Paid search, also know as PPC or CPC marketing, can be a great way to instantly reach your customers. Google AdWords, the most popular PPC platform, can put you on the first page of Google for the keywords you bid upon, and if set up and managed correctly, can be a cost effective and targeted form of marketing. Unfortunately, as search marketing professionals, we see clients come to us every day with mismanaged accounts or accounts that have not been optimally set up – businesses who are wasting hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars per month in unwanted clicks or penalties assessed by Google for poor account performance.
While there are many factors that go into to an optimally set-up and effectively managed AdWords campaign, these are 10 of the most common – and most costly – mistakes I have witnessed when businesses (or even – gasp – self-professed SEM professionals!!) have set up their own accounts:
Mistake #1: Misuse of Keyword Match Types
So you’ve made your keyword list and you’re ready to bid, right? Wrong – if you haven’t given thought to the Match Types of those keywords. Match Types determine what variations of the keyword phrase you are bidding on will display your ad. The default match type is Broad Match, which is the keyword without brackets or quotations around it. Running keywords in their broad match form can display your ad for any search query with nearly any part of that keyword phrase included in it, as well as key phrases which Google may determine “related” to that keyword. As a paid search marketer, I never use broad match keywords. Ever. I also see many people bidding on the same keyword in two different match types (for example, broad and exact match) at the same time. The broad form will always override the more targeted form, so this is ineffective.
Using match types improperly (or not using them at all) can cost you big money in wasted clicks, and can also cause your overall Quality Score with Google to take a hit as it will cause you to have a lower click through rate and conversion rate. Take the time to learn the proper usage of keyword match types – or you are simply flushing funds down the drain.
Mistake #2: Not Using Negative Keywords
This goes right along with #1. Negative keywords are used to filter out commonly searched variations of the phrases you are bidding on which are NOT targeted to your business. This is one of the easiest and best ways to filter out unwanted clicks and impressions, so I am constantly blown away by how many companies use very little of these – or fail to use them altogether. If you are using any keyword match type besides exact match, you MUST use negative keywords in conjunction.
Mistake #3: 100’s of Keywords in…2 ad groups??
One of the beauties of AdWords is that you can be as targeted as you can imagine. Unfortunately very few businesses running their own campaigns (and, again, some marketers too) take advantage of this fully. Each ad group should have only a very closely related set of keywords – that way, you can target the ad and the landing page that the ad directs to as closely as possible to the search query that brings it up. The better targeted you are, the more likely your ads are to convert (i.e. produce the lead, sale, etc.), the more money you make. Plus, the better targeted, the more Google “likes you.” The more Google likes you, the less you spend for good positioning…the more money you make!
Mistake #4: Not Being Selective about Content Network Sites
Ok so to be honest I normally will not recommend running the content network at all; for the vast majority of clients I have seen a drastically lower conversion rate from content network clicks – even after optimization of the account. However, if you are going to use the content network, you absolutely need to be going through the sites that Google is placing you on and filtering out the bogus ones. While Google claims to show you only on sites that they deem “relevant” to your keyword, I would say 75-80% of the sites that I have seen clients displayed on are completely off base. And then of course you have to think about your brand. There are many sites out there that you just don’t want your name associated with. So filter, a lot. Or just turn the Content Network off altogether.
Mistake #5: Setting the Same Max Bid for all your Keywords.
There can be a big difference between what you competitors are bidding on for one keyword versus another even closely related keyword. You need to be setting bids for individual keywords so that you get the best positioning for your more expensive words, and get the best pricing for those where you don’t need to bid quite as much. Yes it’s more work, and yes you need to change bids frequently (daily even for some accounts) – but the money you save by optimizing your ad spend is well worth it.
So how do your search marketing efforts match up so far? Stay tuned for Part 2 and the next 5 mistakes commonly made in running AdWords PPC accounts.
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