How to Run a Successful PPC Campaign

There are many ways to boost the amount of traffic to your website. Take search engine optimization (SEO) for example, one of the most effective tactics to increase traffic to your site. Unfortunately, effective SEO can take a considerable amount of time and dedication. While we recommend building up SEO efforts to practically everyone, it can also be beneficial to throw a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign in the mix, especially if there’s a certain landing page or offer you’re trying to drive traffic to. Let’s take a look at how to run a successful PPC campaign to get the visibility you want for your business online.

With PPC, you attract traffic by paying a certain amount for keywords whenever someone clicks on one of your ads. These ads are displayed when someone types into a search engine one of the keywords you bid on. If the amount that you’re willing to pay is sufficient, you’re able to place your ad at the top of the rankings and in front of a lot of people.

However, PPC can be complicated and may not always deliver the kind of results you’re looking for. So to get the most out of your money, it’s important to be aware of some of the most important steps involved in running a successful PPC campaign.

1. Know your budget and what you want to achieve.

One of the biggest mistakes people make with PPC is to rush in without really knowing what it is they want to accomplish or how much money they’re willing to pay. The result is that they lose all or a huge chunk of their budget without having anything to show for it.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Instead of jumping right in, take a step back, think things through, be diligent and prepared. Before you spend a dime on anything, you need to know exactly what your goals are, how you intend to reach those goals and and how much you’re willing to spend.

2. Prepare a PPC strategy.

Regardless of whether you go with Google adWords or Bing Ads, a PPC campaign should have a well thought out plan. Preparation involves keyword research, which in turn means you need to know who your customers are, what they’re looking for and much more.

It’s not enough to rely on generic data provided by keyword tools. You will need to do some actual research, which can take some time and effort. However, it’s absolutely necessary to reach targeted traffic that actually converts to get your money’s worth from PPC.

3. Create compelling ad copy.

Once you have your keywords, you will need to make ads that grab attention and entice people to click on them. If people never click on your ads, you are essentially wasting your time as you will never get any traffic. You can have the best rankings, but it won’t do you any good if you don’t have a good ad.

Don’t be surprised if you need to try several different versions of ads to find the one that works best. While this may seem like a hassle, it’s crucial to find just the right copy that yields the best results.

4. Create effective landing pages.

After clicking on your ad, people need to be taken to a landing page that very clearly delivers what your ad promised whether it’s more information, an exclusive offer, whatever. Fonts, graphics and copy all need to be appealing, and it should be layed out logically with a clear indication of what your visitor needs to do next. Fill out a form to receive an offer? Take a survey? Request a consultation? Don’t leave your visitor guessing where they should go next – guide them.

5. Constantly monitor and optimize your PPC campaign.

Your PPC campaign may have started, but that doesn’t mean your work is done. Every campaign needs to be constantly monitored and analyzed. By gathering data, you can make changes based on that data to improve your results. For example, your campaign is having low conversion rates. It could mean changing your keywords, fixing your ad copy, landing page or something else. Finding the solution won’t happen overnight, but as you try different things and constantly analyze you’ll begin to see a successful campaign take shape.