5 Common SEM/PPC Mistakes By: Joelle Davis- Cardinal Web Solutions

Conversion Tracking

Conversion Tracking

• A conversion for the sake of PPC does not necessarily mean the point at which a lead converts to a customer

• It could be • Form Fill • Phone Call• Website Registration• Sale

• In order to optimize any PPC account efficiently, it is crucial for conversion tracking to be set up across the account. 

• Determine what a conversion looks like for your company and set this up at the beginning of your campaign

Ad Extensions

Ad Extensions

• Did you know that you can amp up your ads with nearly twice as much real estate, for free? That’s right. Free.

• Both Google, and to a limited extent Bing, offer ad extensions at no additional charge.

• The majority of these extensions will appear only when your ad reaches the top three positions, and you still may need to be receiving a certain number of clicks in order to have the ads appear.

• Nonetheless, it’s important to implement these extensions in order to acquire the highest amount of ad space on the SERP and improve your CTRs.

Ad Extensions

Sitelink Extensions

• Using sitelinks allows you to apply a number of page-specific links under your general ad copy.

• What’s more, you can utilize the Enhanced Sitelinks component by adding two description lines (35-character max) to take up even more space and send your visitors to the most relevant landing page.

Ad Extensions

Call Extensions

• On desktop ads, you can apply campaign-specific numbers to appear on your ad. On mobile ads, a click-to-call button will appear as seen below.

Location Extensions

• Attach the address of your company to your ad at the campaign level (if needed for multiple geo-targeted campaigns).

Ad Extensions

Social Extensions

• Is your brand on Google+? If the answer to that question is no, open a new tab right now and get on it.

• You won’t believe the difference this can make on rankings and search traffic.

• In any case, once you’re set up on Google+, you can link your account and your number of followers will display underneath your ad.

KPIs

KPIs

• One of the most important pieces to your PPC account is understanding which KPIs correlate with each specific client.

• Every industry is unique and within these verticals companies value certain KPIs differently. 

• Understanding what KPIs relate to you is CRUCIAL

• Make sure that you go through the proper steps of implementing conversion tracking in order to monitor and collect all data for your most important success metrics.

RLSA/Content Remarketing

RLSA/Content Remarketing

• Remarketing Lists for Search Ads • Remarketing refers to the ability to

re-target users who have previously visited pages on your site and deliver specific messaging to them.

• This stems from the theory that users who have already explored a website are further down the sales funnel and more likely to convert than new users. 

• Content Remarketing • Image ads that show up on the

Google Display Network and are delivered to previous site visitors.

Branded Campaigns

Branded Campaigns

• Are you bidding on your own brand name? If not someone else might be.

• Brand terms are generally inexpensive and are usually a necessary component of a successful PPC campaign.

• Allows brand to posses more real estate on the SERP

An Example of a brand PPC campaign topping an organic listing:

Photo by Matt Tillett - Creative Commons Attribution License https://www.flickr.com/photos/39955531@N00 Created with Haiku Deck