Moving into paid search territory can be daunting for many businesses. It’s an added expense, and creating an effective campaign takes time.
Despite the challenges, PPC (pay-per-click, paid search) can be a great way for businesses to target their market, gain visibility and drive leads in a cost-effective manner. (And despite the insider jargon and cryptic acronyms, pay-per-click advertising isn’t as complicated or difficult as you might think.)
Setting the right expectations is crucial to understanding your new venture. Here are few things to keep in mind:
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. As with many online marketing efforts, it takes time to get good results. It typically takes at least a month to get decent data in your account and make any informed decisions about which ads/keywords are working and which are not.
Set aside a budget for a month. Carefully track your efforts during this period and see what kind of results you achieve. You can then see what kind of revenue you make with this initial investment. Completing this simple test is a great way to find out for yourself what your particular business can expect. Keep in mind that this is only a starting point: continually improving your campaigns will help you improve your ROI.
Low numbers don’t necessarily indicate poor performance. Click-through rates vary greatly from industry to industry. (Click-through rate = number of users who clicked on an ad divided by number of times the ad was displayed.) While it may seem too low, a CTR of about 1–2 percent is a respectable range. While a higher CTR is always good, don’t get discouraged if your numbers aren’t through the roof, especially in the beginning.
Test, test, test. Improving your keyword bidding, writing new ads and pausing efforts that aren’t producing results—these are the basic things you can do to improve your ROI. You can hone in on the best techniques for our businesses and turn your PPC into something that really performs.
Keep these things in mind as you move forward with your paid search efforts. Share with us any experiences you have or advice for others just starting out!
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