5 Costly Pay Per Click Mistakes To Avoid At All Cost

By Mindy D. Benkert

Pay-Per-Click marketing can be a powerful tool to launch your business, increase awareness, and increase conversion rates but it can also have a costly trial and error period. Read on to learn about the most common PPC mistakes so you can avoid them and launch your campaign on the road to success immediately.

Mistake #1 Missing the long tail keywords.

Don't bid on every keyword variation that you can think of. You'll spend a lot of money for very few conversions. Instead, focus on long tail keywords - keywords that are highly focused.

For example, the keyword 'shoes' is too generic and while you'll receive an abundance of clicks, you'll likely receive very few conversions simply because people are rarely searching for 'shoes' they're more likely searching for 'distance running shoes', 'custom made Italian leather shoes', 'infant walking shoes' etc...

Focusing on the long tail keywords also means that you'll pay less per click because there is less competition for those words and your conversion rate will likely be higher because you're hitting a more targeted customer. Don't forget that people are often searching for local providers and you can add your city or state into your pay per click campaign. For example, 'distance running shoes, Austin TX'.

Mistake #2 Not including your ad copy on your landing page.

Make sure that your ad copy is repeated on your landing page where you're taking your visitor. If you're advertising a 50% off sale then that's what people will be looking for. If your copy doesn't immediately address the information clearly, your visitor will leave.

Mistake #3 Not using your creative mind.

Many marketers are afraid to step outside of the box. Instead they merely copy ads that they see from their competition. That's not a good way to achieve results. If you want to see your click through rates sky rocket, then unleash your creative side and don't be afraid to take risks. The worst thing that's going to happen is your pay per click ad will be ignored. Instead, look to identify what is unique about your product or service and what benefit people will receive when they purchase.

Still struggling for a creative ad? Consider using the seasons in your ad copy. You can advertise a "holiday special", a summer blowout, a clear away the mid winter blahs, etc...Your ad copy will stand out from the others, it will be timely, and your click through rate will increase.

Mistake #4 Not bidding on your business name.

This is a very cost effective means of getting more impressions. Consider bidding on your name and your name and geographic region. Not only will you receive more impressions but you'll be able to clearly see how many people are searching for your business and you can use this statistic to gauge growth.

Note: If your competition is targeting your company name as a keyword, consider taking legal action. Report them to the search engine in question and draft a letter asking them to stop.

Mistake #5 Failing to track and test.

When you set up your ad campaign, utilize the learning tools available to set your campaign up correctly from the beginning. There are numerous tools to track every visit to your site by the exact keyword, campaign and ad group used. This tracking and testing can be done by establishing variables or by integrating the pay per click campaign into your website analytics software.

Don't forget to look at more than the click through rate. Conversion rates are the real money makers. An ad that has a 50% click through rate but a 1% conversion rate compared to an ad with a 20% CTR and a 20% conversion rate costs significantly more for less profits.

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