Many people think starting a PPC campaign is as easy as opening up a
Google, Yahoo!, and Bing ad center account, writing some quick ads and
then watching the clicks and dollars roll in.
Were it only so simple.
Although PPC campaigns do give you results faster than a SEO
campaign, starting a PPC campaign does require some up-front work on
your part. You’ll want to use the following checklist to ensure you
have everything needed to make a smooth PPC transition.
1. Determine your budget.
If you’re spending less than $500 a month, you might
want to consider a single search engine such as Google or Bing. Why is
that? Spreading such a relatively low budget across three search
engines won’t give you enough bang for your buck.
Generally speaking, we recommend a minimum spend of
greater than $500 per month in order to get the most out of a campaign,
particularly one that relies on more than one search engine to generate
traffic.
2. Read the manual.
Whether you use one, two or all three, each search
engine ad center comes chock full of tutorials and how-to’s. Block out
a few hours and bone up on how each one works. You’ll save yourself
time and money down the road.
3. Make your keyword list.
I’ve covered this topic already – here and here. Once you have your keyword list in hand, separate similar keywords into ad groups.
DO NOT do this on the fly – as in trying to do this step within the ad
center interface. You’re setting yourself up for failure. We recommend
you sketch out your ad groups using old-fashioned technology – a piece
of paper and a pencil, or the less old fashion way using an Excel
spreadsheet.
4. Write your ad copy and landing pages together.
Don’t make the mistake of writing out your ads within
the ad center interface. One, you can’t catch typos this way, and two,
if you’re writing ads on the fly like this, they won’t be as effective.
It’s better to write first and final drafts of your ads in Word so you
can catch type-o’s and spend time considering your ad copy. You also
want to make sure the landing page that the ad links to will reflect
both the ad copy you’re writing and the keywords you’re bidding on
within a given group. Ensuring concordance between ad copy, keyword
bids and landing page copy is the best way to get successful outcomes.
If you can afford it, pay a copywriter or direct
marketer to help you write ad copy that compels people to take action
and have this person write your landing page copy, too. Also ask him or
her for variations on themes, which you can then test to see which ad /
landing page generates the best conversions.
5. Keep track of results.
We’ve found that many small companies set up a PPC
campaign and then forget about it. (Usually this is because the
business owner or marketer is so strapped for time.) Make a date in
your calendar to check your campaign results regularly – whether once a
day for time-sensitive campaigns, or once a week for on-going ads.
Follow this efficient check list and you’ll be up-and-running in no time.
