At Norfolk.agency we want to help local businesses grow in this strange post pandemic era so read on for PPC tips that really will help your business to shine brightly (and above its competitors).

What is pay-per-click (PPC) advertising?

Essentially pay-per-click (PPC) advertising refers to the paid search ads which appear each time you use a search engine to find or buy something.  Because the businesses running the ads are charged only when the ads are clicked it means your business can effectively target potential customers and ultimately drive targeted traffic to your website.

Let’s focus on Google

Why is Google so powerful?  Well Google is reported to handle billions of searches per day and even though there are other search engines out there it is by far the market leader.  Additionally if we bear in mind that the top Google Ads appear above the organic search results it follows that well written targeted ads are more likely to convert to sales.

But there’s more to Google than Google searches and Ads.  Meet Google Display Network which reaches 90% of internet users worldwide through image or video ads. So Google has its whole platform available to promote your brand across millions of websites across the entire globe.  Wow.

So here are our tips …

Tip # One – Stay on top of negative keywords

We use keywords every time we type a search into a search engine-it may be a phrase eg if we’re searching for a ‘PPC Agency’ many agencies across the country appear.

Google uses immensely sophisticated algorithmic tools to understand what users are searching for so that they can send them to the correct site quickly.  Negative keywords allow you to spend your ad budget even more prudently by excluding words or phrases that identify customers who are not looking for your product and therefore will not be shown your paid ads thus saving your budget for those who are interested.  For example, if we bid on the terms ‘ppc agency’ and a user searches for ‘who’s the worst ppc agency’ we want to make sure our ads do not appear!

Tip # Two – Add search terms to campaigns

So your PPC ads must be monitored to see if they’re bringing you in customers, right? By checking the search terms that your keywords are appearing for, you can start to build out your campaigns with more keywords and targeted ads. This can help increase your click-through rate (CTR) and get more clicks from the terms you are appearing for. Put simply CTR measure the percentage of people who go on to click on your ad. It lets us know what is (and maybe isn’t) working in our campaigns so you can use this information to your advantage.  Remember Google wants to deliver the most useful and relevant results to its searchers so CTR has the potential to maintain your ranking.

Tip # Three – Set up some SKAG campaigns for important keywords

Yet another acronym SKAG stands for Single Keyword Ad Groups and as suggested it refers to ad groups in Google Ads containing only one keyword. 

The purpose of a SKAG is to match the search intention as closely as possible. This can be employed advantageously to ensure the search term, ad and landing page are all aligned resulting in great conversion rates.  After all we all want to spend our budgets wisely to see measurable results.  Furthermore it has the added benefit of impacting positively on Google positioning once the quality score improves!  Win win!

Tip # Four – Use kombinator to expand keywords

The right keywords are the backbone of search campaigns so you need to give them serious thought to get them right.  There are many tools out there to help with this.  Kombinator is one useful tool which can save you lots of time by creating lists for terms that you want to create variations of.  For example a plumber in North Norfolk wanting local traffic on their website would add lists of relevant locations in one section (Sheringham, Holt, Cromer, Cley, Blakeney etc)  then the list of services offered in the next section (plumber, heating engineer, boiler service, bathroom installations etc).  Kombinator would then create potentially effective keywords such as Holt plumber, Cley heating engineer etc.  Get it?  These free tools are out there to be used!

Tip # Five –  Display remarketing

This is an effective marketing strategy that works by allowing you to show ads to potential customers who have previously visited your website or mobile app.  It works on the principle that you need to interact with potential customers 7 times before they make a purchase.  Retargeting campaigns are typically the best performing as you’re able to retarget visitors of your website as a whole or to specific pages to lead them to purchase or alternatively to use another strategy to get them into a funnel.

There you have it-our top 5 PCC tips to get your enterprise rebooted and raring to go post covid.

But. . .

If you’re struggling with your PPC campaigns reach out to us here-

 Electric Sheep and we’ll be happy to have a chat and work together on taking your marketing to the next level!