By Volusion
Whether you’re a PPC-savvy business owner or just looking to learn more about the art of paid search, we’ve got the latest tips to help you improve your Google AdWords account in our two-part article series.
Recently, the Volusion PPC team of experts attended the Hero Conference, a marketing conference dedicated to paid search marketing, to get the latest and greatest PPC tips and tricks—read below for all the insider insights and be sure to comment with tips of your own or any questions.
Improving Quality Scores
High Quality Scores are one of the best ways to increase the performance of your Google AdWords campaigns. Quality Scores, measured on a scale of 1-10, take into account numerous factors in your AdWords campaign to determine the relevance of your campaign while influencing how much you’ll pay per click. Follow the advice below and watch your quality scores rise:
- Keep each keyword theme in segmented ad groups. If you have a campaign focused on “beads,” then each ad group should be focused on a certain type of bead. Within those ad groups you should be able to find only keywords relevant to a specific bead. As such, the ads should also then relate directly to that bead. Not only will quality scores increase, but you’ll notice that it’s also easier to navigate through your campaign.
- Review duplicate keywords. Duplicate keywords can easily hurt your AdWords campaign by driving up costs and lowering relevance across the account. Evaluate existing duplicate keywords and pause keywords converting at a lower rate or spending the most money with little return.
- Write highly relevant ad copy. Ads are your user’s first impression of your website. To increase both click-through-rate (CTR) and quality scores, try incorporating some of your keywords into the ad copy. By doing so, your audience will quickly take notice of your ad and follow through to your site. Additionally, that higher CTR will assist in driving up keyword quality scores.
- Landing page relevance. Once you’ve established relevant ad copy, think about where on the website you’re landing searchers. Does the page correspond with what they’re looking for? If not, consider changing landing pages or creating a new ad group focused on themes or products related to that page.
Ad Testing
The key to finding the best performing ad in your ad groups is to test, test, test! As a storeowner, try evaluating ad performance and testing new ads after approximately 1,000 impressions. Rather than duplicating the highest performing ad in the account and making small variations, think outside the box. While making small variations of your current ads might boost CTR a bit, focus on revamping your copy, promotions and call to actions all together. Find what really resonates best with your unique audience.
When it comes to creating new ads, consider the following:
Keywords – Are you utilizing your keywords in your ads? Incorporating keywords in your ad text can drastically increase CTR. For example, using keywords in your headline can lift CTR an average of 15% alone. Use them in both the headline and 1st description line for an even higher boost.
- Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) – If you haven’t utilized DKI yet, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to dynamically change your ad to closely mirror your user’s search. Try using the code {KeyWord:(insert headline or ad description line here)}. The code will allow headlines or description lines (wherever the code is placed) to insert keywords from your existing keyword list. Keywords will appear in bold, grab the audience’s attention, and drastically ramp up click-through.
- Vanity URLs – While destination URLs must send users directly to the exact page listed, the display URL does not. Start using keywords or descriptive copy in your display URL. This technique piques the audience’s interest and may foster more engagement.
- Evaluate campaign settings – If you find that default ad rotation setting to be focused on clicks, consider rotating ads indefinitely to easily identify successes from the changes you’ve made.
Don’t miss the part two of our Hero Conference article series where we wrap up all that we learned from the conference and share the importance of PLAs, landing pages, PPC in a mobile world and exploring the value of remarketing.
If you need any help with your PPC, Volusion has a team of specialized, AdWords certified PPC professionals ready to manage and optimize your PPC or conduct an AdWords Audit on your existing account. And, as always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the box below.
– Chelsea Cepeda & Ryan Noonan, Volusion
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