Pay-per-click activity is simple to achieve in a six-step weekly workflow, says Elisa Gabbert, content marketing manager at Wordstream
After looking at data from thousands of paid search accounts, some basic truths about what it takes to manage a successful PPC account have become very clear. Here are seven truths about PPC account management:
1. PPC is hard – but the right tools, and some basic PPC education, can make it a lot easier.
2. You get what you put into it – you can’t just leave your account on autopilot. It does take work.
3. Succeeding in PPC is all about relevance – figuring out what people want and giving it to them.
4. You have to keep your house clean – that means clearing out the junk on a regular basis.
5. You need goals – defining what you want to achieve really does help you get there.
6. Watch out for analysis paralysis – don’t spend all your time getting lost in reports; take forward action.
7. Give it a rest now and then – you can only do so much. Get in, do your work, and get out.
In light of number seven, here’s a workflow that allows marketers to take care of the important stuff in minimal time. The trick is sticking to the plan. If you can consistently devote 20 minutes a week to optimising your PPC account, you can keep things running smoothly and grow and improve your campaigns.
1. Bids and budget
Minutes 0-1: The first step of your weekly routine should be focused on bid management. Bid changes should be based on keyword performance. At a basic level, you’ll want to:
• Raise bids on keywords that are performing well (converting at a profitable rate).
• Lower bids on keywords that are depleting your budget without delivering ROI.
A few things to remember: Firstly, there’s no real reason to limit budget on keywords that are driving profitable leads. Secondly, bid management isn’t a one-off task – you’ll need to optimise bids on a regular basis because performance can improve or degrade over time due to factors outside your control. However, this is not something you need to do every day. You’ll need longer timeframes to gather enough data so you can make informed bidding decisions.
2. Poor keywords
Minutes 2-4: Look for keyword outliers with below average ROI and/or quality scores (Google’s rating of the quality and relevance of your keywords and PPC ads) – these are the terms that are costing you money and hurting your results. By pausing those keywords, you can stop the damage. Then, as time permits, you can work on optimising those keywords or simply dump them from your account if they turn out to be irrelevant.
3. Keyword research
Minutes 5-9: The quality of your keyword research can make or break your PPC campaigns – if you’re not bidding on the right terms, your ads won’t reach the right audience. Every week, work on one or all of the following:
• Adding new keyword opportunities to extend your reach.
• Identifying negative keywords to reduce costly clicks that don’t result in conversions.
• Experimenting with different keyword match types, such as phrase, exact match and modified broad match.
Ideally, you’ll develop a database of keywords that is both deep and broad, while still being highly targeted to the type of website visitor you want to attract.
4. Ad text optimisation
Minutes 10-13: Well-written text ads get more clicks and help qualify your leads, so you only pay for valuable traffic. The best way to determine what messaging works with your audience is to test continuously. Test variations of your headlines and calls-to-action, including word choice and tone. Rotate your ads so the best ones rise to the top.
On a weekly basis, take a few minutes to throw out your worst two ads and replace them with new text. Doing this regularly will net you higher click-through-rates (CTR) and quality scores over time. You can also use this time to try out new ad extensions, which can further boost your CTR.
5. Campaign relevancy
Minutes 14-18: Google loves relevancy. The more relevant your keywords, ad groups and campaigns are to each other and your prospects, the better they’ll perform.
To improve relevance:
• Avoid ad group bloat. Split your largest ad group into two smaller, more targeted groups. Tightly knit ad groups tend to earn higher quality scores.
• Create a new, more targeted landing page. Too few landing pages is a sure way to water down your relevance. There should be a clear through-line from the keyword you’re bidding on to the ad and the landing page.
• Set a goal to develop at least one more targeted ad group or landing page offer every month.
6. PPC reporting
Minutes 19-20: The last thing you need to accomplish before you can move on to the rest of your job is reporting. Show off your progress, then set goals for next month.
The above steps can be completed in about 20 minutes per week – but you’ll find this workflow much faster and easier to follow if you incorporate some outside tools beyond AdWords alone.
