PPC ads may seem to be too good as they can increase traffic to your website. However, there are some problems with pay per click ads that one must be aware of before investing in them. Here are some of them.
Not Doing Sufficient Research
Yes, research may seem like a vague category since it is so broad and vast. However, publishing an ad before doing enough research can lead to more harm than good. In case you’re not sure what ‘research’ entails, let us explain it to you. Most importantly, you need to comprehend what your customers are looking for, so you can use similar language and keywords.
Audience research is fundamental. You would be surprised to know that almost 60% of businesses ignore audience research. To understand your audience well, you must know the age range, their online habits such as social media, their income bracket and their interests such as sports, books etc. You don’t have to know every customer inside out; however, understanding the above factor can make your PPC ad campaign more efficient.
Understanding Long Tail and Short Tail Keywords
A search keywordwith over four to five words is known as long-tail keywords. For example, “How can I fix my broken refrigerator” is a long-tail keyword. In contrast, a short-tail keyword would consist of only one to three words. For example, “Refrigerator repairs” is a short-tail keyword.
The difference between the two is apparent. Short-tail keywords sometimes are too vague and less competent amongst PPC bidding. However, long-tail keywords are particular to what a customer requires. Ultimately, aim to use more of long-tail keywords as this is more customer-centric and efficient. You may feel that long-tail keywords get fewer hits, but they hold a point above short-tail keywords.
Landing Page Concerns
Believe it or not, your business may be the future of everything. But if your landing page takes too long to load, is unresponsive, confusing, or does not have a clear-cut call to action mentioned, it makes for a terrible business. This is very common among PPC ads. The user may find your ad attractive and clicks it, but immediately leaves as soon as they see your landing page. This means you get a high bounce score, a low-quality score and to make things worse, you must pay for that click. Pay attention to building your landing page; make it clear and easy to use on both laptops and mobile phones.
Victim to PPC Fraud
Click fraud or ad fraud is a genuine issue. These are also referred to as invalid clicks by PPC platforms. In these cases, your campaign may backfire, like your pay per click is clicked by those looking to deceive you. This happens a lot more than you think. Research suggests that over 90% of all pay per click campaigns on Google are clicked on by fraud parties. They may be in the form of your competitors clicking on your paid ads to erase your marketing budget. They could be automated boots that are scraping the net for data or in some cases, criminals using malware and looking to make money from spoof websites. Sometimes, these may be just accidental clicks as well. So, you must make sure to use some kind of click fraud protection software to protect your campaign from invalid clicks.
Google Ads Isn’t the Only Way Out
There are several PPC ad networks. However, Google is the most popular. There is no doubt that it is the biggest and may even be the best. However, what you must consider is whether it is the best for your business? Don’t rush into picking a PPC network instead of researching all your options such as Microsoft Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn, Taboola and Yahoo Gemini. These pay per click networks, although not as popular as Google Ads, usually are cheaper and less competitive than Google. With these, you will also be able to use different demographics and various ad formats.
It’s All About the Timing
Of course, no one wants to run ads all day long; that would be a terrible idea. However, you shouldn’t be taking timing lightly. Doing so or not planning to time at all can result in huge losses. Whatever business you may be running, there would be an optimum time to run your ad. Research and run your ad at that time to help make it most efficient. You can even add different ads and display them at separate timings. Keep analysing the data, work on what is doing well and drop what isn’t.
PPC Is Excellent, But the Money Scares You
The biggest concern most people have with PPC campaigns is the price. Even if you have set limits to your bidding, pay per click campaigns can get very expensive. Its price comes with a high efficiency, which is why it is used by so many. However, it is entirely understandable if you’re new to the business and reconsidering your options.
To help ease this, make sure your ad is monitored regularly; any unnecessary bidding is removed and so are unnecessary keywords. Have an eye on things like Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) and your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA). Be sure that they are meeting your expectations. If you make it a point to follow all the steps given above and manage to stay away from PPC campaign problems, you should be able to have a high success rate with a minimal budget.
