Apologies, it’s been a while since our last post. It’s no excuse but we’ve been very busy recently, we’ll make sure we post at least every other week.
Anyway, we’re getting plenty of enquiries for our web marketing services, but equally, people just wish to know the basics of search advertising. I’m happy to help.
I’m usually discussing Google SEO issues or updates, but PPC advertising is a hot topic in Liverpool at the moment.
Firstly our advice would be to take the time to look at the help and training from all of the search engines, and read each search engine’s blog regularly for updates.
Find webinars, Google are running workshops in Liverpool, If the campaign isn’t working very well, you may get a call from a Google PPC manager
Remember that if you love data, you’ll love PPC.
- The most successful PPC managers are highly analytical.
- Microsoft Excel is your friend. You can have expensive tools, but it does a lot for you.
Progression
- Start small
- Test, measure, adjust, test it again
- Expand on your successes
Pre-flight checklist for building campaign.
- Good tracking software. At least install Google Analytics. You’ll need two pieces of code, from both Google Analytics and from Google AdWords. Might take some time to get this set up
- You need to establish KPIs (Key performance Indicators)
- Set Values (What is each action worth)
- Establish baselines (The starting point)
- Strategy (goals)
- Money
- Rules
Setting base values and goals
- Conversion: This can mean many different things, work out what a conversion is for you
- Absolutely required homework
- What are your target goals?
- What are the actions you value?
- What Pound values can you set? You can even do something like value an email lead at 32p, as that’s the cost it saved you for a stamp.
- It’s OK to guess. Use your gut if you’re not sure. You can always modify your assumptions.
Conversion funnels are a little complex at this stage.
Finding Keywords
- Where?
- Your site.
- competitors (a quickly, is to view their page source)
- trade literature (this maybe to industry focused)
- vertical sites (other associated digital assets)
- lots of other ways that i haven’t time to detail.
Brand names are typically best performers if you have a known brand. You can control the message this way, much better than in organic SEO. You’re taking up more real estate on the page.
- Find “negative keywords” during this phrase as well. Use lots of negative words to filter out random impressions which hurt your quality score.
- Start with “free” “cheap” and “naked”. Look in your referral logs to see what is bogus traffic.
How many?
- If you have a low budget, don’t spread yourself too thinly across a billion “tail terms”. Start with just a few and get them working well then expand from there.
- 80/20 rule. 20% of your keywords will drive 80% of your traffic (and budget!).
Next time we’ll discuss building the ads