeting a general term with a higher search volume, try a very specific search term such as “women’s boxy fit knit jumpers”.
This will help you generate a list of highly specific keywords that will not only result in extremely targeted ads but also give you an edge over your competitors.
In-depth, proper keyword research is essential for pay-per-click optimization. This is how you find the most relevant search terms for your customers and identify those best-performing keywords for your campaigns.
2. A/B Test Your Ad Copy
Another crucial element for your PPC campaign optimization is perfecting the ad copy.
To get there, it’s key to A/B test your copy and identify which of the ad texts perform better with your target audience.
An effective ad copy, with a captivating headline and engaging description that entices users to click is essential. But for optimizing PPC campaigns, it’s imperative to analyze and test the copy because, at the end of the day, that’s the element that persuades users to click on your ad.
An A/B test enables you to evaluate two advertisements with different copy to determine which one receives the highest number of clicks.
Here’s how it works:
- You set up an A/B test for your PPC ads.
- Google randomly displays the two ads to different users.
- After the testing period, you will know which ad gets more clicks by looking into the metrics for both.
Naturally, you can also A/B test all the components that go into a PPC campaign, including landing pages, colors and calls-to-action (CTAs).
3. Build A High-Converting Landing Page
In order to make most of your PPC campaign, creating a high-converting landing page is of top priority. This is where users land after clicking on your ad and is usually the very last step before they decide to make a purchase.
Here’s how an engaging landing page that attracts and converts users should look like:
- Consistent visuals and copy: Your landing page should align with your ad’s copy and visuals to deliver on your ad’s promise and don’t confuse the user. Use images and language identical to the ad’s on your landing page
- Powerful CTAs: The calls-to-action should be spread out naturally to follow the buyer’s journey. To increase the chances of conversions, use concise, clear and bold CTAs such as “Buy now”, “Call now”, “Add to cart” or “Try for free”.
- Unique value proposition front and center: Clearly highlight your product’s or service’s unique value proposition. Let your visitors know exactly what their benefits are how they will help them solve their pain points. Your messaging should always be direct and benefits-driven.
- Minimal design: Stick to the most important and relevant content to your product, a picture, the price, description and CTAs. Overcrowding your landing page with unnecessary elements can distract visitors and make them either bounce of the page or not complete the conversion.
Other High-Value PPC Campaign Optimization Strategies
To get your PPC campaigns the final polish and maximize your ad clicks and conversions, consider these extra PPC optimization strategies:
1. Improve Your Website Speed
47% of Internet users expect websites to load in 2 seconds or less. Otherwise, they will abandon your site even if your offer sounds great to them.
Website speed optimization is also an important step of the PPC optimization process. You shouldn’t only count on the effectiveness of your ads, but also think about providing a flawless user experience in order to generate more conversions once the users start landing on your website from clicking on your ads.
2. List Your Negative Keywords And Include Local keywords
To optimize your list of target keywords to the fullest, make sure to create a list of negative keywords, i.e. the phrases you specifically want to avoid.
For example, if your business sells “outdoor plants”, it’s advisable to exclude termsthat are not a good match for your product, such as “indoor plants”. Creating this negative list will help you ensure that people searching for these keywords will not land on your page and bounce back.
Furthermore, to get high-quality traffic from customers in your business area, you can add local keywords to your main search term. For instance, you could try and rank for “outdoor plants St. Louis”, which could help you grow local conversions.
3. Make The Most Out Of Demographic Targeting
Being able to use demographic targeting to reach the right audience for your ads is what makes PPC one of the most effective channels for attracting and converting qualified leads.
Another important element to your pay-per-click optimization is to make the most out of demographic targeting options to ensure you deliver your ads to those people who are actively searching for your products.
Nowadays, Google AdWords offers a wide range of targeting options. These are the essential options for targeting your most qualified customers:
- Age: This works for businesses that target their products to a specific age group.
- Gender: Useful to companies that promote gender-specific products.
- Geographic location: This is probably the most productive and common way to target your audience - by location, including country, city or within specific regional limits.
- Education level: You may want to target people who have a certain degree of education.
- Income: If your business sells luxury products, it’s a good idea to advertise to a high-income audience.
- Relationship status: Married couples, single people or in a relationship, you can promote your business to a group according to their relationship status.
Using demographic targeting properly will help you deliver relevant content to the right audience.
4. Use Ad Extensions
Ad extensions are bits of information that appear below your ad, allowing users to better understand what your product/service is about, what other people think about your business, your contact into etc.
These are free ad-ons you can use for your paid ad campaigns, so make sure you take advantage of this feature. Some of the most effective ones are sitelink, review, callout or social extensions.
Ad extensions can make your ads more valuable by adding crucial FOMO information such as “last chance deals”, “best discounts”, “special offers”, “low rates” and more relevant info to your business offering.
5. Develop Localized Landing Pages
Creating localized landing pages gives you the opportunity to deliver your paid ads to the people that could be perfect for your products, at the right time and place.
If your business operates within a certain area, this strategy could work very well for your PPC optimization.
Furthermore, if you have multiple locations, you could build a landing page for each location, thus providing a relevant and personalized experience to the visitors.
Takeaways On PPC Optimization
Running paid ads allows you to target a specific group of people with keywords that align with their intent. This, in return, provides you with high-value website traffic that boosts your sales.
For boosting the effectiveness of your paid ad campaigns, PPC optimization comes into play. It includes fine-tuning your ad copy, landing pages and target keywords to get more people to click your ads and convert.
The most critical steps for successful PPC optimization are:
- Performing accurate and proper keyword research
- A/B testing your ad copy, landing pages and CTAs
- Optimizing your landing pages for conversions
Go the extra mile and spruce up your ad campaigns to maximize your conversions by implementing these PPC optimization strategies:
- Improve your website speed
- Make a list of negative keywords
- Include local keywords
- Benefit from demographic targeting
- Use ad extensions
- Create localized landing pages
