Four elements comprise a paid search strategy: keywords, ad groups, landing pages, and ads. In order to excel at PPC (and to take advantage of the leveled playing field of paid search to beat your competitors) you must make sure that these four elements are relevant to each other. This can be time-consuming, and requires thoughtfulness.
Keywords
In order for the ad to relevant to the search query (the search query is what a searcher types in to the search engine- it’s important to note that this is different from a keyword, which you have created), it should contain the actual search phrase in some form.
This is the single easiest way to bolster your quality score, which will ensure that the ad is ‘healthy’ and will be served on Google and Yahoo/Bing. But that’s not the on ly reason to insist upon relevance: a great benefit of using paid search is the ability to capitalize on people’s actual interests, desires, and needs. A searcher has indicated that she wants something- and as an advertiser, you are helping her find it! The clearer and more direct the search ad is- especially if it includes the actual search term- the more likely you are to see clicks.
Ad Groups
Remember that ad groups are for organizing ads, not keywords. An ad group is a group of keywords who will share a set of ads. Again, relevancy is cardinally important. Each ad group should be small (20 keywords or less), focused, and driven to its own landing page. Establishing ad groups is a key part of paid marketing. When you’re making ad groups, you also set the price you’re willing to pay each time your ad is clicked on – your cost per click, or CPC.
Landing Pages
You’re doing all this PPC stuff for one reason: to get people to your website! So don’t ignore the importance of the landing page. Once on your site, a searcher should never be more than one click away from finding their product. And relevancy is key here again, as well: highly relevant copy on your landing page can drive up your quality score. For information on landing pages, check out our recent blog post on creating effective landing pages.
Ads
Focus on relevance, and as yourself these five questions while writing ad text:
- Is the keyword included in the ad text?
- Are you driving to the right landing page?
- Are you echoing language from the landing page?
- Is your display URL category-specific?
- Have you differentiated yourself?
The paid search game is highly competitive, but if you build upon this four elements, you’ll have a great foundation to be successful in ppc advertising.
