how to optimize your adwords ppc campaign

PPC Optimization

Miles Woolgar

www.oakhousefoods.co.ukTwitter: @mewoolgarEmail: mileswoolgar@gmail.com

Keyword Research

• Backup everything• Put existing campaigns on pause• Keyword spy, spyfu, semrush• Adwords Keywords Tool • Negative keywords• Spy on competitors

Know Your Product & Market• Think of the audience coming to

your site & what you can offer them.• 80+ Yrs olds + Relatives +40 Yrs• Which products to sell – best sellers,

high margins etc.• Seasonality, TV ads and other off-line

activity – All impact your campaigns

Creating Ads

Search Network - Text Ads•Text – be inspired •Target emotions •Peoples pain points•Target unique selling points•Look at manufacturers sales literature•Use qualifiers to get rid of time wasters•Campaign structure – “+broad +match +modifier” & [exact match]

Creating Ads

Placement Ads (on display network)•Don’t mix Display & Search Network• Ads need to stand out i.e. colour, design•Ads need to deliver the message•Create all possible ad sizes

Placement Ads

• Themed Ad Groups – be creative• Many keywords – about 30/ad group• Use broad match keywords• Automatic placements 2weeks

Placement Ads

Exclude placement ads

Identify sites that don’t work

Placement Adsin Google Analytics• Sites with high bounce rates• Visits but no conversions (Rev + soft goals)• Sites that work – move to manual

placements

Let’s Play!

• Let things settle 1 – 2 weeks • Check bids everyday • Adjust your bids - position 2 - 3.• You have to bid for number 1 position for

image ads or they don’t appear

• Quality score – move poorly performing keywords into new ad groups

• Break up bloated Ad Groups• 1000 impressions but <200 clicks – think

about pausing them• Find new keywords – Search Query Report

(Adwords), SEO Queries report in GA & Searched keywords in your CRM

Refine

Use Filters

Use Filters

1. Bad Quality KeywordsQuality score <= 5Impressions >= 200Cost/Conv >= £15

• However, conversions = revenue

Use Filters

2. Expensive Keywords > Cost >= £100Cost/Conv > £10Avg position > 2

• Could reduce position to improve Cost/Conv

Use Filters

3. Failing KeywordsCost >= £100Conversions = 0

• Consider pausing these for now. You can always revisit these keywords e.g. seasonality

Use Keyword diagnosis

Low Budget

• Ad scheduling• Geo targeting • Match type – broad match modifier &

exact match or only exact match• Low positions = fewer conversions

When Things Go Wrong

• Test new text ads – duplicate & then turn off old ads to remove history

• Track competitor prices - http://www.changedetection.com/

• Look at Google shopping• Check for double serving• Check bid position• Look at landing pages

Use Google Analytics

Use Actionable KPIs•Revenue•Revenue per click•Average value•Page Value•Campaign, Ad Group & Keyword bounce rates

Segment or die

• Where is your traffic coming from?• Quickly identify if conversions have unexpectedly

dropped off for a particular traffic source• Branded vs. non-branded• New vs. Returning visitors

Look at Revenue & Goals

• Use customized segments• https://www.google.com/analytics/web/permalink?uid=HOEkv-yIQnWacEevISRMKA

Where Do People Go After Landing?

Landing page Report•What people do next after landing on your PPC page •“Entrance Paths” report (Content/Landing Pages/Entrance Paths)

How Do People Navigate Your Site?All Pages Report•Look at the Navigation summary report(Content/Site Content/All Pages)•Discover how people go through your site

Where Are People Dropping Out?

• Set up Goal Funnels• Revenue, downloads,

signups etc.

Track Events

Virtual pageview tracking – for links<a title="HTC Cellphones" onclick="_gaq.push(['_trackPageview', '/virtual/ppc1-

htc']);" href="/phones/where/cellphones/htc.html"><img src="http://www.cellphones.com/media/htc-cellphones.jpg" alt="HTC Cellphones"></a>

Track event for downloads<a title="HTC Cellphone brochure" onclick="_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'PDF',

'Download', 'downloads-htc-brochure']);" href="http://www.cellphones.com/media/htc-brochure.pdf" target="_blank">HTC brochure</a>

Conversion Optimization

• Qualaroo – questionnaires & nudges• Live chat - Olark• Userbilitytesting.com• Crazyegg.com• Are you looking at the right chart?• Revenue vs. Lead generation?

Lessons Learnt

• Understand your audience & products• Stalk your competitors• Be creative – think out of the box• Understand your Adwords account• Use Google Analytics everyday• Look at Conversion Rate Optimization

Miles Woolgar

www.oakhousefoods.co.ukTwitter: @mewoolgarFB: http://on.fb.me/13kJ3jTEmail: mileswoolgar@gmail.comLinked In: http://bit.ly/16rq78Y